Shifting Coffee,
Habits + Culture

We are brothers and first cousins - Daniel, Oliver and Lulu - who come from a tight-knit family of French Mauritian descent. Self-confessed coffee snobs, coffee has been a consistent thread through all our lives, and we have shared some of our most memorable moments together over a delicious flat white. Having been raised on farms, we also share a very deep love for Nature.

Believing in business as a force of good, we wanted to be part of the shift that takes society and us into the future: A better, kinder future for people + for the planet. This is the reason we started 4WKS.

In 2018 alone, 56 billion plastic and 
aluminium Nespresso®-compatible capsules
(also known as pods) landed up in landfill, 
where they will remain for 450-500 years.

We recognised the brilliance of Nespresso® and how it meets the need for convenience: to enjoy an espresso anywhere, anytime and at the push of a button — at home, on holiday, in the office. But single-use plastic and aluminium pods are wasteful, unsustainable, and killing the only home we have.

With millions of Nespresso® machines in use around the world, we wanted to use them for good — and to shift coffee, habits + culture, 4WKS at a time.

In 2014, Dan + Oli's dad (and Lulu's uncle) discovered a home-compostable pod made from bagasse (or sugarcane waste). While the idea unfortunately lay abandoned for a few years, Dan and Oli adopted it after finishing university, as they wanted to start a business that was based on purpose and not just profit. After a few pro-bono sessions with Lulu, cuzzie and brand strategist, we quickly became a tri-pod and 4WKS was born in January 2019.

We launched 4WKS with the ambition to challenge two things: 1) waste and 2) the coffee inside pods (otherwise known as capsules). We asked ourselves: Why isn’t the coffee local, artisanal and freshly-roasted? Why is it so often considered second-rate, and is mostly imported, mass-produced, with an expiry date of up to 2 years? And, if we're going to have pod coffee, why can't we enjoy our favourite local roasters at the push of a button?

So we approached the real experts: incredible local roasters (and our country's favourites) and invited them to be a part of our 4WKS Collective — bringing them together to do better and to make great coffee available in a way that's kind, fuss-free + fresh. The result? SA's best coffees — freshly-roasted, ground and packed every WK — in a pod that's better for the planet and for the people!