SA tech startup aims to support Cape Town coffee shops

Froth, a Cape Town-based tech startup has created an innovative platform to assist local coffee shops in boosting customer reach and overall revenue. 

Froth’s innovative app is available on both iOS and Android devices

Founded in April 2019, by entrepreneur trio Jonathan Kingwill, Jamie Rood, and Bryn Lake, Froth is a unique tech startup aimed at the coffee shop industry in Cape Town. 

The tech startup has been completely bootstrapped to date but has reported that it is currently in talks with an undisclosed investor for a seed round of funding. 

In an interview with Ventureburn, Bryan Lake, co-founder and CMO of Froth provides insight into the inspiration behind the creation of Froth.

“To keep life interesting we tried to work from as many coffee shops around Cape Town as we could. We fell in love with the coffee culture and got to know the baristas, owners, and independent community who frequented these spots. We started introducing our friends, who would generally go to the chains, to independent and local cafés. Like us, they got drawn in. The coffee shops were grateful for us referring our friends while our friends were excited to be able to experience something more authentic and support local. The concept of Froth was born.”

Froth aims to support local, independent entrepreneurs and their businesses by showcasing unique coffee shops and assisting in increasing margins and revenue for listed coffee shops. 

How does it work? 

Utilising an online app-based platform dedicated to coffee lovers and coffee shops in Cape Town, Froth is available on both iOS and Android devices. 

Lake explains that the platform works in a symbiotic relationship between listed coffee shops and coffee lovers, offering a wider customer reach to business owners and discounts for users.

“In short, we are a marketing platform for independent coffee shops, showcasing the best coffee shops to our growing community of coffee lovers. Froth makes use of mobile payments on the coffee drinker side. A coffee drinker making use of Froth is able to navigate to their chosen coffee shop, pay for their coffee using a QR code located in-store, and gain discounts & loyalty.”

Partner coffee shops are paid out weekly through the startup’s payment distribution platform. In addition, listed coffee shops on the app are provided access to insightful data to assist in improving their customer engagement and retention.

“The platform also aims to encourage repeat, and consistent purchases, through our unique rising discount model, and to allow shops to make use of coffee to upsell other products to customers,” adds Lake.

Users are able to make use of the built-in digital loyalty system to pay for their fresh cup of joe. 

Lake explains that the startup is working on developing a supplier distribution network. 

“Lastly, we are currently laying the groundwork for a supplier portal for our coffee shop partners in which suppliers will have access to new customers, all with the aim of creating economies of scale for local and independent coffee shops.”

Benefits 

Froth aims to benefit both listed coffee shops and users in the following ways: 

• There are no monthly fees or set up fees for listed coffee shops to be hosted on the platform
• As a community of independent coffee shops, Froth is able to gain the economies of scale that only the chains have and thus, reduce costs and increase margins for partner shops.
• Coffee shops are provided the opportunity to sell other products to new and loyal customers 
• Users can access discounts on their coffee orders ranging from between 10% to 20% of each order. The discount applied depends on the user’s behaviour on the platform. 

” Once they purchase a coffee from one of our partner shops, the user begins acquiring loyalty points at each café – getting their 10th coffee for free.”

Lake concludes with what makes Froth a unique app and tech startup. 

“Coffee can never be part of the existing food delivery network as the quality diminishes significantly each minute it is being transported. This solution is unique to coffee & solely focused on the coffee industry. Cashless payment apps facilitate payments for all industries and therefore, will never have the added element of the community. Digital loyalty apps don’t have payments meaning its a hindrance to the customer experience – we’ve brought these two concepts together. For coffee shops, we bring them, customers, without them needing to implement any campaigns, strategies, or allocate budget. Froth then brings the independent coffee shops together to have the benefits of purchasing power with suppliers across the value chain without losing their authenticity.”

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Featured image: Bryn Lake and Jonathan Kingwill, co-founders of Froth (Supplied)