He brings that cup of coffee near you

What you need to know:

Coffee dimes. If you are regular at most social events in Kampala, you have most likely chanced on a bike with coffee-making equipment. Dennis Agaba supplements his salary by vending coffee on bikes across the city.

Growing up in the chilly south western Uganda district Kabale, Dennis Agaba followed his father to the gardens where the latter grew coffee. It was the family’s source of livelihood. When Agaba got placement at Kampala Serena Hotel as a barista, his dream was to add value to coffee first but also find ways to take the coffee as a personal initiative.
He started saving money off his salary at the hotel. His dream was to buy mobile coffee bikes on which he could prepare coffee and sell it to consumers at private and public functions. Agaba also targets social events around town.

Living his passion
The idea to vend coffee was born out of the exposure Agaba got at the international barista competitions where he had participated. He is winner of Uganda National Barista Championship and came third in the Africa Barista Challenge which earned him a ticket to fly to Dublin, Ireland in June last year, where he represented Uganda at the World Championship of Baristas.
The coffee vendor is also the National Barista Champion of 2015. The competition is organised by Uganda Coffee Development Authority (UCDA).
Agaba specialises in espresso, cappuccino and signature drinks.
“My aspiration was to create low equity coffee bikes which are mobile, flexible and affordable. I call them the Desuza Coffee Bikes. I would like to grow them into a franchise,” he explains.
With the bikes, Agaba and his partner, Jimmy Ekisa, a systems developer, have created an online and event mobile coffee shop.
Agaba is driven by hard work, research and a positive attitude towards learning new technologies in coffee brewing.

Milestones
In November last year, Agaba launched the bikes during the Coffee Festival at Mandela National Stadium in Namboole. Among the highlights of the event was a national youth pitching competition.
He has two bikes so far which have coffee-brewing accessories and each cost him Shs1.5 million in labour, design work and raw materials. Agaba spent another Shs3 million on branding, designing and hosting a website, packaging materials for the coffee and purchasing and brewing the coffee.
The bike has a small coffee machine, coffee brewing equipment and a gas stove.
The highest amount of money he has earned as profit is Shs600, 000 during an event at Mandela National Stadium.
“I like taking part in competitions because they help to showcase barista skills, best coffees and provide a networking platform. It is a good opportunity to learn the latest technologies in coffee brewing,” he adds.
Agaba markets his products online, using his company website, social media and during coffee exhibitions.
He set up the website in December last year. He paid Shs650, 000 for the domain name, hosting and design.
“I created a low equity, mobile and flexible coffee bike which can be accessed online in an easy, affordable and available way. One can rent them by logging onto the website or contacting me on our Facebook page,” he explains.
Agaba is balancing work between his job at kampala Serena hotel and his business by dedicating time during the weekend for the Desuza bikes and working days to his job.
He says he is highly commitment to clients and is honest as a way of attracting more business.
“I continue to invest in the business and I also work through legally blinded partnerships,” he says.
“As we increase coffee production to 20 million bags by 2020, domestic coffee consumption will be increased majorly by value addition and coffee awareness campaign. We are playing our role using the website because it is also our business opportunity to shine and promote our work as players in the wider coffee business process,” Agaba further explains.