Humble beginnings
Garden Route Coffee is a local, family-owned business that has its roots in South Africa. Our owners, Rod and Tina Poplin, served as missionaries along the Garden Route of South Africa for over eleven years. It was while there that they fell in love with the local coffee culture and began to have an appreciation for quality coffee.
“We really did not like coffee before we went to South Africa.”, says Rod. “The coffee we had experienced in the USA was just too bitter and burnt. We had to add so much sugar, milk, and flavors just to drink it. Although Tina grew up in Brazil, a country known for its coffee, she found the coffee there to be too strong and bitter. All of that changed when we arrived in George (the main city along the Garden Route) and experienced amazing coffee for the first time. “What we love about the coffee along the Garden Route is that it has a great, robust flavor, yet it is incredibly smooth.” We were hooked!
Among their many ministries in George, they helped open the INSPIRE George Ministry Center, complete with (you guessed it) a coffee shop. They also began a training program for future baristas. Returning state-side, Rod and Tina desired to have that same experience, so they decided they would take it upon themselves to share with their community the coffee they enjoyed; thus, Garden Route Coffee was born.
