A story that inspires a nation, connects local communities and truly goes beyond the bean.
+ A Coffee With Purpose
In a transformative journey with the Diversity Business Incubator (DBI) on Union Street, Plymouth, our collaboration focused on sharing the untold and remarkable story of Jabulani Coffee. Roasted locally in Ivybridge by Devon company Owens, this exceptional coffee not only represents the highest quality grade organic coffee but also supports a women-run plantation in Rwanda, aiding families and a community rebuilding from Genocide. The brand awareness strategy was around creating a compelling documentary that aired in front of a wide audience, including the BBC and Fairtrade Association. As well as raising local brand awareness, its purpose was to highlight a commodity that is often taken for granted outside the growing areas and share the importance of becoming a more conscious consumer.
The impact was profound, elevating brand awareness significantly. Upon review, sales had increased by 138%, and coffee subscriptions by 124% within a year. Jabulani Coffee also won Gold at the Food & Drink Devon awards and won Best Organic Coffee at the 2023 Boom awards, laying the foundation for educational facilities on the plantation to become a reality. This project stands as a testament to the power of purpose-driven storytelling, promoting social impact and business growth simultaneously.
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Full brand DNA and positioning
Origin visit and culture immersion, Rwanda
Brand storytelling through documentary film
Film screenplay and narrative
Art direction
Documentary editing
Brand identity refresh
New suite of brand assets
Coffee labelling redesign
Premier event management
Gallery exhibition curation
Marketing support
Website build -
As brand creators and curators, it is our responsibility to ensure that meaning and purpose guide businesses today. The positive impact this project has on people and the planet makes my involvement even more rewarding. I felt compelled to utilise my experience and expertise to contribute and facilitate sharing their incredible story.
Although it is an ongoing journey, I am confident that the best is yet to come when we can witness firsthand the new centres and facilities we helped build, fulfilling their mission to inspire a nation with coffee that goes beyond the bean.
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Huge credit to the supporting team whose trusted skills and energy collaboratively crafted this vision.
Jabulani Coffee Founders Jabo & Liliane from Diversity Business Incubator
Photography & Video Tom Carder Media
Owens Coffee Roastery Ivybridge
Brand Identity and Website Brand Biscuit
Emotivations behind a changemaking brand story
Working with community-focused clients is one of my passions. I build long-standing relationships and immerse myself into their culture to be able to successfully support their brand. Seeing true and meaningful transformation is the hugely rewarding part of what I do. I met Jabo Butera and Liliane Uwimana at the DBI Awards in January 2022. Coming from London where diversity is commonplace, I was moved by the mission they have to support and grow multi-ethnic communities in a predominately white British area. Their ambitions to champion refugees and young people to become successful entrepreneurs via their Incubator programme and Jabulani Food Court were hard not to want to support. I discovered that at the heart of it all was their café and self-produced coffee, Jabulani.
This coffee, at the time, was lost under the radar. But despite discovering it was roasted locally in Ivybridge by Owens, and being an incredible quality independent coffee, profits from sales went directly to the source and the women-run plantation in Jabo's motherland Rwanda. The funds support the regeneration of a community rebuilding from Genocide and families in need of essential resources to thrive, not just survive.
This story, even as I write this now, gives me goosebumps. Yet at the time hardly anyone knew of this coffee, of his mission or the social impact this one product was having locally here in Plymouth but also in Rwanda. I shared a strategy with Jabo and assured him this story would become the driving force of how the rebranding and repositioning of a coffee with purpose was going to grow. We all went to Rwanda that Summer, with Biscuiteer photographer and filmmaker Tom Carder and Marketing Manager Liz Orgill from Owens Coffee to experience and film the story first-hand. We coincided the trip with the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) to ensure we could make wider connections and encourage project ideals such as providing eco-tourism on the plantation and driving paying visitors to support the plantation and their families between harvests.
The story became a 25-minute documentary film that aired in front of 200+ guests and media, including the BBC and Fairtrade Association. The brand awareness and growth since have seen sales increase by 138%, with coffee subscriptions by 124% in 12 months. A plan to develop educational facilities on the plantation is well underway. A rebrand and new packaging was also linked to the project. The coffee itself has since won a Food & Drink Devon Gold award.
Defining brand DNA forms the core of my projects, infusing heart, life, and soul into ambitions and shaping the creative brief. Our journey with Jabulani Coffee's brand identity unfolded as we became immersed in their culture, comprehending the essence of what the brand represents and the inspiration behind rebuilding a nation. The symbolic link with the humble potato made for an authentic visual graphic style, incorporating potato carving and printing, beautifully capturing the creativity and craftsmanship of a hands-on nation.
