The young Barcelona architect Yassir Raïs decided, at the end of 2015, to open a small 30-square-meter store in the Gràcia neighborhood to sell specialty coffee, but not as a typical coffee shop, but only for takeaway. Raïs replicated in Barcelona the coffee shops and micro roasters he frequented in Paris when he was studying for a master's degree in architecture, and the name, Syra Coffee, came from that place on Siracusa street.
He now manages a chain with 15 establishments in Barcelona and 5 in Madrid, a capital he entered last January, with coffee that is always fresh seasonal, roasted weekly and 100% single-origin Arabica, meaning it comes from the same farm.
The goal is to reach 20 stores in Barcelona and 15 in Madrid by the end of this year. Its turnover at the end of 2021 exceeded one million euros, with a staff of 60 people that "we will increase to one hundred" this year.
The expansion in points of sale has been coupled with the recent opening of a 1,000-square-meter industrial warehouse in L'Hospitalet de Llobregat to store the product and proceed with its roasting and packaging, before distributing it to the stores.
"This is organic growth that we self-finance or go to the financial market," explains this entrepreneur "not very fond of funding rounds," although he did them previously and raised about 700,000 euros. One of them facilitated the entry with a small stake in the capital of Syra Coffee of the accelerator Itnig ---led by Bernat Farrero, co-founder of Factorial RH--- and which resulted in the launch of the third store in Barcelona ---in Itnig's coworking in Poble Nou--- and the starting point for the expansion of the coffee shops.
In all locations, always rented ---he has no franchises "nor does he expect them," says Raïs---, coffee is offered for takeaway or 250-gram packages of ground or whole bean coffee, for filter or for espresso which, in turn, can be purchased on the company's online platform. E-commerce accounts for 25% of the business. What he does not rule out in the future is "having places where you can drink coffee at a table," because once the coffee-loving consumer "overcomes our first barrier to entry, which is price, they become our regular customer," he states and emphasizes that "what we seek is to bring quality coffee to the street level."
To supply itself with 100% Arabica and single origin specialty coffee, the company selects the product depending on the season, imports it, and roasts it for commercialization, which allows them to have complete traceability of the product. "Specialty coffee plantations are reduced to 2% of all production because they are varieties grown at an altitude of between 1,000 and 1,200 meters and are not mixed," explains Raïs. "We collaborate directly with farms as small as one hectare, owned by individuals, families, and cooperatives, people we can refer to directly by their names," he adds.