Fleet Coffee

An Introduction

Labit established Fleet Coffee Company in January 2015 as part of its Strategic goal to create new small businesses. The name FLEET COFFEE COMPANY is derived from our Lieutenant Commander Barista, Cheslin Grobbler. At the time, he was still in high school and very rebellious in nature. It was decided that the navy would be a great platform to address this and so started the jour

ney of Fleet Coffee Company. Years later, after finishing his diploma in Theology and also playing rugby semi-professionally for Boland, Cheslin started to work, as a barista, in a local coffee shop in Wellington. It was here that he was introduced to Labit and the circle was completed. Now established, FCC seeks to give similar opportunities to the youth and show them alternatives to crime related activities in our communities.

Why we exist? When observing the current state of the Wellington and greater Drakenstein Valley, it is clear that unemployment amongst youth is becoming an ever- increasing concern. The statistics back this up, with an estimated 20000 jobless individuals in the Valley. Labit believes small business to be the best, most sustainable solution to unemployment as this creates the opportunity for the community to be the answer to their own dilemma. FCC is a mobile Coffee business, which sells high quality, barista styled coffee. We believe that to train youth in the community, to also become professional baristas, is part of our calling and we take it as serious as making a profit. In the spirit of this we have partnered with Khula Development Group, a registered NPO that focuses on young boys that have fallen out of the school system and cannot be re-integrated. They were established in 2004 and are currently operating from
Paarl, Stellenbosch and Durbanville. Our partnership with them entails that we train as many boys as possible and provide job opportunities, when possible. We have already trained two boys and also provided an opportunity for them to gain practical hands-on experience. (see: www.khuladg.co.za for more information)

The Future:

We wish to grow into a multiple unit business that can service and provide coffee for any function and also train many more baristas in the process. We want to continue to create opportunities for youth, but we also want to start seeing the profits from all the hard work having an impact on the community. We are excited by what lies ahead of us, but we believe this to be no comparison to what is within us.