Beforeyouspeak Coffee founders Jaryd Terkelsen and Ash Bisset launch into UAE and Saudi Arabia

A Brisbane coffee business has set its sights on the Middle East after conquering Australian shelves through Woolworths. Here’s how they did it

A Brisbane coffee business has set its sights on the Middle East after conquering Australian shelves through Woolworths.

Beforeyouspeak Coffee, founded by two personal trainers in 2017, is launching its ‘functional coffee’ sachets to 25 grocery stores in the UAE, with Saudi Arabia to follow.

The powder coffee sachets feature supplements like amino acids – the building block of protein – and green tea extract, and can be mixed with water or milk.

Starting as a small eCommerce business eight years ago, co-founder Jaryd Terkelsen said its trajectory has ramped up in the last 12 months.

“We’re in an exciting position now where we’ve gone from being a niche coffee brand in Australia to starting to go to mass market and a wider audience,” he said.

Mr Terkelsen said in their previous roles as personal trainers, he and his co-founder Ash Bisset had many early 4am starts and were already mixing things into their coffee.

“We’d seen what was happening in the US with the rise of bulletproof coffee.

“We looked at it as why aren’t more people using coffee as a vehicle to create healthy habits and infuses vitamins and minerals and I guess from there, that’s what sparked the idea.

“It wasn’t really a thing, no one was doing it in Australia.

“Given we had some good network connections, we had a crack at it.”

Mr Terkelsen said it was a challenging sell at first, “because people who love their morning coffee, they’re very particular about the taste”.

“A big part of our early strategy was sampling.

“We use a premium Arabica coffee, so it tastes like a normal coffee.

He added the performance blend has a “bit of a spicy taste” due to black pepper extract used for nutrient absorption.

Beforeyouspeak coffee.

Beforeyouspeak sold directly to customers online, before distributing through health and sports nutrition stores.

Initially, it targeted the sports and fitness community, but Mr Terkelsen said it developed a broader appeal.

“Our whole ethos was to fuel high performers, not only in sports, but people who are entrepreneurial, people just wanting to get more.

“Coffee’s the one habit that people don’t seem to skip, so we kind of played into that.”

The company spent “years” trying to get into Woolworths, receiving feedback saying “interesting concept but not right now”, Mr Terkelsen said.

The supermarket would come back around, reaching out when functional coffee was on its radar.

Ash Bisset and Jaryd Terkelsen, founders of Before You Speak coffee.

Now the company has had multiple product lines stock in Woolworths for the past 18 months, and is set to launch a new instant latte and cappuccino range this week.

It’s also reaching the convenience store market, soon to roll out iced latte cans in Ampol and Caltex petrol stations.

Overseas, it will soon launch its products in a Saudi pharmacy chain, with plans to consider the US and UK over the next two years, Mr Terkelsen added.

He is also confident Beforeyouspeak will continue to grow back home.

“The biggest opportunity for us right now is still in our own backyard.

“We’re seeing a large trend in at-home coffee consumption, given cafe prices keep going up and up.

“Coffee is one of those things that doesn’t get skipped, so we’re in a good position to capitalise on that, whether it be work from home or in offices.”

Originally published as Beforeyouspeak Coffee founders Jaryd Terkelsen and Ash Bisset launch into UAE and Saudi Arabia