Summary
734 Coffee is a social enterprise, providing ethically sourced, fair trade, naturally farmed coffee from Gambela, Ethiopia, a region which currently hosts over 700,000 refugees from South Sudan. 734 Coffee is led by Manyang Reath Kher, who spent much of his young life in a refugee camp in Gambela, before eventually earning a degree in International Law from the University of Richmond. It was there that he founded the Humanity Helping Sudan Project, a non-profit which works in close coordination with 734 Coffee. Currently 80% of profits are used to provide scholarships and education programs for refugees in Sudan.
Potential refugee impact
734 Coffee not only sources their coffee from growers who employ South Sudanese refugees, it also reinvests 80% of its profits to support education programs and scholarships for refugee youth in Gambela. 734 Coffee along with Humanity Helping Sudan Project launched Refugee CampUS to provide 100-150 individual scholarships per year.
Investment thesis
734 Coffee is in talks with Whole Foods to expand their distribution and is hoping to form partnerships with other health food stores and grocers in the near future. 734 Coffee’s clear commitment to improving the lives of refugees has helped to raise the profile of the business, attract customers, and increase distribution opportunities.
Management
Manyang Kher – Founder & CEO
Elvis Hedji – Operations
Structure
734 Coffee is the social enterprise arm of the Humanity Helping Sudan Project, a non-profit committed to helping the lives of South Sudanese. The company employs refugees in production and donates 80% proceeds to scholarships for South Sudanese refugees.