Nairobi Java House was rated no. 30 in the just concluded Nation Media Group/KPMG/Steadman Research survey resulting in the Top 100 Mid Sized Companies . And last week Friday, I (accidentally) broke my boycott and limped to Java Adams for lunch with wife. I’m sure the rest who boycotted had resumed long before me. The boycott was pending the outcome of a court case against one of the directors for “grossly breaking the law”!
Anyway, the feature on Java in today’s Business Daily newspaper is quite interesting. Nine things I have gleaned from this feature about Java are:
1. The Java Brand name has grown without an advertising budget.
2. The name “Java” is form a place in Indonesia where Americans used to import the bulk of its coffee.
3. “It was harder to grow from one branch to three branches, than it has been to grow from three branches to ten” – Kevin Ashley, CEO.
4. Java serves more than 6,000 customers daily. Assuming they spend an average of Kshs.500 each, that’s about Kshs.3m per day! (Kshs.3m in perspective is the price of a good , new Benz, a three bedroomed apartment in Thika, and Nairobi Chapel’s average monthly tithes and offering!)
5. Java raised its employees’ salaries this year when others were laying off staff in the hospitality industry.
6. Java contributes Kshs.125m in direct and indirect taxes.
7. Java is considering listing in the Nairobi Stock Exchange.
8. Java has some of Kenya’s leading industry captains on its board.
9. Java recently acquired the luxury bar and restaurant, Mercury Lounge at ABC Place.
The Nairobi Java House also has 9 outlets with one more scheduled to open at Sarit Centre in December
1. Yaya Centre.
2. The Junction.
3. Mama Ngina Street.
4. Koinange Street.
5. Gigiri.
6. ABC Place.
7. Adams Aracade.
8. JKIA
9. Upper Hill medical Centre.
Clearly, I jave separated the man, his sins and his coffee house.
how much did they pay you to market?
well i must disagree, there was a time i was a Java being….and trust me it was not the whole 2hot water lemon” (trust me, i knew the staff by name, i knew the menu by memory – thanks to one Ashlee Ndambo)
i did boycott when the saga began, but two months ago i decided to give it a try. i beleive in second chances. and the serves is MBOFF, the waiters take their time before they serve you, the portions have been radically reduced, the waiters will quarell right infront of the customer….just a whole lotta stuff. so after trying to eat there two more times, and making my pettion known to the managers, Sirudi Java…..Naenda Kenchic
By: Thesh on December 17, 2009
at 3:15 pm