Cape Coffee Beans is a business dedicated to South African specialty coffee lovers. We sell everything from artisan-roasted beans to brewing equipment, espresso machines, home roasters, and everything in between. We serve passionate home consumers, as well as businesses that care about coffee. Our mission is to provide everything you need to make, serve and enjoy a delicious cup. On this page, you can learn a little bit more about who we are and our history.

How CCB Started

My name is Phaedon, and I founded Cape Coffee Beans in 2013. I have a background in strategy consulting with a focus on technology, and before starting Cape Coffee Beans I worked for some South African eCommerce companies, both as a full time employee and a consultant. Back in 2013, my interest in coffee was really taking hold; I’d bought my first burr grinder (albeit a terrible one), and I was grinding and brewing, and even starting to question my relationship with milk. It wasn’t long before I started asking myself, “why can’t I buy a good selection of freshly roasted coffee beans online?”

That question was the spark that got me started. Initially, Cape Coffee Beans was just an intriguing project, something to mess around with on the weekends, but it quickly became a side gig and more.

At first, the idea was only to sell beans (as you probably noticed, the name stuck) but as CCB quickly found traction, I realised that there were plenty of people out there who didn’t only need beans, but also the equipment to grind them and brew. As I pivoted the business model into something new, becoming a retailer for all things specialty coffee, things really started to take off. Before I knew it, I’d jumped in full time, and the rest, as they say, is history.

What CCB is today

Today, CCB is anything but a side gig. We sell freshly roasted beans (within 2 weeks of roast) from several different artisan brands. We also sell an enormous variety of brewing equipment, accessories and tools. We offer both domestic and commercial espresso equipment. We deliver internationally. We even have a little shop, which I fondly refer to as CCBHQ, in Claremont, Cape Town. From there we sell in person to the local community, and also dispatch to thousands of customers across the country and beyond.

The Cape Coffee Beans Team

Needless to say, all this requires a top notch team, and I’m particularly proud of the people that I work with. I’ve been lucky enough to hire several superstars each of which I rely on heavily to help me with all the aspects of the business. We have a few important things in common, including the fact that we’re passionate about specialty coffee. We love to drink it, cup it, talk about it, and learn about it!

We’re also passionate about delivering a great customer experience. From logistics to customer service, we want to make sure that we do everything that we do well. While we do sometimes make mistakes, we also all strongly believe in taking ownership and fixing them when they do come up.

Last but not least, we all believe in trying to do our jobs a little bit better every day. We’re never happy to just execute. We always want to improve, whether that’s in how we brew our coffee, how we serve our customers, or how we carry out our day to day tasks. I believe that this is the value that helps us earn such incredibly positive customer feedback.

Let me introduce the members of our team...

Jaime

Cape Town customers will need no introduction to Jaime. After all, he has become our main man in the store, and he plays this role with aplomb. It's not just that he loves coffee, or espresso gear (though he certainly loves both); he also very clearly loves people, and they tend to love him back. A person with more enthusiasm is hard to find, and Jaime has made it his mission to share that enthusiasm for all things coffee with everyone he comes into contact with, while also delivering a great customer experience. Whether you want a flat white or a chat about how to brew, Jaime is always happy to deliver!

Sibahle

Sibahle (Siba for short) moved across the country to come work for CCB in Cape Town, and we're all glad she did. Another ex-pro barista (one that competed at the National Champs no less), Siba has many talents beyond coffee-making. She's a writer and she's been an entrepreneur, both of which have prepared her for leading the charge to assist our customers online, solving problems, coordinating with the rest of the team, and dispensing the right information wherever it's needed. You may find her on the phone, on live chat, responding to emails and also in store at CCBHQ. Wherever you interact with her, you'll know you're in safe hands whatever help you might need.

Cameron

Cameron (Cam for short) may not have a background in coffee, but it sometimes feels like he was destined to work in operations at CCB. Whether it's the software and technology we use, how we handle stock and inventory or simply how we approach our processes, Cam has taken to all of it like a duck to water. He takes the lead on ordering stock, receiving it, counting it, organising it and keeping close track of it. When he's not doing this invaluable work for us, Cam also assists with projects of all sorts; he even does some of our in-house IT support! Cam's best qualities are his positive attitude and his motivation to grow. I know they will take him places.

Waqaar

I had known Waqaar for quite a while before they came to work for CCB because they were often behind the bar at some of my favourite places to go for coffee. Perhaps our most accomplished barista, not only have they worked at some of the best coffee spots in SA, they've also competed successfully at a national level. Now, Waqaar uses all that practical and technical experience to help our customers resolve all types of issues as well as plan and oversee installations. You'll also sometimes find Waqaar in the store, serving customers and, even more importantly, helping us perfectly dial in the coffees we offer by the cup.

Tim

Tim isn't just a coffee guy, he's a get stuff done kind of guy, and that's very much the role that he's been playing since joining Cape Coffee Beans. As the first team member to come on board after the launch of our new space, Tim quickly hit the ground running helping us to organise events, showcases and workshops for our customers. Drawing on a wealth of entrepreneurial experience in the coffee industry, Tim's not only helped us with doing more in our space, but has also led our involvement in the Specialty Coffee Expo. Day to day, you'll find Tim in store where he'll always be ready to help and chat coffee with a smile on his face. Behind the scenes, Tim's helping us provide our community members with more and more new coffee experiences.

Ethan

Ethan is one of the newest members of our team, and may seem to be a fairly unassuming chap. He gets on with his work quietly and diligently, and has dedicated himself to doing it well in his first few months with us. There's more to Ethan than excellent admin though. He has a budding interest in specialty coffee that he's exploring while doing his work in our warehouse, and once you get him talking, you'll realise that he has a lot to say, about many things, including all things culinary, and of course, coffee. Ethan has become a valued part of our operations team and helps Cam out with the management of our inventory. We're expecting great things from him as he grows his experience at CCB.

Andrew

I met Andrew for the first time, long before he ever applied for a job at CCB, at a specialty coffee cupping. That already tells you a lot you need to know about Andrew. His passion for our space is palpable; he lives and breathes what we do, which really makes him the perfect person to communicate about the products we sell and the brands we represent. He's taken over the rather difficult job of writing our content, something I used to do. It's a tough ask because there is so much to know and so much to write about, and I'm also known to be a bit of a stickler for prose, but Andrew takes that challenge on with aplomb and alacrity. When you're reading about the latest single origin release, or the newest coffee toys, think of Andrew; there's a good chance he wrote the words.

Fabian

Fabian is exactly the kind of guy I want to have in our operations team. He has this uncanny ability to unintentionally reassure me, even when we're processing hundreds of orders and thousands of moving products each week. He's pretty unflappable, and always has a warm smile on his face when you greet him, regardless of how much he has on his plate. His dedication to doing the job right makes him a real asset to our business, and he's always hungry to learn and take on more. He may be a newer addition to our team but I am very confident he will have a lot of value to add for many years to come and will achieve a lot both personally, and for CCB.

Lelethu

Lelethu joined us from one of the best specialty cafes in the country, and her presence in our storefront was immediately felt. She takes pride in managing and maintaining the space she works in, as much as she does in the way she makes and serves her coffee. She now takes the lead on our rotating coffee menu, helping to give our visitors a little taste of what's possible and what they can take home. She's also there to help with day to day purchases from bags of beans to home espresso setups. Her dedication and hard work make her a real asset to our team and our retail space. She also adds a little dash of much-needed feminine maturity in space filled with young men.