What Does "Hoiho" Mean?

We get asked this question a lot and it's one we love answering!

Hoiho Coffee was created with intention. We are not just a coffee brand and we don't just sell coffee. Hoiho Coffee was created to change the way that you currently think about the coffee bean and educate you on not just flavours but your health and how coffee can ultimately help this!

Interesting, right?

When starting this coffee journey we were blown away by the research that has come out on health benefits that come with drinking the coffee bean. But what's more mind-blowing is that no one is talking about it. We were so surprised learning all this, but even more surprised it had never been mentioned to us during all of our coffee shop visits (and there have been a lot) even when visiting the specialty coffee brands who's knowledge about regions and flavour notes were extraordinary, we were never told about these health benefits.

It's no secret that coffee can be a lucrative business and the more types of lattes and sugar filled recipes you have on the menu, the more people you get through the door, but is that really coffee?

It almost felt meant to be embarking on this coffee journey as we discovered all these amazing health benefits and as advocates for health and fitness, it became our duty to make Hoiho Coffee more than a busy cafe with lots of fancy lattes, frappes and cappuccino's. 

A long side our discovery of the coffee bean as a healthy addition to your diet, we started our journey into understanding decaffeinated coffee.

Strange right, when starting a coffee business, the focus is usually where is my coffee coming from, does it taste good and what will my profit margins be? But for us, we felt like we were onto something that no one else was really looking at and so we had to keep going. 

Decaf coffee, horrible right? Lacks flavour? Tastes watery? Wrong! This isn't decaf coffee, this is just bad coffee!

Let's be honest, no one cares about decaf coffee, because "it isn't as popular" (it's not good for profit margins) and with how big the coffee industry is in the UAE alone now, most people are in this business for the money, to sell as many coffees as they can regardless of the quality or how late in the day it is, caffeine sells, so they sell it.

Coffee is so much more than this and after holding focus groups and talking to the local community at events, we discovered just like us, people do want to switch to decaf in the afternoon or after their first cup of coffee because they can't deal with the heart palpitations or they know it affects their sleep. A lot of women we have spoken with also only drink decaf coffee because of hormone issues or pregnancy. There is a whole market for decaf coffee and people who are wanting to do better for their health that the coffee industry seems to ignore and has ignored for so long!

As mentioned above, Hoiho Coffee was created with intention and we have been on a mission to find the best tasting decaf coffee, so not only can we serve beautifully balanced and flavoursome coffee to people in the afternoon, but we can also provide a good quality coffee beans to all those people who do drink decaf coffee, but just accept bad tasting decaf because that's the current belief about decaf, it's not made to be enjoyed, it's made to have as a caffeine free alternative. 

Hoiho is the Māori term for the yellow eyed penguin. The yellow eyed penguin is one of the rarest penguins in the world and it very hard to spot. During a travelling trip, we staked out for 3 hours in a hut in the freezing cold, to be able to see this wonder of the world and it was so small, we almost missed it! This experience taught us that not only is patience so important, but if you truly believe in something and want it, it may take time, but you will eventually get there.

Our hunt to find amazing decaf coffee has been a journey, but we believe we have now achieved that and it is something we are very passionate about sharing with everyone. With patience in New Zealand, we were able to see one of the rarest penguins in the world and now with patience and perseverance, we will be able to share amazing tasting decaf coffee and chance the way people think about the coffee bean!

Hoiho = Yellow Eyed Penguin (one of the rarest penguins in the world)

Hoiho Coffee = Amazing Decaf Coffee (Currently a rarity in the coffee industry)

If you would like to know more about the health benefits of the coffee bean, head over to our instagram @hoihocoffee or check out our blog: "Did You Know The Coffee Bean Is Actually Good For You?".