SOUTH AFRICA – Vida e Caffè, one of South Africa’s largest independent chain of coffee shops and a supplier of beverage products and services to the corporate market, has clinched US$2.9 million investment from AfricInvest Private Credit.

The investment will support the coffee house’s expansion in Ghana and further extend its footprint to Côte d’Ivoire adding a total of 42 new locations.

The privately owned coffee brand had 350 stores as of May 2020 with 330 being in South Africa and 20 on the rest of the African continent i.e., Ghana, Mauritius and Zambia.

The extensive presence of the company in its home market and relatively low franchise costs, have been noted as a reason why the American multinational coffee company Starbucks has had limited success in expanding in South Africa.

Starbucks to expand presence in SA

The multinational chain of coffeehouses, Starbucks has revealed plans of opening new stores in the country under the new ownership of Rand Capital Coffee.

Rand Capital Coffee bought the licence of Starbucks in the country for R 7 million (US$445k) from the struggling Taste Holdings at the end of 2019.

Taste opened the first Starbucks store in 2016, targeting to expand the network to between 150 and 200 cafés. But this was met with large debt burden and cash flow issues.

As of May 2020, Vida e Caffè had 350 stores across Africa

Under the new owner, the coffee chain seeks to expand its footprints in Cape Town, Stellenbosch, Johannesburg and Pretoria.

Starbucks Corporation operates 33,000 stores globally, while Starbucks South Africa has grown its portfolio from 16 outlets to 25.

With the backing from AfricInvest, Vida e Caffè is continuing to curve out a substantial portion of the market for itself, not only in South Africa but in the rest of the region.

AfricInvest portfolio company Silafrica joins plastics economy initiative

AfricInvest Private Credit is a non-bank financial institution, providing properly structured debt financing solutions to Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Africa.

The institution was formed through the collaboration of AfricInvest Group, with FMO, the Dutch development bank; an emerging market private equity fund managed by MicroVest Capital Management; and Finnfund, the Finnish development finance institution.

AfricInvest supports a variety of high growth sectors and maintains a broad network of high-quality executives across Africa, offering extensive expertise in key growth industries, including financial services, agribusiness, consumer/retail, education and healthcare.

Recently one of its portfolio company, Silafrica, joined the New Plastics Economy initiative by Ellen MacArthur Foundation, strengthening its commitment to establish a global circular economy.

The Ellen MacArthur Foundation is a UK registered charity which aims to inspire a generation to re-think, re-design & build a positive future through the framework of a circular economy.

In support of the Foundation’s objectives, Silafrica is working to also achieve a goal of 100% reusable, recyclable, or compostable plastic packaging by 2025, with at least 40% of their product made from recycled plastic.

Liked this article? Subscribe to Food Business Africa News, our regular email newsletters with the latest news insights from Africa and the World’s food and agro industry. SUBSCRIBE HERE