Imagine a coffee shop where everything on the menu costs R14

For any coffee lover, paying R14 for a daily caffeine fix seems almost unheard of, when most cafés in prime locations price their goodies at nearly triple that amount for a pop.

But what sounds even less believable is a menu where everything else is also priced at R14.

I recently visited Xpresso Café at The Zone in Rosebank and was able to enjoy some of my favourites without breaking the bank.

I expected the early-morning rush and long queues to be frustrating, but instead found a well-oiled machine, with customers who seemed to know exactly what they were after.

Intrigued by how a business nestled in corporate Johannesburg can survive on such a budget-friendly offering, we asked the co-founder of Xpresso Café, Nicolene Elhadad, to join us on the Mzansi Business podcast for a conversation about the business model and more.

“I really wanted to make it so affordable for people that it became a no-brainer that, on their way to work, they’re getting a takeaway coffee to take to work instead of the Ricoffy and instant brands they have at home,” Nicolene told Moneyweb.

You can also listen to this podcast on iono.fm here.

Founded in 2016 by Nicolene and Clyde Elhadad, Xpresso Café has grown from a single store to more than 80 across South Africa, selling 2.7 million items monthly.

At the time, all the items on the menu cost R10, but inflation pushed prices up to R12 a few years later, and up again to the current R14.

“The idea is not for me to make millions [of rands]; the idea is for the pricing to stay as low so that my customer can afford to continue coming everyday,” she said, referring to already high concerns about the high cost of living.

Nicolene admits that securing suppliers willing to maintain low input costs has been challenging.

“I think we only chose three suppliers in the beginning, and they understood and trusted us, but with a little bit of keeping one foot in and one foot out of the relationship. But they really wanted to see if we could make this work, and that’s what we did,” she added.

While it was the couple’s first attempt at working as baristas, it wasn’t their first experience in business.

Nicolene says one of their biggest lessons from previous business ventures is the importance of investing in the right staff.

“I’m a big believer that if I’m not good at something, then I need to hire someone that can do that task better than me.”

“You need to look at all the tasks you do, and you should only be focusing on the main money-making tasks. Everything else has to be moved to other people, and this is the hardest step to take in the beginning – hiring the first person.”

She believes that making the first (good) hire is part of what makes it easier to scale up faster.

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