Justin Giuffrida and Andrew Geisel have been working since 2015 to bring the best of Australian coffee culture to Manhatt...
Problem
The diner model hasn’t advanced & Starbucks has a monopoly on the U.S market.
America is ready for a more premium coffee & healthy food experience. It’s time to introduce a brand that can lead the next generation of what cafes can be in the United States.
Solution
The Australian Cafe is a proven concept in the U.S. market
The concept was born in Australia, the global leaders in specialty cafes, inspired by wellness forward lifestyle, craft coffee and embracing technology and innovation. Citizens management team has proven experience from Australia's leading brands in scaling the concept.
The Aussie café concept continued to evolve over time. Innovative café operators developed signature Australian espresso drinks like the Flat White, and invented new breakfast dishes with an Australian identity like Avocado Toast. The cafe environment—big, bright, airy spaces filled with good cheer—became as distinctly Australian as as the menu. Café life is now a daily part of Australian culture, providing a wellness-forward lifestyle, a social place to meet friends and colleagues, enjoy beautifully crafted coffee and food, and an escape from the modern busy life.
Product
This is what separates us from the rest...
The Citizens mission is to bring wellness to communities around the globe, that's why our product offering is inspired by the growing healthy and lifestyle market, making healthy food & coffee craveable and cool.
Authentic Australian Food:
Our ethos is to take well sourced ingredients and put an inventive twist on dishes creating something new, exciting and visually beautiful which plays into the growing social media following.
Authentic Australian Coffee:
Citizens is leading the way in the specialty coffee movement. The business focuses on every step of the coffee process. From bean sourcing, roasting techniques, preparation and guest experience.
Citizens Coffee proprietary ‘Seasons’ blend
Citizens Coffee blend sold online & instore
Specialty coffee beans roasted locally in New York
Direct farm relationships within Ethiopia, Guatemala and Colombia
Modern, Architectural Store Design
The store environment is designed to inspire our customers with a sense of wellness and happiness while at Citizens.
Traction
A proven concept celebrated by the biggest publications
A social media advantage
Citizens uses a deliberate and concise Instagram strategy to outperform industry peers creating a substantial edge in marketing. This helps create buzz, word of mouth traffic and an army of brand evangelicals.
Four locations, production facility, and HQ in under 4 years
In under four years, Citizens has built an empire of four downtown Manhattan locations. Most recently, the company launched its internal production facility and corporate head office in the East Village.
Customers
Here's what our customers have to say ...
Business model
Economics that scale
Response to COVID-19
The Citizens brand has evolved, grown and thrived in an environment where consumers are more health and quality conscious than ever before. Throughout the COVID period, the concept model has evolved into a stronger business.
Market
The market is 'ripe' for Citizens national expansion
Subway & Starbucks are the largest QSRs (Quick Serve Restaurant) in the world, with 42,000 & 30,626 store units respectively. The time has come for the next version of specialty coffee and healthy food stores.
The rise of specialty coffee is an incredibly fast growing category as U.S. consumers begin the shift away from Starbucks to a more premium product. The most recent data published in 2020 by the National Coffee Association (NCA) shows that specialty coffee has increased to 60% market share, up from only 9% in 1991. We strongly believe the demand shift will exponentially grow, and we believe we’re at the front of the wave.
Competition
Cafe companies are valuable commodities:
Here are some comparable company valuations
Vision and strategy
National expansion & path to IPO
Republic funding forms part of a wider $5M Series-A financing round modeled to fuel a 40-unit national expansion across 9 major U.S markets, with a proven business model & formula bolstered with a unique real estate landscape presents unrivaled opportunities.
The company has modeled a three phased expansion plan within existing markets and beginning it’s strategic growth plan in new markets, using a repeatable and predictable new market entry strategy that will ensure a sustained success.
Completion of the three phased expansion shall see Citizens achieve an annual run rate of $80M. Using current industry comparable M&A transactions, the business shall be in a strong position to merge with a strategic partner, accelerating a path to IPO.
Founders
Meet the founders
The Citizens founders, Justin Giuffrida & Andrew Geisel, are skilled operators with deep domain experience in the coffee industry, having led some of Australia's premier brands. The pair have been featured in top publications such as Forbes as up and coming entrepreneurs in the wellness & lifestyle hospitality category.
Justin is the Co-Founder & CEO of Citizens. He has a decade of experience building top-tier brands within the specialty coffee, food and wellness industry.
Andrew Geisel is the Co-Founder and COO. Having spent years working with one of Australia's premier coffee companies, he expanded his professional skillset through his tertiary and professional experience in architecture, build and commercial real estate.