Welcome to the Good Human Series, a space where we celebrate the good in humanity by sharing the stories of impact focused individuals making a positive change in the world through their work.

Today on the Good Human Series we talk to Jim Chapman, founder of Australian social enterprise - Nice Coffee Co. If you like coffee and people making the world a better place (and honestly, who doesn’t), you have to hear Jim’s story. From a young age, Jim was exposed to the very real and raw reality of poverty, while living in Kenya with his family. It immediately sparked a passion in him to help end the cycle of poverty and Jim wrestled with what he could do to make a difference.

His answer was coffee. With 75% of Australians drinking more than one cup a day, Jim decided to use the power of coffee to support and fund St John’s School in Kibera, Africa - a community with a high population of vulnerable and impoverished families.

What all started in his garage back in 2019, has now grown to national distribution, with a focus on supplying coffee beans and machines to corporate offices all over Australia.

Jim’s dedication to the people of Kibera truly radiates through the work he does with Nice Coffee Co. With 100% of profits going back to support projects such as building new classrooms, providing essential learning resources and a meal program so that no student goes to school on an empty stomach. It’s coffee you can be proud of drinking.

In 2008 your family moved to Kenya. Can you share with us the influence this had on you?

In 2008 my parents decided to move to Kenya - they wanted to start a safari lodge in Nairobi . Which is - it’s been one of the most wild but exciting things and has most certainly changed my life forever.

Tell us about the 'aha' moment when you decided to use the power of coffee to create positive change in these communities? Where were you at the time, and how did the idea come to you?

I was actually at the cafe at my university, and I was just sitting there and I’d been kind of brainstorming ways to start a business and having an impact at our school and I saw everyone around me just drinking coffee - drinking so so much coffee. And that was where the idea sparked. I did some research - I actually went straight to the uni library and borrowed some books on how to start a social enterprise - and yeah that’s how it all kicked off really.

Since launching in 2019, Nice Coffee Co has made huge changes in St John's School including 11 teachers on salary, 450 students, 9 new classrooms and more. How does seeing the impact Nice Coffee Co is having in Kibera motivate you?

Seeing the impact that we’ve been able to have at St Johns school through Nice Coffee Co, is what motivates me every single day to do what I do. And honestly, we couldn’t have done it without all of our amazing customers and businesses all throughout Australia. I love being able to connect people here in Australia, with our projects on the other side of the world through something that we are drinking and what we love here in Australia which is coffee.

What have you learnt along the way? Were there any challenges you had to overcome?

I have honestly learnt so so much along my journey. I think probably the biggest thing I’ve learnt is that everyone deep down is looking for purpose and is looking for their way to have an impact and help others. And I think that is probably why we’ve received so much support across Australia.

But in saying that we’ve come across so many challenges I think the obvious one is COVID with most of our customers being [office spaces] we obviously saw a big slump in sales during the lockdowns, so yeah we've had to pivot slightly like everyone else and just keep grinding... no pun intended.

Can you tell us a bit about how Kibera has been affected by COVID-19 and how Nice Coffee Co is continuing to bring support during this pandemic?

Kibera and our school community has been hit really hard by COVID, it has amplified the existing problems of sanitation, health care and food. And that’s why we continue to work really hard here in Australia as a coffee company to continue to employ the teachers and show our support.

Currently how many businesses in Australia are drinking Nice Coffee Co's life changing coffee? How can interested businesses reach you?

We supply over 40 offices, organisations and cafes, as well as 100’s of households right across Australia, with not only our coffee beans but our machines, and servicing, and everything needed to make great coffee in the office or at home. So, if you’re interested in making the switch to our life-changing coffee, you can find us at our website at Nicecoffee.org.

What's your coffee order?

My coffee order is very basic - I’m just a flat white kind-of-guy.

What gives you hope?

What we’re trying to do is certainly not easy, but what gives me hope is the support that we’ve received from 1000s of Australian individuals and businesses who are starting to understand the power that we can have through the things that we buy.

What's on the horizon?

Our goal for the next 12 months is to connect with 100s of offices and cafes right across Australia to achieve our vision of building a new school from scratch, to educate thousands of kids, for generations to come.

To learn more about Nice Coffee co or to purchase coffee for your office visit Nicecoffee.org.

Then, we invite you to explore more of the Outland Journal, for more stories of humans doing good things.