By
March 29, 2019
Chris Hilder has a background in software engineering, resides in the South Island of New Zealand, and loves coffee. Chris’ relentless pursuit for the perfect cup of coffee, combined with the power of the internet, has seen the launch of Kaffelogic, a business specialising in benchtop coffee roasting systems.
Chris believes that the secret to the perfect cup of coffee comes from when the beans are freshly roasted. “I discovered that if I bought beans and they're freshly roasted, the coffee tasted a whole lot better. And after the end of the week, then you could notice a difference, it wasn't as good. And so, I was just starting to get like, "Actually I really like this coffee but this is really a hassle to always have it fresh." And so, can I solve this problem just for myself? Can I make a machine that will do it for me?”
“I started putting together my own home roasting system. Initially, it was just purely for my own interest and my own satisfaction, to be able to roast coffee at home. But after a few years of developing the system, I started getting feedback from others who were drinking the coffee. The suggestion was that I try to commercialise the product,” he says.
“My first tip really was to go and learn about how to start a business and from there, I set my sights on crowdfunding to get the business going.
“Our business is really founded on our crowdfunding campaign. In that sense, we couldn't have got started without the Internet,” Chris says.
He’s done more than just start a business. “When you buy a Kaffelogic machine, you also buy into a community of other coffee enthusiasts. One of the things about our machine is that if you have got a unique recipe, says you’ve worked out how to perfectly roast a particular bean, you can share it on the Internet with other Kaffelogic owners. Then they just download that recipe.”
And after a quick Google search, it doesn’t take much to see how popular Kaffelogic is proving to be, a true testament to Chris’ creative genius and passion for coffee, combined with broadband connectivity giving everyone the chance to taste the perfect cup.