00:00Hi, everyone. My name is Beverly Malbranche. I am the founder and CEO of Caribou. We are a social
00:09impact company with a focus on Haitian coffee and also now Haitian cacao. So how did it all
00:16started? So about 10 years ago when I moved to the United States to go to college, I realized
00:22that Haitian coffee was not available on the international market. Did you know that in the
00:291960s, Haiti was actually the third largest coffee producer in the world. And now, well,
00:35it is. We don't even know. So our goal at Caribou is to really bring back Haitian coffee to the
00:42world, but also to make a difference one cup at a time. So how did we get started? We got
00:49started with first with a passion, with a personal investment, but also with support from our
00:55family and friends. And we've been able to validate our product on the market. So in 2019,
01:02we had about $28,000 in sales. Fast forward to 2020, we had over half a million dollars
01:09in sales. And most of it was done without much paid marketing. So now we usually go to trade
01:16shows and events to help our brand awareness. But since COVID canceled all of that, we focused
01:24on our e-commerce strategies. First, any organic strategies such as keeping our social media
01:29platform busy, keeping our customers informed, but also we started a full national PR program,
01:37anything to get us more but awareness so customers know that there is a special coffee available
01:42to them. So currently, our goal is to invest in our supply chain to solidify our production capacity.
01:51Any time last year, we sold out because we couldn't meet the demand. So this year, we are actually
01:57speaking with some large US retailers about having our coffee on their shelves. So we know that we
02:03will need to raise funds in order to invest in our supply chain to make our product available faster,
02:10but also to keep on investing in our marketing effort.
02:16So you might ask, well, why Haitian coffee? Well, first of all, the coffee market is over a billion dollars.
02:23And specialty coffee is growing at a steady rate. And since COVID, at home consumption has increased even more.
02:32So more customers are going online for their caffeine fix. So Haiti being only 600 miles away from the US,
02:39it really allows us to bring the product in faster, cheaper, but also a fresher coffee we can provide to our customers.
02:48So with your funds, we will be able to start by acquiring some equipment when we saw production and of course,
02:56continue our marketing effort. So we currently are based in Newark, New Jersey, and we would love to talk to you
03:02some more about how you can be part of this movement and help us to make Haitian coffee available worldwide
03:10while we are making a difference one cup at a time. Thank you.
03:18Hi, Beverly. How are you?
03:23Hi, Robert. I'm good. How are you?
03:26We are well. Thank you so much for your pitch. You did a very, very nice job.
03:33So I'm Robbie and those are my fellow judges, Kina and Eda, and I'll kick off with some questions and then we'll just go one by one if that's okay.
03:43Perfect. Yes.
03:45So I'm a huge coffee drinker. I cannot wait to try Cara Brew.
03:50I have one question, but it's got two parts to it. So one A and one B. First of all, is there any distinction in taste based on the coffee bean and how it's grown and how it's sourced in Haiti relative to sort of other traditional coffee geographies?
04:15Sure. So the biggest difference is it's low in acidity. Haiti is really a mountainous country. So most of the coffee is grown in the mountain and that really allows for the smooth coffee.
04:28That's, you know, that's, you know, very mellow in acidity and you can just enjoy it. It's, you know, I even have friends who have acid reflux and they can tell me many times, you know, I can drink your coffee because I don't feel any of that.
04:40So that will be one of the main differences in terms of where the coffee is from and how that affects the taste profile.
04:47Gotcha. And then at least in the domestic United States, does the fact that Haiti is only 600 miles away, does that make it more?
04:58Does that give it a competitive advantage just from a proximity standpoint?
05:04That is a huge competitive advantage because currently Brazil is the largest coffee producer in the world.
05:11And they are over 4,000 some miles away, almost 4,500.
05:16We can reach Miami by air in two hours, by boat in 35 hours.
05:23So really the distance you're looking at, it's kind of like, you know, another state in a sense, because most of the coffee is produced in Latin America, then you go to Africa.
05:32So Haiti is the closest coffee producer to the U.S. Yeah.
05:36So that gives us a great advantage for, you know, U.S. and Canadian market.
05:41Great. Thank you very much. I'll turn it over to Keena.
05:47Hi, Beverly.
05:48Hi, Keena.
05:49Hi, Keena.
05:50How are you?
05:51I am.
05:52I'm so good.
05:53Thank you for asking.
05:54But I am so excited to talk about Cura Brew.
05:57Excited about the coffee that you all are offering.
06:01And I had a couple of questions as well.
06:03But the first or main question that I had for you is, are you currently at your max capacity now,
06:12in that your sales have grown from twenty eight thousand to five hundred thousand?
06:16So from a capacity perspective, are you at the max?
06:21We are not at a max.
06:23There's still room for growth.
06:25We do.
06:26We will be able to supply much more coffee.
06:29It's just at the time it happens so fast.
06:32Right.
06:33But we've been able since then to move to a warehouse.
06:35We have four full time employees currently.
06:38So we've been now laying all the foundation to make sure that the next time we hit that sales volume or we double our revenue,
06:47we'll be able to reach our customers faster.
06:50But, yeah, we still have much more production capacity.
06:55Awesome.
06:56And then the second question is just an understanding about what formats you sell your product in.
07:03Is that intense or what does that look like for your company?
07:07Sure.
07:08I have the coffee in bags.
07:11I don't know if you can see it.
07:13That's our main bag.
07:15So we have different rules and flavors.
07:18So, yeah.
07:19So we also do have cold brew.
07:21We do have even single serve cake cups.
07:24So we have something for every coffee drinker and we would love for everyone to, you know, get to taste our coffee.
07:29Yeah.
07:30And we mostly we sell online and also to independent retailers.
07:35Awesome.
07:37Thank you for answering that.
07:39I will go ahead and pass along the mic to Ida.
07:45Great to meet you, Beverly.
07:47Nice meeting you, Ida.
07:50So I visited Haiti before and I've had some very strong Haitian coffee.
07:54So I'm excited to try this.
07:56My question is around sourcing.
08:00So typically, you know, when you have a business that's, you know, internationally sourced, maybe you can walk us through your sourcing process, you know, issues that you've had.
08:10You mentioned the advantage of being so close to the U.S.
08:14So maybe speak about your sourcing and kind of your sourcing operation.
08:19Definitely.
08:20So one good thing about us is that we work directly with the farming cooperative.
08:25Most coffee roasters, they get their coffee from traders that go to all over the world and then blend the coffee.
08:31And then you usually have a blend, not single origin, then finally get imported, then finally get to the final roaster.
08:37So we are present present in every aspect of the supply chain.
08:42We work with the cooperative where people on the ground will go and get the coffee for us, get it in package and ship it immediately to the U.S.
08:50So that's our current roasting strategy right now.
08:53Our sourcing strategy.
08:55Yeah.
08:56Okay.
08:57I hope that answers the question.
09:01Okay.
09:02Absolutely.
09:03In terms of margins, given the fact that you are, you know, at every stage of the process, could you speak about your margins and how you see that changing or improving or worsening as the business grows?
09:19Sure.
09:20So with our margins, we are about at 60% profit margins.
09:25And there is room for growth because the biggest challenge has been when you come with, you know, transportation and international shipping, you really get to reduce your costs when you are moving bulk with more volume.
09:39So even before like 20, I think we only saw about 2000 pounds of coffee and in 2020 about 17,000 pounds.
09:49And we've seen the difference in prices where we can say, okay, per pound is costing us less to bring the coffee to the States.
09:57So definitely the fact that we do control most of the operation that give us the foundation to see that growth in our margin once we are moving more volume.
10:14Great.
10:15Well, Beverly, this has been a fun discussion.
10:19Again, I can't wait to try it.
10:21Keena, Ida, do you guys have any other questions?
10:25All right.
10:28All right.
10:29Well done, Beverly.
10:31Thank you, everyone.
10:32Bye.
Comments