Introduction to Red2Roast
Red2Roast is a vertically integrated specialty coffee company bridging the exceptional, high-altitude coffee of Uganda’s Rwenzori Mountains with the lucrative European consumer market. By combining deep local relationships with cutting-edge processing technology and autonomous sales systems, we aim to redefine how specialty coffee is produced, marketed, and sold.
The Origin and the Opportunity
Uganda is traditionally known as an exporter of bulk Robusta coffee. Consequently, large coffee corporations often buy in bulk and treat the country's mountainous Arabica coffees as commercial-grade. However, coffee grown in these high-altitude regions holds the potential for exceptional quality.
Through our local director, Joshua, Red2Roast has established strong relationships with a network of 2,500 smallholder farmers. To test the true potential of their harvest, we processed small quantities of coffee using traditional methods and achieved an impressive cupping score of 84.75 (independently verified by European roasters).
Our deep analysis revealed that the difference between commercial coffee and high-scoring specialty coffee lies in the biological conversion of the red berries into green beans. Farmers and cooperatives often miss the mark during this phase. Success requires precise measurements, data-driven processes, and modern technology.
Operations, Tech, and Unit Economics
To capitalize on this and turn Red2Roast Uganda into a premier specialty coffee specialist, we have established Red2Roast Europe BV in the Netherlands.
- Production & ERP: We have designed a localized processing facility and are currently writing proprietary ERP software to manage it. This facility is modeled to handle a capacity of 5 containers (320 bags of 60 kg) per month.
- The Margin: The landed cost of our coffee in Amsterdam is between $8 and $9 USD per kg, while the retail price for specialty coffee in Europe starts at €45 and scales upwards.
- Social Impact: To ensure a sustainable and ethical supply chain, 10% of our revenue is deposited into the Red Cherry Foundation. This is not a charity, but an investment vehicle designed to fund better technology for our smallholder farmers and provide them with an end-of-season dividend.
Go-To-Market Strategy: Autonomous Agents
To capture the maximum possible margin between our landed costs and European retail prices, we are deploying proprietary autonomous sales and marketing agents. The core technology for this system is finished, currently in beta testing, and requires a maximum of two weeks to enter full production.
Because our initial coffee inventory is already landed and available, our most capital-efficient go-to-market strategy is a two-stage pilot program. This will validate our business case before initiating our primary fundraising round.
Stage 1: The Proof of Concept
Budget & Timeline: Requires a capped €5,000 budget and takes exactly 6 weeks.
Objective: To prove that our autonomous agents can successfully sell our initial inventory (5 bags of green beans and all 250g bags of roasted coffee).
Stage 2: The Scale-up Simulation
Upon passing Stage 1, we will immediately simulate our ability to cover all fixed and variable costs modeled in our business case using the remaining 53 bags of green coffee already in the warehouse (a sunk cost of ~€25,440). Sales velocity is the critical driver here, dictating our cash flow against our fixed overhead.
Stage 2 Capital Requirements
- Working Capital: To process, toll-roast (€3,816), and market this inventory at a target 40% Direct-to-Consumer (D2C) / 60% Wholesale (B2B) split, the gross working capital required is approximately €46,400.
- The "Clock" (Fixed Overhead): We will be burning €7,475 per week for an estimated 3.5 weeks (€26,162 total).
- The Cash Flow Caveat: Because the 60% B2B wholesale allocation generates immediate revenue (~€26,700) and distributors cover their own freight, wholesale effectively covers the entire monthly TopCo OPEX burn.
Actual Funding Required: Therefore, the actual funding required to float Stage 2 is conservatively just €20,000 to €25,000 to cover D2C marketing (AI Marketing CAC: €4,693), logistics/fulfillment (€11,733), and roasting until consumer revenue hits the bank.
We intend to initiate the primary fundraise for the business as soon as Stage 1 shows definitive signs of success. (Please explore the dashboards below for the full business case and our defined metrics for success regarding this pilot).
Proef met autonomous agents
De focus ligt nu op het genereren van verkopen. Hiermee tonen we aan dat het businessmodel werkt. Teneinde de kosten tot een minimum te beperken gaan we twee stadia uitvoeren: proof of concept (stadium 1) gevolgd door een simulatie van de businesscase om additioneel kapitaal aan te trekken (stadium 2).
Stadium 1 vereist 5.000 euro en duurt 6 weken. Het doel is om aan te tonen dat we 5 zakken groene bonen en alle 250 gram zakken koffie kunnen verkopen.
Stadium 2 moet aantonen dat we met de resterende koffie de vaste lasten kunnen dekken (zie 2. Assumptions). Hierbij is het van belang dat we dit in 3-4 weken kunnen realiseren. Op dat moment hebben we de businesscase bewezen.
Werkkapitaal voor stadium 2
De 53 zakken met groene bonen zijn al in het magazijn. Om deze voorraad te verwerken, te branden en te vermarkten is een werkkapitaal nodig van ongeveer 46.400 euro (uitgaande van 40% D2C en 60% B2B).
- De klok tikt door de vaste kosten: Hierdoor moet er voor minimaal €7.475 per week worden verkocht (burn rate).
- De D2C-verwerking kost: €3.800 voor het branden, €4.700 voor marketing en €11.800 voor de logistiek.
Belangrijke toevoeging: De groothandel dekt de vaste lasten. Er is ongeveer €20.000 - €25.000 nodig voor de D2C, maar in deze fase is er nog geen salespersoneel (€12.000) en wat begrote kosten. Hierdoor zullen de out-of-pocketkosten rond de €10.000 liggen voor dit stadium.
Achtereenvolgens is er een uitwerking van de beschreven test, de begrote kosten voor de business en de uitwerking van de verwachte opbrengsten per container.
Red2Roast Omnichannel Scale
Scaling Demand while Protecting Wholesale
Our Direct-to-Consumer (D2C) demand is projected to scale steadily over 38 months to a target of 10,600 orders per month. To ensure our B2B wholesale relationships are never starved as the consumer business grows, our financial model enforces a strict structural ceiling: our European retail arm is capped at pulling a maximum of 60% of the total Ugandan harvest. Any coffee produced beyond this ceiling, or beyond what Europe immediately needs, is automatically swept into the global wholesale market.
High Margins, Low Volume Dependency
Because our D2C coffee commands a premium retail price, it is projected to generate over 80% of our total revenue by 2030 ($8.7M), despite consuming only ~15% of our total physical coffee supply. Even at maximum scale, the European operation only requires an average of 1.3 containers per month across both D2C and local EU Wholesale channels. This leaves the vast majority of our 5-container monthly production (3.7 containers) to be sold profitably as green beans directly out of Africa.
Efficient Supply Chain & Inventory Control
To maximize capital efficiency, our European supply chain operates strictly in full-container shipments (19,200 kg) pulled directly from the Mombasa port. We maintain a conservative 6-month safety buffer in Europe to protect against shipping delays. In practice, our pipeline dynamically pulls the next full container the moment inventory dips below our safety threshold. This ensures we never deal with inefficient partial shipments, averaging exactly 15 full container shipments annually at peak scale.
Red2Roast Investor Portal
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