Coffee culture in the UAE is too strong. While travelling to the middle east, one thing that’s always on our bucket list is trying the Arabic Coffee. When we speak about coffee, one company that instantly comes to our mind is RAW Coffee Company. Started in 2007, by Kim Thompson, this famous company is your one-stop destination for everything coffee. So, to know more about the company, it’s launch and the coffee culture that it bought to the UAE- we had a tete a tete with Kim Thompson. Here’s how RAW became the nation’s pride by sourcing best coffee beans from their favourite roasteries around the world.
Kim Thompson, Founder Of RAW Coffee Company Moved To Dubai In 1996
The RAW Coffee company is now a known brand across the UAE, but it was not always like this. Kim Thompson, who hails from New Zealand, moved to Dubai in 1996 and was initially a homemaker. Her day revolved around her three beautiful daughters and amid that, she enjoyed a quality life. Kim and her family enjoyed exploring the region, and would often go camping, horse riding and explored the country in their leisure time. While doing all this, being a businesswoman was never her plan.
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However, while sailing with her family at the Jebel Ali Sailing Club, she came to know about this empty cafe, which was up for the grab. Before she knew anything, she owned a cafe and ran it for 18 months before the sailing club was demolished and moved. With no previous knowledge and experience in the F&B sector, Kim’s initial days were difficult, but she gained a lot from the process. She worked on her business plan for the RAW coffee company and right from choosing the brand name to selecting the DNA for the brand- she was actively involved in the process.
Matt Toogood, Co-Owner And CEO Joined The Company 2-years Later
While working on her brand, she was exposed to a better quality of products, which back in the day was not available in the UAE. Speaking about taking risks and giving it her all, Kim said,
“The first five years I didn’t take a salary or any money out of the business, every dirham we made we put back into stock or another employee’s salary.”
While Kim started the business by herself, it was Matt Toogood, who joined the business, two years later as the Co-Owner and CEO. And together after working seamlessly for over 13.5 years, they paved their way to became the face of coffee culture in the UAE. Over these years, Kim and Matt made sure to know more about coffee- it’s flavours and production. Reminiscing her initial days in business, Kim said,
“We focused on the first 6- years on knowledge, everything to do with the niche speciality coffee market. Now we spend an equal amount of time focusing on strong business practices, maintaining our core values, and staying true to our original ethics as we scale.”
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Kim And Her Team Did All Sorts Of Ground-level Marketing At The Start
Even though RAW is a prominent brand in the UAE today, back in the day, things were not simple. To ensure that people lay trust in their brand, Kim and her team did all possible ground-level marketing. Right from selling their products at Ripe Markets to attending sports events, team RAW did it all. With no social media and little knowledge of the online world, the team learnt everything in the process.
On the importance of ground-level marketing, Kim added,
“At events, we used to call out to people from behind our coffee machine who was walking past with a takeaway Starbucks for example – and offer to replace it for free with a RAW coffee! We were so cheeky and so sure of the quality of our coffee. We also used to try to stop people from adding sugar to their coffee before they tried our coffee, as they were so used to bitter dark coffee which needed sugar.”
RAW Coffee Company Was The First To Roast Lighter Coffee Beans
RAW coffee now serves authentic coffee across the UAE, and the roastery is also known to have some of the best coffees in town. Back in the 2000s, before the boom of coffee joints in the UAE, RAW was the first to roast coffee beans lighter, which helped to distinguish many of the beautiful flavours and nuances of the coffee.
The coffee company grew with time, and in the process, Kim and team stood by their core values. They knew the niche and aimed to provide nothing but premium quality, ethically sourced and freshly roasted coffee, which is still relevant even today.
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The Company Is All Vocal For Local
The company, which is all vocal for local, offers coffee freshly roasted at their warehouse in Al Quoz. While it’s all about providing the right product to the customer, RAW also believes that fresh beans are the best. And while doing all this, they assure that everything is ethical, fair and environment-friendly. About this practice, which also is the core pillar of RAW, Kim said,
“Our vision is a world where all workers are free from exploitation and discrimination, and enjoy conditions of freedom, security, and equity. Direct Trade. We enjoy strong direct relationships with our growers and partners at origin, promoting traceability, trust and clear communication. This is mutually beneficial, improving the quality of the green coffee we roast for you.”
Kim Is Proud That RAW Is A Dubai-based Brand
Even though Kim was born in New Zealand, she is always vocal about her love for Dubai. She is proud that RAW is a Dubai-based company since it allows her to meet people from different countries. She loves her team, and about them she said,
“I love my multicultural team; we have the best people working with us, the people are the key to our strength and growth in the market, including our farming partners at origin.”
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While Kim surely flagged her way to becoming a success story, her coffee knowledge impressed us more. We asked her what about an ideal cup of coffee is, and she answered,
“For me, I drink my coffee “neat” without milk or any additives. I enjoy drinking espresso, long blacks and also a well-made hand-brewed single-origin coffee. I have two favourite coffees at the moment, something I drink every day, a beautiful Ethiopian washed coffee (this was the first place I got to travel at the beginning of my coffee journey and a real favourite of mine), and then something that is a real treat, from Colombia, that is a natural processed Geisha coffee called Wush Wush. (It has been fermented using both aerobic and anaerobically fermentation methods and is super special with very complex flavours.)”
Well, the RAW company truly deserves to be where it, and the credit goes to Kim, Matt and the entire team.