The founders of a Northumberland coffee company who turned down investment on Dragons’ Den have unveiled plans to grow through a UK network of community roasteries.
Wilmer and Elle Carcamo from Caribe Coffee Co braved the den to ask for investment, telling the millionaire entrepreneurs how they set up their business to bring good quality coffee to the UK while also helping farmers by paying better commodity prices.
The couple, who met in the Cayman Islands in 2014 and married two years later, set up the business in 2019 after moving back to Elle’s hometown of Morpeth, combining Wilmer’s love of coffee from his home country of Honduras with Elle’s business skills, having gained a masters in business at Durham University.
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The coffee is imported from Honduras, roasted and packaged at their base in Fairmoor, and delivered fresh to customers around the UK, with 10% of sales coming through wholesale and 90% through retail.
The pair were seen in the den asking for £30,000 in exchange for a 10% share. However, while Peter Jones was keen to get on board he wanted a 25% slice of equity, which the couple didn’t want to give up.
After having a counter offer knocked back, Mr and Mrs Carcamo left empty handed, but said they thoroughly enjoyed taking part in the show and are still enjoying a rush of orders on the back of the TV appearance.
They are now set to put their growth plans, and are even mulling the opening of a branch in the US.
The pair said they prepared for a rush in sales on the night, with their website provider ensuring it didn’t crash through the volume of visits.
Mr Carcamo said: “On the night it was shown we had a great reaction, with lots of comments and interactions, saying that we had done well, sticking to our guns. “The reactions from customers and viewers was fantastic, congratulating us for being true to ourselves. We increased sales by 900% too. It has been life-changing for the family and for the business.”
“But it didn’t stop for about 12 hours. It was immense! Slowly reality set in that we had a lot of work to do. We were organised in that we had enough stock in and had family around to help us - but we probably weren’t prepared enough for the amount of sales that came in, which we were overwhelmed by and grateful for. We sent out one or two emails to keep everyone updated too.
“We didn’t need a huge financial investment - we already have plans for growth, it was more for the exposure and affiliation to develop trust that you need when you’ve got an ecommerce business.
“A lot of the obstacles to selling are because people don’t know who you are. To have a Dragon on board would mean a lot, which is why we kept the amount low, and we matched the percentage of ownership to that lower amount. I think Peter wanted to be more involved which would have been lovely, but it didn’t really fit with our plans.”
Plans now are Caribe Coffee to expand its roastery, to a 2,000sqft foot unit and it also wants to expand around the UK.
One of Caribe Coffee’s unique selling points is its freshness - as soon as it is roasted it is packaged up and delivered to customers - and that means the couple aren’t currently targeting supermarket deals.
Instead, the business is looking to create a network of Caribe Coffee Co roastery hubs in key UK cities, teaching and helping potential coffee business owners to get started, while also operating a more environmentally-friendly enterprise by cutting down on logistics and focusing on local provenance.
The pair are looking to start four partnerships initially before considering a wider rollout, each with a 20-mile catchment area, with London and Edinburgh high on the list.
Mrs Carcamo said: “What we found during the pandemic is that the local community has been fantastic. We can’t replicate that because we can only be local in one place. But to get over that we can create opportunities in other areas, for other enterpreneurs who are interested in coffee or people who want a management role, to take on a mini roastery.
“They will get the equipment and set it up themselves. Obviously we’ll be their supplier and they’ll use our brand. When you’ve got an incredibly good product, like we have, word-of-mouth recommendations are all you need from a local perspective – and if we can replicate that around the UK we’ll be on to a good thing.”
