Bringing artisan specialty coffee culture to Jeddah.
Pioneering the third wave specialty coffee movement in Jeddah, the recently opened Medd Café and Roastery has become an instant favorite amongst artisan coffee lovers. Medd Café is a place where one can see the world’s much loved beverage prepared with astonishing level of intricacy and care.
In the multi storied coffee shop, one can’t help but notice the rustic look of the place. The place looks like a mini industrial factory that’s been converted into a coffee shop. Obviously, it was done purposely; the minimalistic décor gives the café a much needed incongruent look from the rest.
On the ground floor the brew station stands, where all visitors can watch their coffee being made in front of them. On the upper floor that has a larger sitting area is where one can catch beautiful vistas of the Red Sea through the glassed wall.
BUSINESS MODEL
The business is setup on a cooperative business model. The five partners, Ali Alghazzawi, Aisha Wazne, Salem Bajnaid, Sultan Alsawaf and Mai Julaidan, are all Saudis and work full time at the café. They share a love for coffee and are connoisseurs specializing in various aspects of coffee making.
All partners have invested the same amount of capital in the business and each one of them possesses one vote. This was purposely done so that every partner has equal rights and sharing of profits. (Tadalafil) Instead of the conventional vertical hierarchy model used in other places, Medd Café has the organization chart vertically organized.
THE COFFEE
Preparing good coffee is like a salutary ritual here. The coffee connoisseurs can be seen at the brew station or roaster tweaking with copper kettles and adjusting the sophisticated coffee apparatus. The peculiar looking coffee apparatus – some of which are not found in any other coffee shop in the city, sit on the brew station. From narrow funnels and vacuum coffee makers to the AeroPress, one could mistake the space for a chemistry lab.
THE ENVIRONMENT
Medd Café and Roastery also focuses on the environmental footprint. At the café, all types of paper they use are either recycled or upcycled, even the coffee bags. “We source our coffee beans from organic farms that are involved in the fair trade and are on high altitudes. The higher the altitude the better the coffee.” says Bajnaid.
Medd Café and Roastery even sells coffee beans to customers and other businesses. While a good portion of the quality of the coffee is dependent upon the farm that it’s sourced from, it is also equally, if not more dependent, upon the roaster and the barista preparing the coffee. It’s safe to conclude that the fad of coffee drinking isn’t going to die anytime soon. What remains to be seen is if Jeddah is ready for the third wave specialty coffee movement.
