Looking Back Part 1 - Inspiration

We travelled to the Big Island of Hawaii in October 2007 to participate in the Ironman World Championships held in Kailua-Kona. To be a bit more precise_ Simone taking part and Denise cheering and supporting. Little did we know that we were headed straight for a coffee origin but we were soon to find out. There was hardly a coffee place where they didn't serve Kona Coffee. We spent quite a bit of regenerative time at Lava Java Coffee Shop on Alii Drive sipping Coffee in a fun coffee shop environment whilst watching the other Triathletes ruin their race-form last-minute.

The combination of origin-focused coffee in a relaxed and fun place was completely different than what a coffee place looked like in Switzerland back in those days_ Due to a strong Italian influence, coffee was rather stiff and old-fashioned while trying to be romantic (just think of all the Caffè Amore and the black-gold-red colors). Or on the other side more the Grandma-style focusing on century-old heritage. But nothing that really appealed to our generation and so this American coffee experience was very refreshing.

To top things off, a coffee company called Coffees of Hawaii set up a fantastic guerilla marketing campaign_ At the Kona Pier, where each morning all the athletes would gather for a small training session on the swim course, there was a lady with a "Coffee Bar" sign pointing out to sea and arrows on the seabed pointing in the same direction. About a half-mile offshore there was a catamaran handing out shots of coffee to keep all the athletes caffeinated. Talk about cool coffee culture!

This was our inspiration to start our own coffee business and make coffee a bit more fun in Switzerland.