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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Kahawa 1893 Shark Tank Recap
Maggy enters the Shark Tank seeking $350,000 for 5% of her company. She says the world’s best coffee comes from Kenya and she grew up on her grandfather’s coffee farm there. Kenyans are proud of their coffee, but the farm workers, who are 90% women, often don’t make enough money. She sells her coffee from small farms in Kenya and her customers can tip the coffee farmers; the company matches the tips. There is a QR code on the packaging to facilitate tipping.
Robert asks about what heppened in 1893. Maggy tells him that’s when coffee was first commercially grown in Kenya. Kahawa measn coffee in Swahili. In African culture, the male in a family typically owns the land and the women work the land. Any tips go to the women. To date, customers have tipped $10,000 and the company matched it.
Maggy grew up in Kenya ad got a scholarship to go to college in the USA. She got her MBA at Harvard and went to work on Wall Street after she graduated. When she came to the USA, her village raised money for the plane ticket.
In the past 12 months, she’s done $2 million in sales. Year to date (summer 2022) she’s at $1.3 million and she’s on track to finish the year at $4 million. Next year she’s projecting $10 million. 85% of sales are wholesale to grocery stores and 15% are direct to consumer. Last year she launched in Trader Joes; she’s the first black woman owned coffee brand in that store.
A bag costs $5 and wholesales for $8. On $4 million in sales, she’ll make $600,000; on the $2 million, she made $150,000. Kevin says it’s not worth $7 million and Mark says it’s worth more. Kevin goes out. Emma offers $350,000 for 12.5% of the business. Robert loves the story and he’ll offer $700,000 for 25%. Mark thinks she’s a superstar but she’ll need to raise $50 million; he’s out. Lori likes the offers on the table but she’s out. Maggy counters Emma at 8% and Emma comes to 12%. Maggy counters with $100,000 for 8% plus $250,000 in debt. Now all the Sharks want in. Robert says it’s getting too complicated; he offers $350,000 for 8%. Emma matches it and Maggy accepts.
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. The first rerun of this episode in June, 2023 is just 3 months after the original air date. At this time, there is no evidence the deal with Emma closed. The coffee can be found in 800 or so Sprouts, Trader Joe’s, Target and The Fresh Market stores. Reliable revenue figure are not available at this time.
The Shark Tank Blog will follow-up on Kahawa 1893 & Maggy Nyamumbo as more details become available.
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