In the Balanka language spoken in a part of Togo where Zoulka has his roots, Warawul means “look for it until you find it”. Warawul! is often said by members of the community as an invitation to wake the curiosity and motivation. That is also what inspired us to start Warawul - we are curious about the coffee we drink. We want to know who grew the coffee plants and processed the fruit. We want to hear the stories of the coffee farmers and producers and enjoy the coffees they created. Come, Warawul coffee with us!
About us
Co-branded coffees together with the producer
At Warawul, we do not profess that we have the best coffee that is grown on this planet. We know that there are thousands of coffee producers and many grow truly excellent coffees. We also do not claim that we discover exclusive coffees or that buying our coffee is charity. Instead, we want to overcome these narratives rooted in the colonial history of coffee by forming a trustful relationship with the producers that is beneficial for everyone in the coffee value chain.
That is why we are co-branding our coffees together with our producing partners who grow or process the coffee. We know that the quality of our coffee is mainly created due to the meticulous work by the producers. The roasting process only serves to bring the coffee to live and does not change its initial quality. With our co-branding approach, we ensure that this work by the producer is visible to you and that the producer gets the credit they deserve.
We believe that our co-branding approach will help us grow together with producers and help overcome the colonial roots of the coffee industry all while giving you a cup that you will truly enjoy.
Making specialty coffee accessible
We believe in specialty coffee. That is that coffee can be more than just your morning drink to get your day going. We experienced that the seed of the humble coffee plant can transport flavors that resemble tropical fruits or delicious chocolates.
The producers we work with take pride in creating interesting flavors that will delight your tongues. They do this through elaborate processing methods of their ripe coffee cherries, when they turn the fruit into the fermented seeds known as green coffee. And by trying new innovative approaches to processing, they keep creating new and exciting coffees.
We also believe that this should be accessible to you. We do not use expensive gear to brew our cups and likewise, we undertake every effort to keep our own business costs low without compromising on the prices we pay to the producers. Experiencing our coffee should not be a luxury.
Telling the whole story
For us, specialty coffee is also about the story behind the cup we enjoy so much. Instead of being an anonymous product, we know the producers of our coffee and we want to share their part of the story in their own words. We also know that telling their story is work that more often than not benefits us roasters but does not get compensated.
At the same time, we do not romanticize or fetishize the coffee story. Producing coffee is hard. Exploitation, enslavement, and devastation of ecosystems were the basis of the global coffee trade for centuries and continue to have social and environmental impacts. Global warming poses an existential threat to those who have built their lives around growing coffee as we know it.
We believe that only by sharing the whole story and being transparent about the challenges of growing, shipping, and roasting coffee, we can hold ourselves accountable to work towards a more sustainable and equitable future together.
We are Warawul
Zoulka
Co-Founder
The smell of coffee brings childhood memories back, it brings me right back to my Homeland Togo. At school we learned coffee is one of the main country's exported products.
Today, Togo’s coffee is not well known in the coffee world.
Venturing into the Specialty Coffee scene has given me the motivation to rediscover coffee from Togo and tell the story of the coffee tradition in the country.
Anabel
Co-Founder
As a child, I remember slow weekend mornings scented by percolating coffee. Nothing fancy. Just spoonfuls of Folgers and flavored creamer.
Fast forward to the 2010s. Remote work landed me in Southeast Asia just as the region's specialty coffee scene was booming. My daily search for 'today's office' led me to countless cafés where my interest in different types of coffee was ignited.
Chris
Co-Founder
I grew up with coffee from filter coffee makers. There were endless cups on Sundays with friends and family. That was my preconception of coffee growing up.
On a family visit to Indonesia, I discovered specialty coffee and the different origins that all tasted so differently. I was hooked instantly.
Brenda
Co-Founder
As in many Mexican families, in mine, drinking coffee has been a ritual inherited from generation after generation.
This journey into the world of specialty coffee, which at some point began as a very personal search for flavors and textures, has become an extraordinary experience that includes new friends, new contacts and new ways of looking at this tradition.