Maggy Nyamumbo hopes to brew up a deal for Kahawa 1893, her Kenyan coffee business that practices fair trade with women farmers, in Shark Tank episode 1414. She went to Smith College and the London School of Economics before getting an MBA at Harvard. Before starting Kahawa 1893, she worked on Wall Street at the World Bank and Analysis Group. Kahawa means “coffee” in Swahili and the 1893 in the name refers to the year the coffee industry got going in Kenya. She founded her coffee business in 2017 to address the inequalities in the Kenyan coffee business: women provide 90% of the labor and only own 1% of the coffee growing land.
Her family has a history in the coffee business. While working as a driver for the Kenyan colonial government, he managed to get some seeds and land and start his own coffee farm. It became a successful family business, but when Maggy was growing up, she noticed inequalities in the labor force and decided to do something about it. First and foremost, she sells good coffee. Kenyan coffee, which only accounts for 1% of all coffee sold world-wide, is regarded as the best tasting coffee on earth. She gives a portion of her profits to the female laborers who harvet it and she has a tipping mechanism on her website that lets customers tip the laborers as well. The company matches all customer tips.
As for the coffee, it’s a premium product. A 12 ounce bag will set you back anywhere from $17 to $20 depending on the variety. He whiskey and rum barrel aged coffees cost $28 per 12 ounce bag. There are bulk coffees available too in 2 and 5 pound bags for $35 and $75 respectively. She also sells tea and single serve coffee in a tea bag. Kahawa 1893 can be found at the company website, The Fresh Market, Sprouts and on Amazon. Maggy likely wants a Shark to help her get on the shelves in national grocery chains.
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Posts about Kahawa 1893 on Shark Tank Blog
Kahawa 1893 Shark Tank Recap
Maggy will pitch the panel of five Sharks on the business and its prospects for growth. She’ll need to convince Mark Cuban, Robert Herjavec, Kevin O’Leary, Lori Greiner and guest Shark Emma Grede that the company is worthy of a Shark investment. A good business plan, good financials, and sales data will impress the Sharks, but she’ll need to show them SHE is capable of running the company to “Shark standards.” A full pitch re-cap on Kahawa 1893 will be available on Shark Tank Blog once this episode airs.
Kahawa 1893 Shark Tank Update
The Shark Tank Blog constantly provides updates and follow-ups about entrepreneurs who have appeared on the Shark Tank TV show. Once an episode has aired, we monitor the progress of the businesses featured, whether they receive funding or not and report on their progress. The Shark Tank Blog will follow-up on Kahawa 1893 & Maggy Nyamumbo as more details become available.
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