What's Cooking? · 2026-07-08 · 1h 3m
Black Sheep Coffee co-CEO Gabriel Shohet on building a 135-site brand by betting on the bean the specialty industry rejected. In 2013, two university flatmates from St Andrews quit their corporate jobs the same day, moved to London with around £20k between them, and built a coffee company on the bean the entire specialty industry had written off. 13 years later, Black Sheep Coffee runs 135+ locations across five markets, opens roughly 1.5 shops per week, and remains majority founder-owned. In this episode, Gabriel walks Conor through the conviction behind the Robusta bet, why customer satisfaction is the only growth metric they look at, the decision to operate 50 corporate shops before franchising, how they pick franchise partners (minimum unit thresholds, territory exclusivity, no mom-and-pops), why both founders relocated to Florida to lead the US expansion, the Sun Belt entry strategy, and the company slogan that explains the whole approach: never fear competition, open right next door instead. Plus a frank take on the David and Goliath fallacy, the role of data in a hypergrowth business, and why "great ideas" aren't what builds a brand. KEY TAKEAWAYS Conviction over consensus.
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Jamie Oliver Group bite-size: A second act67 / 100
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Black Sheep Coffee bite-size: Never fear competition
A Second Act with the Global Director of Jamie Oliver Group