Nice Coffee Co. is an Australian social enterprise dedicated to trying to make the world a better place, one coffee at a time. Janine McQueen, Community Manager at Cohort Innovation Space, sat down with Nice Coffee Co. founder, Jim Chapman, to find out all about their efforts in attempting to break the cycle of poverty within Kenya, with every cup.
So, what is Nice Coffee Co? According to Jim, Nice Coffee Co. is an Australian social enterprise that supplies Aussie businesses and households with coffee and machines, using 100% of profits to support St Johns School in Kibera, Africa’s largest slum. Australian’s love their coffee, and Jim knows that, with 75% of Australians drinking more than one cup a day. After moving to Kenya in 2008, Jim wanted to use this immense love of coffee to support families and students living in poverty in some of the toughest conditions, where receiving an education means the world to them. What started as a small idea operating out of his garage, Nice Coffee Co. has expanded to national distribution, supplying offices, schools, and universities right across Australia. Since founding Nice Coffee Co, nine classrooms have been built, a school feeding program has been established and nine teachers have been employed.
After studying business and entrepreneurship on the Gold Coast Jim knew that he wanted to start his own thing. He had learned all about how to maximise profit in business in university, however after learning about the social enterprise model, which was largely inspired by the company Thankyou, he wondered if there was the possibility of doing something similar. He wanted to use the power of business and consumer to have an actual real-world impact at their school in Kenya. As most entrepreneurs will find, starting and growing the business hasn’t been easy, but no matter what challenges they come across there is never anything more rewarding than getting more clients on board and seeing their impact grow, every single month.
There are a number of ways that businesses can have a positive impact, just as Nice Coffee Co. is achieving. Whether it be looking for sustainable options in your supply chain, donating money to a charity that you care about, or volunteering work time to support local initiatives. Following these few ideas can help to improve the bottom line of your business, because businesses driven by purpose tend to be more rewarding in the long run.
When asked if there was any advice that Jim wishes he could go back in time to tell himself when he was first starting to build his company, he has said that it would be to realise the importance of focusing on tasks that look at the long-term objectives like setting goals, strategy and building a strong team. Too often he finds himself putting his energy into the day-to-day tasks that might be fruitful in the short run, but don’t work towards the long-term vision of the company.
Finally, the answer everyone wants to know, how does one make the perfect cup of Nice Coffee Co. coffee? Jim has revealed the secret steps. The coffee provided at Cohort Space is the beautiful Savannah Blend and if you can manage to extract it at exactly the 27-30 second mark, then you’re on your way to the perfect cup of liquid gold!
You can find out more about Nice Coffee Co.’s efforts at: https://www.nicecoffee.org/