Start-up Nau, wants to popularize specialty coffees for Brazilians

With an initial investment of R$ 500k, the company even wants to open its own coffee shops

Once upon a time, there were three Brazilian friends who met in Dublin, Ireland, and who, in addition to their patriotic ties, nurtured another shared passion: special coffees.

Fabiano Strey, 37, entrepreneur, IT operations manager at Google’s European headquarters, investor and start-up mentor at Wow.ac; Gilberto Strey, 47, administrator, who acted as an investment agent for XP Investimentos, and Public Relations, Mariana Finco Chryssafidis, 35, decided to unite their expertise to launch Nau.

Fabiano, who continues to live in Dublin, Mariana in Londrina and Gilberto in Porto Alegre, have never accepted the fact that, despite the history of Brazil, they could only find good Brazilian coffees abroad and thus, two years ago, began to think with more affection about the idea of undertaking in the area.

“We want to democratize Brazilian special category coffee through the product, of course, and also in the way of making communication”, explains Mariana. “Because we do not have a past linked to coffee, we will contribute with new and fresh ideas”, she bets.

Branding: the blue coffee

Up to now, R$ 500,000 have already been invested in the brand’s branding project, led by TV1, in the development of e-commerce and purchasing special coffees.

“We believe that making the first investment in market research, studying consumer behavior, planning and developing a consistent brand is critical to our success”, explains Mariana.

 (Nau coffee packaging: the blue color refers to the maritime theme)

“We opted for a concept that is neither inspired by the traditional earthy tones, brown and black, nor by the luxury or complicated names to define each coffee flavor”, says Mariana. The company name was inspired by the old caravels, who brought their explorers from distant lands, and by the importance of water, fundamental from planting to the preparation of coffee in the cup.

Capsules

As they wanted to get new customers to the world of specialty coffee, the company decided to start sales with specialty coffee in capsules. “The capsule consumer is looking for better quality coffee, but they do not necessarily know the difference between coffee commodity and specialty coffee. We believe that the capsule can act as a bridge between these two worlds”, clarifies the partner.

Specialty coffee sales to date are made exclusively on www.nau.cafe and through the partner named Café Fácil www.cafefacil.com.br. “By advertising on facebook alone, we managed to capture more than 600 clients in an organic way in almost four months of activities, with an average repurchase of 30%, “says Mariana. The expectation is to close the year with an estimated billing of R$ 90k.

(Packaging of coffee capsules from Nau, which is sold exclusively online)

For the coming year, the plans are ambitious: they intend to expand the brand to the South and Southeast regions and, by 2020, to internationalize the brand and open a model cafeteria. “In three years, we want to be recognized for our competence in selecting and democratizing Brazil’s special category cafes, through the quality of our products and our relationship with people”, explains Mariana. In addition, the plans include exports to Mercosur and to the US.

Nau’s specialty coffee

Nau buys only microbatches and only works with single origin coffee, above 83 points from the SCAA methodology. At first, the samples are sent for analysis at the Savassi Certifier, in Patrocínio, Minas Gerais. The capsule coffees are sent to Kaffa, in Ribeirão Preto, SP, where the roaster master defines the roasting curve and also performs grinding and encapsulation operations. On the other hand, the coffee beans are roasted and packaged in the partner microrefraction, also in Patrocínio. From there, the coffee goes to three distribution centers: São Paulo, Londrina and Porto Alegre. The whole process is personally accompanied by Gilberto. “In the near future, we will establish a micro-refraction of our own in Londrina”, says Mariana.

As a matter-of-fact, in addition to being an administrator, Gilberto is also a deep coffee connoisseur, and also acts as a coffee classifier and taster, besides being having a good knowledge on toasting and grains trading.

Currently, they are selling specialty coffees from the Capelo & Cunhas and Florence farm, from the Minas Gerais cerrado and from Marapé, Espírito Santo. For the next harvest, there will be a special edition of a specialty coffee with more than 85 points, by producer Edemar Zuccon, from Espírito Santo, from the 2016/17 harvest, and from Quintas de Guimarães, 2017/18 harvest

(Gilberto Strey participating in the roast processes of Nau)

Another requirement is that they only work with producers who own a UZT certification and prioritize bicycle deliveries. All packaging is recyclable and will soon be launching biodegradable capsules.

The teacher and Grão Especial’s partner Julio Moreira,was invited to write a brief analisis about Nau’s branding. Read it next:

In a world with too many offers and, as a consequence, many competitors, it is always good to see a company that pursues differentiation, staying away from “herd behavior:” copying already established standards. In this case, I am referring to the specialty coffee brand Nau, based in Londrina, Paraná. To do this, when launching its new packaging, the company avoided the traditional coffee colors – brown, beige, and similar ones. The use of the colors white and blue allow one to stand out from the crowd in the retail gondolas. Colors are essential to building a brand identity and helping delimit a visual territory for the company’s products. In the beginning, it may be difficult to note that these new codes are related to a coffee product. That is a risk to which the brand may be exposed if it does not have the strength to communicate the new concept to consumers.

 Another important and also risky aspect is the association that the brand wishes to establish with “water.”’. The experts are aware that water is crucial for the preparation of good coffee. Many fantastic grains may lose their qualities during preparation, but also, many people may associate the focus on “water” with a weak or watered-down coffee. I recommend care in this area, which can be easily done, if the brand takes ownership of the concept that it wishes to create ranging from the history of navigation to the arrival of the grains to the new world and now, with Brazilian coffee exports to the whole world.

Consumers of specialty coffees buy high-quality products, so it is very interesting that Nau only has micro batches with a score above 80 points according to the criteria of BSCA (Brazilian Association of Specialty Coffees). Furthermore, in addition to quality, one of the important factors in the purchase decision is the storytelling of the grain. People wish to know about the farm, the region, and the people who produced this coffee. Quality, social and environmental sustainability are basic conditions for participation in the specialty coffee market both in Brazil and abroad. What stands out in the process of choice is consumers’ emotional involvement with the brand. Nau appears to understand the experience of consumers who wish to buy a great coffee, but who do not need /names that complicate the purchase. Being simple and straightforward, with no complicated names on the type of coffee, helps people easily identify what they are looking for in a specialty coffee, generating more engagement with the brand.

Julio Moreira – Place Branding consultant and Professor at ESPM – São Paulo