Cula Bula Cafe – Fionn Hand

Cula Bula Cafe – Fionn Hand

Fionn Hand, current Marketing, Innovation and Technology student shares his story having recently set up his own coffee business “Cula Bula Cafe”.

I was working in 2 part-time jobs which influenced my decision to get involved in the coffee business with my business partner Sally-Ann Kelly who was a full-time student . I played with Clontarf Cricket Club and saw an opportunity whereby a coffee dock was possibility. Then came Cula Bula Cafe!

As there was a combination of cricket and rugby throughout the year combined with training sessions midweek, it was an ideal opportunity to set up and see if it could develop. It has been very successful so far and has been well supported by local members and visitors.

Having the coffee dock has also given me great experience in business which directly relates to my course in DCU Marketing, Innovation and technology. While it’s a small operation,  I have really learnt a lot about running a business such as planning menus, stock quotas and all the little things in between to run the daily operations.

We purchased the food truck from China which was pre-designed as user friendly, providing electrical points and the service area layout that was required. Overall it has been a very educational experience with different areas of business at the forefront, an awareness of health and safety issues made for new learnings. To source the coffee for sale was challenging as we wanted a good quality product, because there is so much competition with adjacent businesses and different coffee streams we sampled many coffee products and settled on Creed Coffee Roasters which is based in Celbridge. It is great to have a small independent business supported by the community in Clontarf.

Fionn Hand is also a professional cricket player and last year went to the Cricket World Cup with Ireland.

Cula Bua Cafe is located in Clontarf Cricket Club, Castle Avenue, Clontarf. If you’re near by pop in to support Fionn and Sally.