Slowtown Coffee Roasters

Overview

Slowtown Coffee Roasters is Namibia's leading specialty roaster, founded 2011 in the seaside town of Swakopmund by Dennis de Wet — a Stellenbosch-trained financial analyst who returned from the Isle of Man, taught himself espresso, and self-funded a small first shop in shared engineering-firm space. Six retail outlets now span Swakopmund, Walvis Bay and Windhoek, the operation roasts on a Diedrich CR-25 and sells roughly 30,000 cups and four tonnes of beans monthly.

Known for

• Namibia's first specialty coffee roaster (2011)
• Founder Dennis de Wet — Stellenbosch finance background
• Six retail outlets across Namibia
• Diedrich CR-25 roaster
• 30,000 cups + 4 tonnes monthly volume

Why it matters

Namibia's climate prevents domestic coffee growing and the country is one of the most sparsely populated on earth (3 million people in an area larger than Texas), yet Slowtown built a six-shop chain plus wholesale to lodges, hotels and offices, started from de Wet bootstrapping a loan from his father. As Namibia's specialty pioneer, Slowtown is the model that newer entrants like Two Beards (Swakopmund), Cordes, Deluxe Coffeeworks Namibia (a South African expansion) and Namibian Coffee Roasters (Robert Sibold, Omaruru lodge-bush origin) followed.

Production

destoning

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head roaster

Dennis de Wet

color sorting

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roaster machine

Diedrich CR-25

filter equipment

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cupping frequency

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roastery location

Swakopmund, Namibia

espresso equipment

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annual volume tonnes

48

Café

Swakopmund roastery flagship + 5 additional locations

Recognitions

• Namibia's first specialty coffee roaster (2011)

Sources

• https://slowtowncoffee.com/
• https://www.howwemadeitinafrica.com/how-this-surfer-built-the-leading-coffee-brand-in-namibia/96759/
• https://specialprojects.sprudge.com/?p=776