Truth Coffee’s David Donde is taking on the world of chocolate

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Article by Lauren Hartzenburg on BizCommunity

David Donde, the visionary behind Truth Coffee, has broadened his horizons and launched a chocolate company with long-standing Truth COO Ken Walton. Not to be mistaken for a side hustle, the co-founders are already eyeing expansion abroad in the US and UK.

The new brand, Minimalist Chocolate, aptly describes what the pair set out to achieve when diving into the new endeavour. Minimalist Chocolate is made using just two ingredients, cocoa and milk, and despite having no added sugar, the product lacks the unpleasant bitterness one often associates with sugar-free chocolate.

“Chocolate without crap in it. That tastes good? That has a long lingering and pleasant aftertaste? Buy some, you decide,” Donde says confidently.

The coffee guru has transferred some of his knowledge from the coffee business to chocolate-making. Yet again, the secret lies in a unique roasting process, which allows Minimalist Chocolate to reach maximum flavour without sugar, soy lecithin, fructose and other additives.

“No-one is brave enough to say ‘no sugar required’. We did it with coffee in 2005 with the launch of Origin Coffee Roasting, and now we’re doing it with chocolate. The approach is simple: no bitterness in the chocolate to begin with, so no sugar needed to overcome it,” Donde says.

“We’re at a point now where you need to explicitly ask for sugar with your coffee if you want it, because good coffee doesn’t need it. Chocolate can be the same.”

While parallels can be drawn between chocolate and coffee, a wave of specialty coffee roasteries drove the sophistication and growth of coffee over the years, but chocolate has stagnated somewhat, explains Donde.

The idea for Minimalist was thus sparked with the realisation that the world of chocolate looks like coffee did before the rise of specialty roasteries.

A necessary pivot

Market potential aside, the Covid-19 pandemic played a monumental role in Donde’s decision to pivot.

Talking to Bizcommunity about what drove the move into a new product category, Donde said, “It’s simple, Covid. I need to take care of my staff.”

For this reason, many Truth employees have been involved in the development and daily operations of Minimalist Chocolate. For example, the roasting is headed up by Truth coffee roaster Oliver Rollinson, and Truth’s baker and pastry chef Bobby Kumar is now also the Minimalist chocolatier.

Daily operations, including production, are done from the Truth Coffee headquarters in Buitenkant Street, Cape Town.

Bean to bar

When developing the product, the Minimalist team sampled beans from 15 different countries, before settling on ethically-sourced cocoa from a small-scale, free trade plantation on the island of São Tomé.

After one year in development, Minimalist Chocolate launched to market in February with a small but considered range comprising sugar-free classic chocolate bars and a selection of bon bons for the sweeter toothed. A dairy-free oat milk bar is also on the way.

Minimalist Chocolate is available from Truth Coffee and online at www.minimalistchocolate.com, as well as selected specialty retailers nationwide.

Mr Price Group to buy Yuppiechef

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Article found on BizCommunity

Mr Price Group has entered into an agreement to acquire 100% of privately-owned homeware retailer Yuppiechef. The purchase consideration will be settled entirely in cash, and the Yuppiechef management team will continue to run the business with the support of the Mr Price executive team.

Andrew Smith and Shane Dryden founded Yuppiechef in 2006 with a vision to build a platform for the distribution of aspirational kitchen and homeware brands. The business has two primary operations, namely: Yuppiechef Online, the retail division comprising the online platform and seven stores, as well as a wholesale division, which develops, and imports branded goods for wholesale distribution.

Yuppiechef commenced operations as a pure e-commerce company and since 2017 has transitioned into an omnichannel retail platform. The retail division represents 85% of turnover (70% via e-commerce) and has been a pioneer of online retail in South Africa, consistently winning awards throughout its history. Most recently in 2019, Yuppiechef was voted ‘Digital Company of the Year’ at the South African National Business Awards and ‘Best Independent Retailer Store Design’ at the SACSC Retail Design & Development Awards.

Access to higher LSM customer base

In November 2020, Mr Price communicated its ambitions to invest in growth opportunities in specific segments of the market through both organic and acquisitive growth avenues. These opportunities are informed by an extensive period of research which the group believes will shape its future growth trajectory.

Within the homeware market, the opportunity to gain access to a higher LSM customer base, enabling growth of its share-of-wallet through aspirational value spending, was identified.

Escalating online retail ambitions

Mr Price says the acquisition will allow it to expand in South Africa through an established, high-growth omnichannel brand. “Profitability is a key factor in the group’s consideration of any venture, and it is satisfied with Yuppiechef’s positive bottom-line performance and prospects for margin expansion,” Mr Price says.

Mr Price CEO, Mark Blair, comments: “We are very excited about welcoming the Yuppiechef team into our family. As a founder-led business, they share our entrepreneurial roots and we are eager to jointly realise the company’s ambitions. We are partnering with a market-leading business which has won numerous awards relating to both e-commerce and stores, and Yuppiechef has a proven ability to launch private label categories which have also attracted industry recognition.”

Blair continues, “This gives Mr Price the opportunity to access the skills of a highly talented team and service a new customer base. Yuppiechef will benefit from our financial strength to accelerate growth plans which include significantly broadening the product assortment into areas where we have well-established skills and expanding its physical presence beyond the currently limited number of stores.

“We were early adopters of e-commerce in South Africa and our consistent investment has really paid off for us. Yuppiechef gives us another platform to escalate our ambitions in online retail and enables us to be strategically positioned for further growth.”

Andrew Smith, co-founder and CEO of Yuppiechef, says: “The timing is right for Yuppiechef to move forward with its growth ambitions with a partner who has a shared vision and the resources to help achieve this. I am excited about our future as a part of the Mr Price Group. They are a business which prides themselves on innovation and growth and we are strategically aligned in our plans. We share similar cultures and values which will make this an easy fit for both parties.”

The targeted effective date is subject to the fulfilment of both regulatory and commercial suspensive conditions which includes competition authority approval.