How Plato Coffee went from a container to South Africa’s fastest-growing coffee chain
Stephan Bredell is the kind of entrepreneur who doesn’t wait until everything is known before he begins. He founded Plato Coffee with his brother, after he recognizing the attractive margins achieved of coffee He was working in marketing at an insurance business at…
Artisanal at scale: How Seattle Coffee Company brewed a billion-rand empire
Twenty-eight years ago, Pete Howie was working as a barista in London. He walked into a Seattle Coffee Company in London, watched how espresso was made, and asked the owners if he could take the concept to South Africa. They said yes, and the first local outlet…
Rebel with a cause: Bootlegger
Bootlegger Coffee started as a single Sea Point café and now has 107 locations nationally, sold five million cups of coffee last year, roasted 400 tonnes of coffee year and employs 3500 people directly and indirectly. It started in 2013 when three cyclists –…
Xpresso: from R10 coffee into a national chain
Nicolene and Tomer Elhadad were sitting in a coffee shop at Cape Gate Mall when the idea struck. Nicolene had watched families stroll by without stopping and said to her husband (who goes by the name Clyde): “Isn’t that sad?” Coffee isn’t five-star dining; it should…
More than a coffee: the rise of the luxury café.
Not so long ago, ordering a coffee meant choosing between black or white. Today, you might find yourself debating between a single-origin Ethiopian pour-over, a house-made oat milk cortado, or a latter served in a ceramic cup sourced from a local artisan – in a space…
How Tashas became a global lifestyle brand
Twenty years ago, Natasha Sideris opened a single restaurant in a neighbourhood shopping centre in Atholl, Johannesburg. The plan was modest: create a welcoming daytime space, write a cookbook, maybe go to university to study psychology. Instead, she built one of…
How hotel restaurants became destinations in their own right
Hotel restaurants are undergoing a quiet but decisive renaissance. Instead of anonymous dining rooms, they are now among the most dynamic spaces in contemporary hospitality – destination restaurants, signature cocktail bars and all-day cafés that flow seamlessly into…
Inside Upper Union’s Evolution
Amori Burger opened Upper Union three years ago, in the oh-so stylish Cape Cadogan Hotel just off the bustle of Kloof Street. The restaurant in the heritage building quickly became a popular eatery known for its bold, punchy and eclectic offering – a vibrant mix…