The Coffee

The Coffee is a Brazilian specialty coffee chain and roaster operating compact, minimalist stores inspired by Japanese café culture. Customers place orders and pay themselves via an in-store tablet or the company's iOS/Android app; the stores are cashless, so baristas focus solely on drink preparation. The menu is deliberately short and includes proprietary drink names such as Black Ginger and Pure Black (its espresso), developed with baristas and coffee specialists, spanning hot and cold beverages.

The company selects and roasts its own beans in Curitiba, Brazil, where a roast master defines the roast curve (time and temperature) used for its coffees. A dedicated "coffee hunter" sources from farms and high-scoring crops in Brazilian regions including São Paulo and Minas Gerais, and the company states it serves only coffees scoring 84 points and above. Because roasted coffee loses quality within about a month, green coffee is shipped from Brazilian producers and roasted in Europe for its European stores, for which the company built its own roasting centre and local team rather than appointing a master franchisee.

Stores come in five formats: street (12 m²), hybrid (25 m²), mall corner (24 m²), mall store (40 m²) and a modular container installed in car parks. The company positions itself within the "third wave" of coffee, aiming to become the leading brand of that wave in contrast with second-wave chains such as Starbucks.

Founding story

Brothers Carlos, Alexandre and Luis Fertonani, from Curitiba, had long wanted to open a coffee shop and developed the concept after several trips to Japan, drawing on Japanese simplicity, minimalism, technology use and pursuit of perfection. They set out to bring "to go" coffee culture to Brazil, opening the first The Coffee store on Al. Prudente de Moraes in Curitiba. Alexandre was previously a commercial director at Latam Airlines, Luis is a designer and led the brand identity, and Carlos serves as CEO.

Business model

Growth is driven primarily by franchising, with company-owned stores in strategic locations. As of the Bloomberg Línea report, 195 stores were open, of which 18 were company-owned and the remainder franchised. The franchisor captures a larger share of system revenue than typical chains because, in addition to royalties and franchise fees, it sells inputs (coffee and supplies) and licenses its own ERP software to franchisees; with store cost of goods sold around 30%, management estimated the franchisor retains 40-50% of total system revenue. An e-commerce channel selling branded specialty coffees was also planned.

Revenue comes from franchise fees and royalties, sales of inputs to franchised stores, licensing of its proprietary ERP software, sales at company-owned stores, and a planned e-commerce channel for branded specialty coffee. Brazil Journal reported the 150-store network generating around R$5 million per month, an annualised R$60 million, with expectations of closing that year at R$100 million.

Traction

Reported store counts progressed from 30 stores in Brazil at the time of the 2020 Series A, to 150 stores (10 abroad) reported by Brazil Journal, to 195 stores including 11 in Europe (18 company-owned) with 80 employees covering technology staff and baristas at the time of the December 2022 round. Brazil Journal reported network revenue of roughly R$5 million per month (R$60 million annualised) at 150 stores.

Latest developments

World Coffee Portal published an interview with CEO and Co-founder Carlos Fertonani in October 2024 describing accelerated international expansion in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East and Asia, and in August 2026 reported that the company was planning one of its most significant international moves to date.