Energising coffee culture in Bangladesh

Rick and Chris Hubbard’s first trip to Bangladesh was in 2001. Little did they know that this trip to visit a friend in Chattogram would be the start of another journey leading to the birth of the first coffee roaster in Bangladesh.

Fast forward a few years and Rick is opening a new cafe for Starbucks, the world’s largest coffee chain, as he followed his passion for all things coffee. He then pursued coffee roasting while working at Leopard Forest coffee roasters.

But Bangladesh had never left the minds of the couple from Boston, Massachusetts. As they started to discuss starting a business overseas, Bangladesh soon was at the top of the list.

By then, they knew that not only could they roast coffee in this South Asian country but that in the future coffee trees could also grow there.

The idea sprouted from the fact that Rick was unable to find any cafe, both in Dhaka and Chattogram, which served the freshly roasted and brewed aromatic coffee he craved during that visit.

The idea to set up a coffee business, both from passion and professional viewpoints, in a foreign country is a very risky one. But Rick was able to make that dream come true with the support of Chris, who has a background in pastry making.

After years of researching and planning, the couple opened the first branch of NORTH END Coffee Roasters in Dhaka’s Shahjadpur area, near the US Embassy at Gulshan, in 2011.

A decade later, North End is now the pioneer and trendsetter of the coffee culture — both casual and professional — apart from being the first-ever coffee roaster and coffee bean supplier company in Bangladesh.

In just 11 years, despite having most of their branches in Dhaka city, Rick and Chris have made North End a Bangladeshi brand/company known everywhere and are now eyeing the prospects beyond the country’s border.

The company currently has 10 branches — nine in Dhaka city and one in Ukhiya of Cox’s Bazar. On average, more than 3,500 cups of coffee are served daily at these outlets.

The blends from different countries North End sell are displayed on shelves at its branches. The Hill Tracts blend, which is grown locally, attracts the most attention and sells quickly too.

Currently, North End alone supplies more than 80 tonnes of coffee beans, both imported and locally grown, to various establishments including cafes and hotels across the country every year.

Along with jumpstarting the coffee culture that was missing here, North End has so far created jobs for around 300 Bangladeshis, shaped entrepreneurs and helped cultivate coffee locally.

Also, the Shahjadpur branch now has a coffee academy where they train future baristas and teach the basics of the coffee business and customer service as well as professional latte art. The academy provides training to 30-40 participants on average monthly and around 350-500 yearly.

In the beginning…

Both Rick and Chris grew up close to the famous Italian-American “North End” neighbourhood, one of the oldest, in the City of Boston. It is known for Italian restaurants, cafes and pastry shops.

The name of their company alludes to both their first location in Dhaka North and their roots in that Boston neighbourhood.

Since the first branch opened on March 31, 2011, with its mission statement “Craft great coffee, create great community,” North End wanted to create a coffee community in Dhaka in a friendly atmosphere.

Customers — from students to corporate workers — can enjoy a drink or a snack and spend long hours regardless of how small their order is. They will not be asked to leave. People working on laptops in the cafes’ comfortable and calm environment have now become a regular scene.

As coffee was not produced in Bangladesh at the time, North End had to import most of its coffee beans from different countries, including Singapore, Brazil, Colombia and Indonesia’s Sumatra and then roasted them here.

Very soon after the Shahjadpur branch opened its doors, North End gained popularity among the expatriate and foreign diplomat communities in Dhaka.

At that time, Rick, who believes coffee should not be a luxury, saw that people wanted to grab a snack while getting their coffee. Banking on Chris’ baking skills, the couple then came up with a menu that included items like cinnamon rolls, brownies, croissants, bagels, etc.

As word spread, coffee lovers from all around the city also started to flock to the cafe. By the second year, North End opened its second branch and the third one was launched the next year.

Rick himself, despite being the managing director, worked as a barista and coffee roaster for several years in an effort to give the cafe a solid foundation while showing his employees the ropes.

“At the beginning, most of the customers were foreigners or expatriates. But now, at least 90 per cent of our customers are locals thanks to North End’s popularity and the growing coffee culture,” said the company’s Chief Commercial Officer Rajoan Hasan.

North End coffee shops have become a second home for many coffee lovers while a large sum of people uses the cafes to take interviews and for various social meetups, he said.

Their menu now has both hot and cold coffees, teas and beverages and different types of mouth-watering quick bites, including pastry, muffins, cookies, yoghurt, shortbread, sandwiches, etc.

Creating professional culture

From the beginning, North End highly maintained a healthy professional culture that was very rare in Bangladesh in general.

Rick had focused on creating a professional culture while providing satisfactory services to customers and supplying quality coffee to the market.

“We never judge or treat our customers based on their clothes, appearances or identity. All customers are treated equally. No one gets special attention,” said Rajoan, who had joined North End as a barista in 2012.

The six core values North End maintains are human value, leadership, integrity, connecting, conflict resolution and teamwork, added Rajoan, a marketing graduate from the International University of Business Agriculture and Technology.

Creating jobs, entrepreneurs

While the business of roasting and supplying coffee beans is growing, North End is mostly focused on creating the coffee culture and cultivating and training entrepreneurs who want to launch their cafes.

They are providing the necessary training and equipment required to open coffee shops and take care of the coffee machines, and consulting services.

North End, as it says on its website, also partners with different community organizations in developing coffee and pastry services.

At its academy, anyone — entrepreneurs, coffee shop employees or general people — can apply to take the professional barista classes.

The six-hour-long training program is attended by 30 to 40 participants on average. Sometimes, the number even crosses 100.

Many cafe owners have started their businesses around the city after receiving this training and are now well-known in the sector. Some of the trainees have even established their coffee shop brands.

Through consulting services, North End’s team of specialists helps coffee entrepreneurs solve the problems they are facing and develop their services and expand, creating more jobs.

Their goal is to help the cafes grow and improve the coffee industry here.

Part-time jobs for students

North End highly encourages students to work there as part-time and full-time employees as they offer decent salaries and flexible hours.

Students from many institutions, including Dhaka University, Eden Mohila College, East West University, North South University and Independent University, Bangladesh, currently work at the North End cafes. Many of them are baristas.

They get paid by the hour and can adjust their working hours in line with their classes, which does not hamper their studies.

The company currently has more than 300 employees and at least 50 per cent of them are students from different universities and colleges around Dhaka city.

“We always try and motivate the students to continue their studies along with the job. We also urge them to work, learn and improve when they have free time after classes.

“We hope it helps them to become self-reliant while gathering work experiences for future jobs, said Rajoan.

Marketing strategy

North End also has a different approach when it comes to marketing strategy.

The key strategy is face to face marketing — which mainly banks on the quality coffee North End serves to customers with excellent service and the expectation that the customers will share their experience with others. So far, that has not failed.

“We won’t just serve you a cup of coffee. Our goal is to provide you with an experience that will impress you so much that you will definitely share it with others.

“North End does not believe in doing marketing by itself but wants to market its services via the customers’ experience,” said Rajoan.

“Maintaining consistency of our services and the taste of our coffees and foods is always a big challenge. That’s why we focus on keeping abreast of the customers’ demands and needs. North End never compromises when it comes to customer satisfaction,” he stressed.

Helping local production

North End’s green coffee beans are imported from several countries, including Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Kenya, Indonesia’s Sumatra, Panama, Honduras and Papua New Guinea.

It also collects coffee beans from the farmers in Bangladesh, although that amount is very small. For example, the company has collected nearly 500 kgs of coffee this year so far from local farmers.

North End is also working in collaboration with USAID, FAO and several NGOs to train the farmers and boost the local coffee production. Rick has been involved every step of the way.

The company is encouraging and patronising the farmers in the country’s hilly areas to produce coffee, focusing on the commercial values.

Up until last year, coffee is grown in three districts of Chattogram Hill Tracts (CHT) — Bandarban, Khagrachhari and Rangamati — on a large scale and in Tangail, Rangpur and Nilphamari on an experimental basis, according to media reports. North End buys almost all the coffee grown in these areas.

Coffee grown in the three CHT districts can be as good as the ones from the Central and South American countries, Rick said.

Growing coffee market

Coffee shops have become major recreational places in the capital city for people looking to spend some quality time with friends, family or colleagues.

Thanks to remarkable economic growth, coffee has become one of the most popular beverages besides tea. Considering health values and unique tastes, more and more consumers are gradually leaning towards coffee.

As a result, the demand for North End’s coffee has witnessed a robust growth year on year.

North End currently supplies coffee beans to many upscale cafes, clubs and hotels in Dhaka city, including The Westin, Radisson Blu Water Garden Hotel, Pan Pacific Sonargaon, InterContinental, American Club, and International Recreation Club.

Due to their impeccable quality and taste, North End has become the most reliable company to buy coffee from. It supplies nearly 80 tonnes of coffee to the local market annually.

It also launched the country’s first-ever coffee bags, named “Trujo,” in 2016, which is available at all 10 North End outlets and on the e-commerce websites.

North End is on the way to reaching the international market as it has received offers from Sri Lanka, India and Pakistan in recent times.

It was all set to launch its operation in Sri Lanka but could not due to the ongoing economic and national crises in the island country.

However, North End officials are very hopeful of seeing its outlets in other countries in the next few years.