Name of business owner: Salem Mubarak Alshiba
Name of competing roaster: Kenneth Mark Daguyam
When did your roastery start? And, as the owner, why a coffee roastery?
We open our roastery last year 2022, and since the demands of our cafes are growing, we decided to open a roastery to minimize the cost and have a control of our coffee.
Question for roaster: How did you learn to roast coffee? And what drew you to roasting as a profession?
As a passionate barista, I have a deep curiosity about coffee, and that’s help me to push myself into this career, by taking a different class and to understand the fundamentals about roasting coffee.
What do you love most about the coffee roasting industry?
Being connected into coffee community and having a conversation from consumers and coffee professional.
Was there a particular cup of coffee that changed the way you think about coffee?
Yes, I will never forget that Ethiopia Yirgacheffe that my friend brought for me way back in 2016. I was surprised by a taste that I couldn’t describe. Before what I knew only about coffee was only bitterness, but that coffee is sweet and little sour. After that, my perspective about coffee was completely changed.
What is your focus as a roastery? Wholesale to cafes? Do you roast just for your own cafe? Sell online?
Right now, our focus is on our café and retail beans, and soon we will do a b2b as well.
May you please tell us a bit about your team? Who makes the wheels turn in your operation?
We have a passionate and reliable team that can keep the operation move smoothly, and I believe to them, that someday they can make a big contribution on this industry.
With all the different processing methods now available to roasters, is there a processing method that you enjoy working with? And why?
I’m a fan of natural coffee and anaerobic process that was behaving “just fine” in a curve, unlike washed process. But I like to work with any processing method, it will be a challenging everytime that there is a new process coffee available in our roastery.
How have you seen coffee culture in your region grow over the last few years?
It was evolving very fast, you’ll noticed it from the numbers of cafe’s keep popping out everywhere, home brewers that appreciate your craft, and having small conversation from coffee enthusiast about their drinks.
Where are you located and can people come visit you?
We are located in Al Ain, Al Towayya, New Khabisi. Near at Hazza Bin Zayed Stadium
What makes your roastery stand out in a booming industry?
Taking small steps each of the time and make the business sustainable without compromising the value of coffee, I think that’s how our roastery make it climb into the top.
