For anybody that isn’t aware (where do you hide during the day) Starbucks has opened its first store in South Africa today.
The fanfare on social media has been overwhelming and the queues, according to reports, appear to stretch around the block. One local coffee shop however is using the launch to offer people something, dare we say better.
Motherland Coffee has said today that it would give the first 50 customers at its Rosebank store a free coffee between Thursday and Saturday 23rd April.
The free java is made possible by Xero, an international firm that provides online accounting software for small businesses, which will foot the bill for every free cup of caffeine.
Speaking to EatOut, Seb Schnieder explained, “As a local café, we’re familiar with the challenges small businesses across South Africa face, and we’re fully behind Xero’s mission to empower small businesses.”
We aren’t telling you to switch queues but hey, who can argue with a free cup of coffee when a decent one costs almost R30 these days.
Clever idea Motherland, very clever indeed.
Twitter had its say, of course
Of course, South Africa’s ever vocal Twitter community had a say and the response was mixed but many lamented the launch.