An invigorating business
Fresh Black is a leader in the segment of freshly roasted coffee in Ukraine. This brand is known in many good restaurants and coffee houses in the country. Guests come to drink delicious coffee and look at the roasting process in the Black Cafe, and those who want to learn more about coffee or make it their profession - for courses and master classes at Black Coffee School. How did you manage to build this fragrant business, said its founder Viktor Shramenko.
All these areas of coffee activity are concentrated under the roof of Fresh Black coffee center in Kiev at the Platform Art Factory - there is also an open production with three roasters of different sizes.
The main activity of this group of companies is the production and sale of coffee under the Fresh Black brand. The company itself buys raw materials - green coffee from suppliers from different countries, roasts, prepares, delivers. In addition, Black is the official representative of several well-known brands of Italian coffee machines in Ukraine - Faema, Casadio. The company supplies and maintains this equipment, providing services. Another area is consulting services for the coffee business. They also begin to export products to foreign markets.
The history of entrepreneurship at the Kiev Odessa Viktor Shramenko has been going on for more than ten years. “I tried to do business from school years, but not always successfully. He worked and was hired, went all the way to the corporate manager in a company that sold double-glazed windows for window companies. It was a good experience, but I wanted to move on - I always dreamed of my own business. I found the work of my life by accident. I loved coming to the Mother Motherland monument, looking at the city and drinking coffee. Then he was not sold anywhere nearby; he had to buy at the nearest McDonalds. But on the way, the coffee quickly cooled down ... And the idea came to my mind - to put a coffee machine in the trunk of my car in order to make good coffee anywhere. It was not easy to do this. Six months I searched for solutions, developed an engineering system so that the equipment worked autonomously and safely. Finally, with the help of this system, I converted the car, and one of the first mobile coffee houses appeared in Ukraine, ”the source said.
Victor did not succeed in working on the invented auto-coffee shop. He was faced with the "rules" of street business, constant pressure. After several unpleasant incidents, Shramenko sold the coffee house. Surprisingly - easy and fast. A similar story was with the second. At the third, a novice entrepreneur realized that not selling coffee from wheels, but making such machines is his business. He found partners, entrepreneurs organized a small production, which was engaged in the conversion of cars. The company gradually expanded, and soon several hundred cars with their logo drove around Kiev. “Those to whom we sold them were also interested in where to buy coffee and related products,” the entrepreneur recalls.
In parallel, Victor and partners launched a network of mobile coffee houses in Odessa.
“I have always worked with coffee with great inspiration: I liked to mix varieties, make blends, achieve complex and interesting tastes ... I wanted to show my consumers the way they look at the product. Both car buyers and consumers liked the result. ”
The secret of success for every businessman is to dream a lot, not be afraid, go forward and build.
In 2014, the young company was crushed by a new crisis, against which there was a sharp devaluation (and coffee was exclusively an imported product). “The moment came when we settled with all the contractors and the company reset. So I started building a new business, ”recalls a romantic businessman.
The crisis forced restaurateurs to more carefully choose suppliers. This, according to Viktor Shramenko, was the impetus for business development: “We often faced with the fact that the quality of coffee in restaurants left much to be desired, and we wanted to fix it. Therefore, they offered a good price, high-quality grain, fresh frying, service and training. It worked. From that moment, a whole new stage began. We stepped on all possible rakes, but we figured out the nuances and now we understand how to conduct this business. ”
The company concentrated on the main product and improved it all the time, refined it, made it the best on the market. First, based on their taste preferences. Then they focused on the consumer, conducted tastings, focus groups. Now work with a client is being built on the contrary: they are not asking, but offering. The company's philosophy is to increase the culture of coffee consumption, to teach people to experiment, to reveal non-standard tastes. For two years of intensive work, the company has managed a lot:
5% of supplies on the b2b coffee market are carried out by Black
The company produces and sells up to 70 tons of product per month.
The company is in the TOP-10 of the 1,500 roasters in Ukraine
What caused this? “We are building partnerships with clients on a win-win basis, we bear additional value,” Victor Shramenko answers this question. - We come to the restaurant and offer not only to buy good coffee, but also immediately solve the business problem: product, equipment for its preparation, after-sales service, training, consulting. We study the work of the client and give advice - what can be done better to increase sales. In addition to the product itself - coffee and equipment - the client receives a range of services. As a result, our company receives a permanent, stable partner, and the restaurant - a tangible increase in profits in this area, an average of 25%. ”
This approach is effective, although complicated. It is necessary to convey to the client the advantages of this complex, its benefits. But as a result, a base of regular, loyal customers with contracts of one year or longer is formed. Hotels, restaurants and cafes of the premium segment, chain coffee houses - institutions where a constant level of quality and maintaining stable operation at high speeds are more willing to strategic cooperation.
Export is a new promising direction in which Fresh Black begins to look for itself. Industry festivals and exhibitions help establish sales: company representatives this year participated in exhibitions in London and Berlin (London Coffee Festival, World of Coffee Berlin), gather at the Milan Coffee Festival in November. The Black brand is displayed there, employees present the company and goods, communicate with potential customers. And most importantly, they study the trends, tastes and expectations of a foreign consumer. Thanks to such work, there are already small deliveries to China, Qatar, Georgia, Romania, and Poland. These are lots from 100 to 500 kilograms.
However, it is difficult to export coffee due to the lengthy supply process and the passage of Ukrainian customs. Not everyone abroad is ready to wait a week or two for delivery. “We have found a solution and no less ambitious plan - we want to open a branch in the EU: it will be easier to work, look for new customers and develop further. We will build such a model that will work both with distributors and with institutions directly, ”says the entrepreneur.
The marketing tools used by the company are mainly aimed at direct sales in the HoReCa segment and to distributors (b2b), and communication with the end-user market is via fresh.black and social networks (Facebook, Instagram). In retail coffee is presented in the networks of Novus, WineTime and Epicenter.
The company participates in Street Food festivals at the Platform Art Factory, the Kurazh Bazar charity flea market, food courts of various events and concerts, and specialized exhibitions.
The basis of the personnel policy is the selection of people with a high degree of involvement and their development within the company, continuous training and promotion. “Even a line manager can manage a company. First we give control of microprojects, but with maximum responsibility. If he succeeds, go to the next level. As a result, the waiter can become the head of the cafe, the packer - the production manager, the sales manager - to lead the direction. These are the odds people value.
Each employee has the opportunity to choose a project and develop it, to influence global decisions. Projects are production, sales, school, cafe, service, logistics, export - all areas of activity. For more efficient work, part of the team will be trained in project management courses in the near future. After all, the company is growing dynamically, there are more directions and projects, and the time comes to apply effective practices.
Formula for success from Victor Shramenko:
You need to build a business that you love and in which you will invest all your time. Choose the product that will increase the level and quality of life of people.
Involvement, inspiration, ambition and passion in work - these are the qualities by which you need to choose new employees. The first rule of work is to do what you can do honestly and better than anyone, strive for more.
One must be able to bear responsibility. This applies to quality, and timing, and services. If some kind of error or problem happens, this is our problem, and we must fix it so that it does not become a customer problem.
Ensure and control quality throughout the production chain, from incoming raw materials to after-sales service
About partnership with the bank:
We use a salary project, cash management, currency transactions - a fairly wide list. Last year Raiffeisen Bank Aval opened a line of credit for us. She supported us quite strongly then. We were able to purchase new equipment and began to purchase green coffee under direct contracts, thereby expanding the range. Over the year, increased production and sales by 3 times. Now we are thinking about overdraft processing. The service is excellent, all issues are easily resolved.
