A passion and love of coffee are what spurred two medical professionals to start a coffee shop, Home of the Bean.
The couple, who share a love for a good cup of joe, as well as for each other, said the aim of starting the business was to create an experience that not only allows its customers to enjoy their coffee but educates them about how it is made and the fair trade that goes into creating each brew and confectionery.
Diagnostic radiographer Leroy Kgopa and radiation therapist Itumeleng Kgopa have been running the mobile coffee shop for the past three years.
Their leap into starting the business began after Leroy volunteered to clean dishes at a coffee shop.
Leroy said, “I volunteered so I could learn more about the business side of coffee. It assisted me greatly to understand more about coffee and also elevate my skill in other aspects of the business like sourcing the coffee beans, storing, preparing the coffee beans and selling the finished product.”
His curiosity about the process of making coffee resulted in their mobile café, a business they have been running as a tight unit.
Home of the Bean opened in 2019 as a tiny slice of a cafe in the courtyard of Maboneng's historic The Cosmopolitan building before moving to larger premises in Arts on Main on Maboneng's main Fox Street in the winter of 2021.
The couple also made their coffee available away from the store, as they cater at events, by simply driving the mobile coffee shop to the event they are hired for.
“The kombi is an extension of the coffee shop and is not parked at the shop. It operates as a mobile coffee service. When we have an event that is held elsewhere besides the store. The Kombi then acts as a mobile service to go to the event and provide the coffee services at the other venue,” Itumeleng told Business Report.
Both Leroy and Itumeleng Kgopa are very much involved in the running of the shop even though they are both in the medical spaces.
They also have a team of young people who are employed at Home of the Bean, who hold the fort if one of them is absent.
The beans are sourced from different roasteries as far away as Burundi, Ethiopia, Costa Rica, and Guatemala.
Founded by the husband and wife duo, the couple says that Home of the Bean is all about a quality experience from the beans to the seats.
Both work at different public hospitals in Johannesburg in their respective professions while running the coffee shop as well.
The brand started as a mobile coffee shop and still also operates an uber-cool coffee kombi.
BUSINESS REPORT