How Java Became East Africa’s Largest Coffee Chain

Written by Kevin Mwanza

Sep 18, 2014

Written by Dinfin Mulupi | From HowWeMadeItInAfrica

When three US-born former relief workers started the Nairobi Java House in Kenya 15 years ago, all they wanted was a place they could “get a good cup of coffee”. Today Java is East Africa’s largest coffee chain with 25 outlets in Kenya and Uganda. The company has also diversified into the pizza and frozen yoghurt business through its five Planet Yoghurt stores and one 360 Degrees Pizza outlet.

From its humble beginnings in a shared kitchen where its co-founders learned how to roast coffee and make pastries, Java has grown to become the face of the success of casual dining restaurants and coffee chain models in Kenya.

When Java started in 1999, Kenya’s economy was struggling, there was no coffee drinking culture and there were no modern shopping malls. Kevin Ashley, co-founder and CEO of Nairobi Java House, tells How we made it in Africa he never imagined Java would become this big a success. The firm has 1,200 staff and is expanding fast, opening 12 stores a year. In 2012 pan-African private equity company Emerging Capital Partners (ECP) acquired a stake in Java for an undisclosed amount.

A business graduate, Ashley did relief work in South Sudan for five years, then co-founded an aviation business in the war-torn country. “When we started Java we were really interested in trying to create something in Kenya that was more stable than flying airplanes in war zones,” he says.

Early expansion was tough

Ashley says growing Java from one to four stores was the “hardest part” because the firm’s finances were too limited to afford quality expertise.

“Those first three to five years were really tough. We were not really sure who we were at the time, the brand was still developing and some people within the group wanted to start selling alcohol while others wanted to stay a family-oriented joint,” he recalls.

Java is now expanding aggressively, opening new stores in Kenya and regionally. It also launched the Java and Planet Yoghurt stores in Kampala, Uganda four months ago. Ashley says the two brands have been well received with sales “going up incrementally, every month”.

Three more stores are planned for Uganda as well as entry into the Rwandan market. Java is also opening more stores in neighborhoods in Nairobi to be closer to places where people live, and in leading towns outside of Nairobi such as Naivasha situated 90km from the capital.

“Most of our investment now is actually going into new units. It took us 10 years to grow to 10 branches. Today we are building more branches per year than we were able to do in our first 10. We spend between US$500,000 and $700,000 on a new Java House. We are building about 12 a year now so you can see that is about $6m to $7m a year. By the end of 2015 we hope to have about 40 to 47 stores.”