Q. Capsule shelves in Lebanon and the UAE are full of big international names. What did you see missing in the market that convinced you to build a specialty coffee brand of your own?

Entering the coffee market isn't an easy decision, especially given the dominance of massive international players with decades of reputation in the at-home space. But we felt there was an opportunity to build on that foundation and meaningfully elevate at-home coffee. We saw two major gaps: taste and visual identity.

Instead of blending in with minimal, corporate designs, we embraced bold colors and playful aesthetics without compromising on coffee craftsmanship. Crucially, we noticed that supermarket and capsule coffee rarely offered small-batch roasting system. Most consumers were bringing home boxes of coffee roasted up to a year prior. We built a production system centered around roasting in small batches every single month.

Q: You both left your jobs to start Days in 2025. What are your backgrounds, and how did they shape the brand? How did you fund the launch, and what was the strategy you set out with?

We bring distinct backgrounds to the business. Rawad comes from architecture, while I (Youssef) come from psychology and finance. That diversity directly shaped our operational strategy and brand building. Rawad's architectural eye drove the design of our pop-ups and our custom Coffee Kiosk at the 2025 Lebanese Expo, which served as our official brand launch.

Instead of pouring initial capital into paid influencer campaigns, we prioritized real-world engagement. Launching at the Lebanese Industry Expo allowed consumers to taste the coffee, give us immediate feedback, and hear our story directly from us. It created an authentic feedback loop from day one.

We completely self-funded the launch without external investors. Bootstrapping gave us total creative freedom to experiment with bold branding and maintain an agile product launch cycle every few months.

Q: You spent eight months sourcing beans before launch, and the range now covers Colombia, Ethiopia, South America and Panama Boquete, with coffee beans sold alongside the capsules. How did you pick your origins and land on the Original blend as the flagship, and how do sales split between capsules and beans?

Developing our flagship Original Blend took up the majority of our pre-launch timeline. We noticed that standard at-home coffee often swung to extremes: it was either flat and bitter, or overly acidic. We spent months tweaking profiles to land a balanced coffee that paired acidity with intensity and a smooth finish.

Today, our sales split sits at 70% capsules and 30% beans. Currently, our whole beans and drip bags are sold exclusively in Lebanon. Using our home market as an incubator allows us to test new releases, gather rapid customer feedback, and refine products before expanding them internationally. It's been exciting to watch the bean segment grow so quickly as more consumers invest in home equipment and treat specialty coffee as a crafted ritual.

Q: Every batch is roasted in small runs in Lebanon and shipped within the month. What does it take to produce specialty capsules in Lebanon and keep that freshness promise while selling across borders, from costs to logistics?

Maintaining our freshness promise while operating out of Lebanon involved steep logistical hurdles, particularly given regional geopolitical volatility and unpredictable shipping struggles. Volatile freight and raw material costs forced us to make tough decisions early on: do we pass cost surges onto the consumer or temporarily absorb them to protect market adoption?

We chose resilience, establishing a disciplined demand-driven roasting schedule. By roasting exact monthly volumes based on forecasts, we keep inventory lean and fresh. Selling out of batches periodically gave us confidence that customers appreciated receiving genuinely fresh specialty coffee rather than warehouse-aged stock.

Q: The Espresso Capsules Trio won Best Coffee Capsule/Pod at the World Coffee Innovation Awards 2025, and Days became the first Lebanese coffee brand to earn a Great Taste star. What changed afterwards with shoppers and with retailers?

Earning Best Coffee Capsule/Pod at the World Coffee Innovation Awards and securing a Great Taste Star provided validation and fostered trust. It transformed curious shoppers into buyers and signaled to international retail partners that our product could compete globally on quality. It also opened doors for inbound investor conversations as interest grew around what we are building.

Q: Days launched with the line "Slower days. Better coffee." and its packaging was featured on Packaging of the World within two months of launch. As a young brand sharing the shelf with legacy coffee names, what are you doing differently in branding, community building and how you talk to customers, and which of those choices has done the most for Days so far?

To stand out next to legacy brands, every touchpoint had to be intentional. We partnered with New York-based CPG graphic designer Aja Johnson to create expressive, tactile packaging that stood apart from traditional, understated coffee boxes. Instead of standard marketing copy, we put clear, descriptive flavor notes directly on the sleeve so the packaging communicates taste clearly when we aren't there to explain it.

Beyond the shelf, community building has been hands-on. We handled customer DMs and WhatsApp inquiries ourselves to build direct relationships. Our Ramadan pop-up in Starco, Beirut, allowed us to bring that online community into a physical space, meeting our customers, hearing how they brew their coffee, and learning what drew them to Days.

That direct connection has driven our growth more than any traditional ad campaign could.

Q: How did you set your prices, and how do you position a specialty coffee brand made in Beirut against global brands?

Pricing strategy defines how a brand is perceived. Rather than competing in a race to the bottom, we positioned Days in an accessible premium tier. We price responsibly relative to mass-market legacy brands, providing high-grade specialty coffee, small-batch roasting, and eco-conscious packaging at a price point that makes daily specialty coffee at home sustainable for our customers.

Q: You sold around 35,000 sleeves in your first year and reached customers in more than 15 countries. In the UAE, Days is now in more than 150 stores across Carrefour, Grandiose, ADCOOP and Foodyogis, plus noon online. What was your retail strategy there, which retailers and store formats sell through fastest, and how is the business split between retail, your own sites and delivery apps?

Our UAE strategy centered on high visibility across both modern trade and digital channels. The UAE market responds rapidly to new, high-quality CPG concepts. E-commerce platforms like Noon and key retail partners like Carrefour quickly emerged as top growth drivers for us. In fact, our Espresso Trio bundle entered the bestselling category in Noon's coffee section, resulting in a sell-out.

Q: In Lebanon you sell through Toters, Pro Marché and Urban Market, with same-day delivery in Beirut from your own site. What role does Lebanon play for Days, and what keeps customers reordering, at home and abroad?

Lebanon is our home foundation and primary innovation hub. It allows us to launch fast, test formats, and gather real-time data before international rollouts. Our reorder rate in Lebanon currently sits above 50%. That loyalty comes down to three pillars: guaranteed freshness, reliable same-day delivery in Beirut, and responsive customer service that makes buying from us seamless.

Q: Days turned one on International Coffee Day. What was the hardest lesson of the first year, and what's on the plan for year two, from new markets to new blends or formats?

Our hardest lesson was mastering the difference between paper margins and real-world cash flow. When starting out, it's easy to focus solely on unit costs versus retail price. But as you scale, distributor margins, retail listing fees, and digital ad costs quickly impact liquidity.

We had to step back, re-examine our cost structures, and commit to disciplined growth rather than rushing retail expansion before unit economics fully aligned. For Year Two, our focus is on scaling profitably, launching new origin coffees, expanding our footprint across the GCC, and introducing new coffee solutions that are well crafted.

Q: Specialty coffee is moving from cafés into home capsules across the region. Where do you see at-home specialty coffee heading in Arab markets over the next few years?

We are seeing a shift in how consumers in the region approach coffee. Premium coffee is moving from an out-of-home luxury to an intentional daily ritual at home. With rising cafe prices, consumers are investing in home equipment and taking pride in mastering their own brew. At-home specialty coffee is no longer just about convenience, it's evolving into a personal craft and an everyday hobby, and we expect that trend to accelerate across Arab markets over the coming years.

Interview conducted by Arabian Aisles.