Coffee lovers, we come to you with good news. Mobile Vikings is starting a collaboration with the Etno Cafe, whose history began with a friendship with a certain... Ethiopian. Their own roastery, a cold brew coffee bottling plant, a return to roots, and attention to products from start to finish are the elements that contribute to the success of this place. As part of our collaboration, Vikings can count on a series of promotions. We're starting with croissants. All you need to do is bring two friends with you, and each of you order a coffee, and you'll each receive a complimentary croissant.
Choosing a plantation, placing an order for green beans, transport by ship through the Suez Canal, the Mediterranean Sea, and the North Sea to Europe, roasting in their own roastery in Wrocław, and selling on-site. This is, in brief, the journey of the coffee you can taste at Etno Cafe. And although the cafe also imports coffee from Rwanda, Kenya, El Salvador, Papua New Guinea, and Brazil, it was the connections with Ethiopia – the homeland of coffee – that initiated this well-known Wrocław business. Want to learn its secrets? We invite you to read an interview with Karolina Kuganda – Brand Manager of Etno Cafe.
➡ What was the idea behind Etno Cafe?
At the end of 2010, a certain Ethiopian came to study for his doctorate at Jagiellonian University, and he is currently our partner – Natnael Hamda. We helped him acclimatize to the new place, and in the end… we became friends. Our shared meetings and long conversations were always accompanied by a cup of excellent coffee that Natnael offered us. Both in taste and aroma, it was unlike the store-bought products we knew as coffee before. Eventually, the question had to be asked: "Natnael, where do you get this coffee from?" to which he replied with a smile: "Where from? From my family!". At that very moment, the idea was born in our minds to start importing coffee from Natnael's homeland, and then roasting and selling it in Poland. And so it happened. This is how the first Polish-Ethiopian company importing coffee to Poland was established. Then came the natural path of development; we wanted to take full care to ensure that a good product was served the way we wanted it to be, hence, after a few years of operation, we entered the cafe market.
➡ What makes your coffee unique compared to other brands?
It depends on who and what we are comparing ourselves to. As for the coffee itself, it is craft-roasted in our roastery. The roasters create a roasting profile, extracting the optimal taste and aroma potential from the beans. We have two coffee brands: Etno Cafe and Wroasters; we dedicate the latter to alternative brewing methods. We respect the beans we work with, because, for example, in the case of Ethiopian coffees, the beans are hand-picked, unlike in the case of shelf coffees where it's done industrially. Green beans are picked only when they reach the appropriate level of ripeness, not according to the principle of "everything that falls into the machine." Having such beans, we don't have to roast them dark, thus depriving them of the full spectrum of flavor nuances. As for the cafes, an undeniable distinguishing factor is the fact that our guests know the exact roasting date, and therefore, they always drink freshly roasted coffee. I think they can also feel that coffee is something we like to play with, so in addition to classic coffees, we have so-called alternatives, but also non-standard offerings such as "Vietnamese pour-over" or a drink based on cold brew coffee, which we produce ourselves in our "coffee brewery."
➡ Can you tell us more about your products?
Etno Cafe products are freshly roasted coffee, authentic taste, respect for good beans, including from our grower friends, and the hearts of many people involved in the entire production process. In our offer, we have both bean coffees dedicated to all "brewers," 100% Arabica, WROASTERS and Etno Cafe, sourced from different parts of the world, as well as cold-macerated coffee, which is healthy stimulation with a large dose of caffeine. Our cafes are located in Wrocław, Warsaw, Poznań, Szczecin, and Leszno, but we are not closing ourselves off to other cities and we want to infect the rest of Poland with our love for real coffee.
➡ Why Mobile Vikings specifically? What prompted you to cooperate with us?
For us, a cafe is more than just coffee, cake, a newspaper, and a comfy sofa. We try to go the extra mile and show that even in an industry like ours, you can think outside the box. Just like Mobile Vikings, which approaches customer relationship building differently than its competitors. You speak directly and are authentic in your actions. You constantly improve your offer with your Vikings' changing needs in mind. In turn, we offer products that we care for from start to finish, to meet the expectations of our cafe visitors, but also to surprise them positively. In a word, as you say? #ForYourOwnEverything?
➡ What special offer have you prepared for Vikings?
We want Etno Cafe to become a meeting place for Vikings, so we warmly invite you to visit our cafes. As part of our collaboration, we have prepared a series of promotions for you, which will take different forms from time to time. We're starting with croissants.
The rule is simple – if you bring two friends with you and order 3 coffees of your choice, you will each receive a complimentary croissant 🙂
