Project Case
Moyee Coffee: Making every sip count - Expansion of Fairchain coffee to the German market
2019 – ongoing
Expansion ManagementMoyee Coffee is a Dutch coffee producer based on the FairChain philosophy. For the German market launch, Expansion.eco started with a Target Market Validation. As the outcome was highly positive, Expansion.eco subsequently deployed a sales and marketing pilot that served to lay the foundation for Moyee´s next investment round.
Challenge
Moyee did not know if the German consumer would be ready for a disruptive coffee brand.
In July 2019, Moyee Coffee, a certified Dutch B-Corporation, decided to take a closer look at the German market, knowing that the German coffee market has high potential but is also highly competitive.
As the first step to assess if the market and Moyee itself was ready we narrowed down hypotheses.
- “Moyee’s main customers are conscious consumers and B2B clients”.
- “German conscious consumers are willing to pay € 30 per kilogram of coffee”.
- “Moyee can generate B2B leads through cold calling rather than through events”. “Moyee doesn’t sell unless you explain the concept.”.
- “Moyee stands out through great taste rather than radical impact”
Hypotheses like these guided us throughout the process.
Process
The target market validation confirmed our hypotheses and led to the execution of a complete expansion project.
For Moyee, we visited 50 cafés, co-working spaces and offices in different Berlin neighborhoods and talked to roughly 100 people, of which many are industry experts, key influencers of the local coffee scene and of course, lots of coffee-lovers. Many insights came as a surprise and were guiding to the strategy that was laid out after.
Most important, although the German coffee market is competitive, there was not yet a coffee brand combining high quality coffee with radical impact. Moyee could be sure to be capturing a niche.
Moyee’s pilot project was conducted within a time frame of 4 months, having tested various channels, target groups and messages. Moyee was most successful in lead generation after personal contact with potential customers, be it through networking events, speaking opportunities, on trade fairs or coffee tastings.
Result
A B2B strategy was the most promising way into the hearts of the German consumers.
After this experience, Moyee’s entry strategy focused on B2B channels (offices and partnerships), generating leads through coffee tastings. According to the business case, this was the most promising way to break even as soon as possible.
Setting up the business in a new country requires a lot of consideration, especially when handling a physical product. Hiring a German native, finding office and storage space as well as a good fulfillment provider are all must-haves before selling the first bag of coffee.
Key is to start as lean as possible. It can be helpful to partner up with a third party such as a distributor or an agency that can take care of these steps since they bring along experience and local market knowledge.
Edit: Due to Corona we addapted the strategy and shifted quickly from B2B to B2C in 2020.
