Maybe its the steaming cup of coffee you’re handed upon arrival, but meeting up with Christo König always instills a deep warmth.
We sat down with him to hear the story of König Coffee, starting from accounting and project management to running a coffee empire that centers around trust, service, intergrity, and simply making South Africans happy.
German: König der (pl. Könige)
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king
König des Kaffees— king of the coffee
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“Rent a coffee Machine. Build your own Business.”
Before coffee, Christo worked in corporate accounting, then project management. It was a life of long hours away from home, missing his family, and coffee so bad he considered doing the inimaginable: switching to tea. It was clearly time for a change.
“I found on the internet an advert at the bottom of a newsite for this coffee company. Build your own business. Rent a coffee machine to the customer. That was your product. And I thought, there’s something in that…”
The idea of combining recurring income with better workplace coffee appealed to him. He bought his first seven machines in 2003, placing them in offices and supplying coffee beans. One of those early clients is still with him 22 years later.
The Joy of Being The Coffee Guy
“You’re walking into big businesses and they start calling you ‘The Coffee Guy’. When they see the coffee guy, they smile. You walk in there with bags of coffee, you clean the machine, you refill it and everybody’s happy. Yes, now we can drink coffee again.”
It was through his coffee company that Christo stumbled across the value of creating solid relationships in business. In his words:
“it’s about relationships and integrity, not just profit”.
He loves the process of creating the best possible product, because supplying good quality coffee to his cutomers is dignifying the act of drinking coffee. He describes coffee as a “love-buy”. That’s why he uses the best beans and quality packaging. It’s honouring the ritual of a great cup of coffee.
Entrepreneurialism, Farm Stalls, And The Love for South Africa
König Coffee grew through the great South African tradition of farm stalls. His first major client was a family favourite farm stall on the N7, and he has since accompanied the enterprise through the inevitable peaks and valleys of independent business ownership.
“Those people out there – they’re the real businesspeople.
They make it work with what they’ve got.”
In Christo’s eyes, it’s these farm stalls that inject vitality into local economies, serving as anchors for communities. While many view farm stalls to be pitstops to punctuate a journey, Christo understands that they hold the weight of a destination.
“They show what makes South Africa unique.”
Not only in the beauty of local countryside and regional tastes, but in that distinct spirit of entrepreneurialism that is is so specific to South Africa.
On EVs And Infrastructure
When asked about electric vehicles (EVs), Christo agrees that the biggest barrier to electrifying mobility in South Africa is the lack of widespread charging infrastructure. Reflecting on a recent trip to China, he noted how striking it was to see the shift to EVs there, where almost every vehicle on the road is silent and non-polluting.
He predicts that South Africa will follow the same trend.
“It’s just better to drive with an EV, but you need to be able to charge it. If you’re going to go to Uppington, or Bloemfontein, or Cape Town to Joburg, to Durban or Ballito or Richard’s Bay, you need to go be able to charge it.”
And that’s where he supports CHARGE. When there is a reliable national network of chargers, the case for EVs will become an obvious one. Especially when accompanied by solar microgrids.
Christo relies on solar power to roast his coffee, and believes it is the answer to energy security in South Africa (among most other countries).
“In an environment like Africa, China, India where our electrical network is just not sustainable for entrepreneurs and growth, you have to find something different… The only way that we can grow, the only way that I can roast coffee when I want to roast coffee is to generate my own electricity.”
Christo’s story is about people. The joy of serving others, the pride in building something local, and empowering local enterprise. König Coffee and Zero Carbon Charge share a vision of South Africa that is powered by solar, yes, but also by people with resilience, entrepreneurialism, and a strong sense of community.
