Lebohang Nyandeni

Youth in Business and Entrepreneurship

Nominee's Province:
Gauteng

Age:
24

Project Name/Description:
LebzCafé

More info:
https://www.facebook.com/lebohanganthony.nyandeni/

Lebohang Nyandeni, 24, is a coffee connoisseur of note. Nyandeni showed great entrepreneurial heroism when he founded a coffee business called LebzCafé in the middle of the pandemic last year. Today, his cafe, which is based in Evaton, south of Gauteng, is thriving. The business offers a wide range of coffee products, including freeze-dried instant coffee, coffee beans and hot chocolate. “Our coffee beans are custom-roasted for us in Montague Gardens, Cape Town,” he says. Over and above ordinary customers, his clients are restaurants, coffee shops, hotels, hospitals and schools. Starting a new venture during the pandemic was a challenge. “It was difficult starting out because some of the resources had to be imported for us to be able to commence with the work,” says Nyandeni, who raised his own funds to start his venture. And then there was the challenge of distributing the product to customers. “We would get orders from as far as the Eastern Cape, and customers would hesitate to pay for delivery fearing it was costly. We convinced them to see value in the product and they understood the costs.” Nyandeni, who employs two people, says he has long dreamed of creating a coffee brand that speaks directly to the hearts of South Africans, hence he named his first coffee product iKoffie. Legacy is important to him. “Coffee doesn’t go out of style. So, for me, it’s about creating something that 100 years from now people will still find relevant, and with my name on it,” he says. Not only does LebzCafé sell coffee from mobile trolleys around the township, it also runs a pop-up kiosk at Evaton Mall as well as delivers products to far-flung customers. “We wish to get as many South Africans as possible to start their day with iKoffie,” Nyandeni concludes.