People’s Champion Finalist: CaféPod

Start-up name: CaféPod
Founders: Brent Hadfield and Peter Grainger
Started in: 2012
Based in: London
Business description: Nespresso compatible coffee pods

Shortlisted categories:

Export Business of the Year
Product Business of the Year
Retail Business of the Year

The CaféPod story:

“How hard could it be?” said founders of CaféPod Brent Hadfield and Peter Grainger as they sat down for dinner one night, discussing how they could launch a new range of Nespresso capsules, following the 2011 expiration of the brand’s IP. 

What they didn’t know about retail, branding, manufacturing, coffee or sales they made up for in their ambition to create a customer-centric company offering “great coffee at a reasonable price”. In August 2012 they launched what is claimed to be the UK’s first Nespresso compatible capsule, which can now be found in Tesco, Ocado, Whole Foods, Amazon, Selfridges and Booths.

Despite competition – including from Nespresso itself – CaféPod aims to make their product more accessible and affordable than the global giant and uses recyclable plastic instead of metal. 

The company’s timing couldn’t have been better – coffee pods are thought to be the fastest growing area of the market, with sales topping £100m in the UK alone and an estimated £10.8bn globally. With almost £3m of funding to date, CaféPod is looking to implement an aggressive growth strategy throughout Europe and international markets, and plan to achieve 50% of revenue online in the next three years.

Why CaféPod made our 60:

In just three years of trading this caffeine-charged company has optimised its on and offline potential, beating stiff competition to grow its sales by an astonishing 700% in the two years to 2014.

Where to find out more about CaféPod:

Website: www.cafepod.com
Facebook: facebook.com/CafePod