Photo courtesy of Kitty Town Coffee.
At first glance, coffee and cats may not seem to have a lot in common.
But Zanetta Kok has identified enough similarities not only to fill a business model, but to funnel the profits towards a good cause.
She founded Kitty Town Coffee five years ago as part marketing strategy, part charity fundraiser and part to scratch an entrepreneurial itch. It’s also a way for Kok and her husband Ken to make a living while making a difference in the world.
“There is this mental correlation between cats and coffee,” said Kok, a 29-year-old resident of Lebanon. “Their warmth. Kind of like, ‘I want to sit down and cuddle with my cup of coffee and my cat.’ It just so happens that some coffee lovers are also cat lovers.”
The Koks have inserted feline into every part of their business—from their branding to their packaging to their coffee names.
The profits from every bag of coffee sold can feed a cat for a week, and the animal-related charity that Kitty Town Coffee helps to fund changes every month, including Loving Care Cat Rescue, The Nobody’s Cats Foundation and other societies and animal shelters.
“Doing good things makes the world a better place,” Kok said. “We feel like we’re doing our part by creating funds for these organizations.”
The Koks own three cats themselves, and each has a blend of coffee named after them. The Mr. Albert roast is “a little sweet, a little nutty and you’d swear we added cream,” Kok said. Isabelle is a cold brew that’s very unique, and then there’s Nadia, Jamaica Me Crazy.
Sydney, the original Kitty Town Coffee cat, who has since passed, has an entire company dedicated to her honor. In all, the business features 21 brands bearing the names of cats owned by friends and supporters.
“It’s been a crazy ride, running a business during COVID,” Kok said. “People didn’t understand at first. We’d get people asking, ‘Is this coffee for cats? Is there kitty litter in this coffee?’ People get it now. But I think the pandemic actually helped us, because people purchased more pets.”
A Great Need
The Koks founded Kitty Town Coffee in 2017 as a side hustle. Zanetta was working a job she enjoyed, “but I couldn’t picture myself doing it forever,” she said.
In 2018, she quit her job and made Kitty Town Coffee a full-time pursuit. Ken followed suit a year later, right before the outbreak of the pandemic.
Today, the Koks employ some 20 people, and Kitty Town Coffee has 24,000 followers on Instagram.
“It was either going to grow or it was going to totally fizzle out and die,” Kok said. “I think one of the biggest factors is that the world has changed and people are interested again. Through Kitty Town, we want to make people smile in the morning when they’re drinking their coffee.”
Becoming an entrepreneur isn’t for everyone. But neither are cats. Both require a specific fabric, a certain temperament.
“I want to be supporting people doing good in the world, instead of starting my own animal shelter,” Kok said. “There definitely is a great need.”
There are certainly a lot of great causes out there. What makes those associated with animals so worthy is the fact that pets enhance the human condition so much.
“Humans and cats have been fine together for thousands of years,” Kok said. “It’s a symbiotic relationship.”
It would seem that the same could be said about the relationship that exists between karma and a business plan.
“We’ve seen most of our growth over the last six months,” Kok said. “I would love for it to become a national brand. I’d like to see the Kitty Town Coffee brand be in local grocery stores. It’s definitely what we’re working towards.”
Kitty Town Coffee sells its products online and at numerous area shops. For more information, visit www.kittytowncoffee.com or their Facebook or Instagram pages.
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