12 JulCilantro, Eqypt’s cafe with a conscience

Cilantro, Eqypt's cafe with a conscience

(Photo from Business Today Eqypt)

Cilantro, which is bracing for the launch of Starbucks in Egypt, has already made inroads as a socially conscious social enterprise.

Despite his ultra-low profile, El-Sewedy is a well known philanthropist and social entrepreneur whose other business ventures include Hayah International Academy, the first non-profit international school in Egypt. His social consciousness has carried over to Cilantro, upping its hipness a notch or two.

"We as El-Sewedy Group have always been social entrepreneurs," he says. "We are always thinking about how we can add value to the community with each new venture that we undertake. In addition to charity work and community service projects – which are a given – we try to utilize local production whenever possible, even if it means that it will cost us a little more. As long as the quality is not compromised, we will always go for local sourcing."

Many of Cilantro's pastries and food products are sourced from small suppliers. "The people we source from usually end up becoming much more than just suppliers: They develop into partners." Beshir notes. "We even help them to finance expansions, develop new recipes and carry out quality auditing. Some suppliers who started out really small with us now have factories."

In an effort to connect with the community on a deeper level, Cilantro has started publishing its own magazine, Cilantro Central.

More food-related social enterprise news …

*In the Shetland Islands, students will compete in the annual FutureChef competition with the help of Shetland Enterprise.

*Yorkshire Cider transforms fruit picked by adults with learning disabilities into a social enterprise.


23 Responses to “Cilantro, Eqypt’s cafe with a conscience”

  1. reham says:

    i love u cilantro,u`r so homely and sweet. thank u to give me that chance when i met my friends in auc branch.love uuuuuuuuuu….

  2. rawan karem says:

    i really love this Café its like the ultimate hang out. i go there with my friends have a good cop of coffee and a cigarette along witha cood chat and its heaven also i love the way it feels like ur at ur living room …. love you cilantro (alex – kafrabdou specially

  3. rawan karem says:

    i really love this Café its like the ultimate hang out. i go there with my friends have a good cop of coffee and a cigarette along with a good chat and its heaven also i love the way it feels like ur at ur living room …. love you cilantro (alex – kafrabdou specially

  4. Nice blog here, best design! Thanks.

  5. maya says:

    i love cilantroooooooooooo it’s my fav cafe i feel happy there for me it’s the best place to meet my friends we can study there or just hangout i really love this place love cilantrooooooo

  6. donate car says:

    I heard a lot of good thing about this cafe. It must be a great place.

  7. Miche says:

    Visual Arts: I don’t see why not =)

  8. tarek says:

    i need to be a good member
    its very nice

  9. waleed yehia says:

    if u don’t know cilantro look from the window ,am sure u will find one that no place for u in it :) ))

  10. Nader says:

    Cilantro Rocks .. it really has amazing atmosphere in there makes you feel relaxin’ as if ur drinkin’ a frozen beer on the beach ! emm is there an official web site for cilantro anyway ?

  11. taky says:

    i luv this cafe but on alex not cairo

  12. haitham abo-grisha says:

    hi i`m haitham, I want ask aboat if i want open asction for cilantro cafe at ismailia

  13. Rania says:

    Cilantro is declining severely and the management did not do any thing about it. I was mistreated by a waiter at Om Kalthoum branch and I am intending to file a legal case. tel 0123119417

  14. injy says:

    caio i love cilantro it`s nice place in egypt to meet my frinde`s and we study there all time in 6 oc city

  15. J says:

    Went to the Cilantro in Piccadilly and found it very cozy but the teas were weak and the scones were dry and not freshly baked. They were heated up in the microwave and were hard as rock.

  16. alex says:

    i love cilantro i I feel with him
    Taekwondo

  17. hossam mahmoud says:

    cilantro very good cafe in egypt

  18. I really love this Café its like the ultimate hang out. i go there with my friends have a good cop of coffee and a cigarette along witha cood chat and its heaven also i love the way it feels like ur at ur living room .

  19. tabela says:

    …Everything is very open and very clear explanation of issues. was truly information. Your website is very useful. Thanks for sharing. “te?ekkürler güzel site”

  20. worker says:

    Arabic to English translation
    Honestly treated by the level culminating very, very bad managers and no one from the administration knows this because the deduction are afraid to complain of us some money because the manager controlled in everything, even in dignity and not management …..
    With deep regret that
    Worker …..
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  21. ilaçlama says:

    that’s nice topic thank you so much

  22. sikis says:

    942 very nice sharing, thank you manage your site

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