A tale of a bru like no other
Sihle Magubane talks about his journey from being a gardener and a barista to owning a coffee roastery
From working as a gardener at the age of 16 to being a product specialist for Pick n Pay, Sihle Magubane has gone on to be the first black South African to own his own coffee brand, Sihle’s
Brew.
Magubane had to start working and be the family’s breadwinner at an early age after his mother died. He moved from Kwazulu-natal to Johannesburg in 2003, where he trained at the Ciro Coffee Academy, obtaining his International Barista Certificate.
This launched his decade-long career as a barista for various coffee shops in Johannesburg and sparked his desire to build his own brand.
Starting with only one employee, Magubane’s business now has 23 staff members. He supplies coffee, runs two coffee shops and has an online store.
He says persistence and a willingness to learn have helped him through his journey as an entrepreneur.
His toughest obstacle was learning how to keep the business afloat while ensuring it was able to grow.
“The biggest challenge was that money would come in and then immediately out. I would wonder what the issue was. It was [a
problem with] financial literacy and how to handle money. I used to use money for my personal needs, instead of leaving money for the business, and then paying myself a salary,“Magubane said.
“For capital, I used to buy coffee, sell it and from there I would be able to buy one or two things to enhance the business.”
Magubane said what has helped is his ability to network and spot opportunities. This is how he was given the chance to supply coffee to Pick n Pay’s No Name Brand. He now supplies his
coffee to Food Lover’s Market and Spar stores nationwide. “It took four or five years to supply Pick n Pay, with a lot of requirements needed to ensure that the consumers’ product is foodsafety approved, so we had to go through various stages of auditing,” he said.
He says Sihle’s Brew buys coffee from a company that sources beans from around the world. He selects the best beans to roast and blends them according to his own recipes.
He has plans to grow and harvest his own coffee. “We don’t grow coffee at the moment because it takes about four or five years to grow and it is highly labour intensive.”
The Agricultural Research Council said Mpumalanga, Limpopo, Kwazulu-natal and Eastern Cape have a few coffee plantations, which make up roughly 200 hectares.
“My advice for people who want to start something is that they need to make sure they learn as much as they can and that they get mentors who are close to what they want to do because, in that way, there is more possibility of them being successful,” he said.