A really good cup of coffee, a bacon and egg roll or a quick breyani … Champs Café and Takeaway in Umhlali is a hidden gem offering unexpectedly tasty food and a classic, old school vibe.
Sometimes, ideas born out of necessity and a well-spotted opportunity turn out to be the best ones. And this certainly seems to be the case with young Ballito entrepreneur Caleb Swanepoel’s lockdown launch, Champs Café and Takeaway.
Amazingly, this isn’t Caleb’s first (or his only) business venture. The 23-year-old is also a partner in the funky new Dala Art Bar at Burnedale in Umhlali and he owns a sustainable clothing range called Impilo, which is based in the USA.
Having worked in the hospitality industry on the North Coast for a few years, Caleb says he always dreamed of having his own place. “I spent two years playing soccer in the USA after school I returned to South Africa in 2018 for family reasons. Then I worked in pretty much all the restaurants in Ballito,” he laughs.
Six months ago Caleb’s mother, Jennifer, opened a health café called Roots in Umhlali. He worked with her for a while, but still had a yearning to own his own place. When the landlord in the Umhlali business park where he now based approached him, the timing seemed to be perfect.
“The place was not in a good condition at all, but I could see it had potential. We did some work, flattening the land and tidying things up and then we opened our doors just over a month ago.”
The focus at Champ’s is on two main things: really good coffee and quick, tasty chow. Situated on Old Main Road in Umhlali (next to Coastals), their target market is largely maintenance and contract works and, of course, parents fetching and taking their kids to school.
The menu is short and sweet and everything, from scrumptious bacon and egg, chicken and coleslaw and the super popular Philly cheese steak roll, to classic avo on toast and vegetable breyani, is made with care and served with pride.
Caleb is particularly proud of his coffee offerings. As a qualified barista he takes great care in ensuring his coffee is top quality and you can get everything from an espresso and a flat white to a latte or an iced coffee.
Not your ordinary business owner, Caleb enjoys finding unusual ways of doing things and helping others where he can. One of the coolest things about Champs, we think, is the service chalk board that sits alongside the busy road outside the café. “Every day we write down a few basic jobs that we need done around the shop, like sweeping or gardening, and if someone wants to earn themselves a bacon and egg roll or a veg breyani they can come in and do it for us.”
Another cool idea is the ‘hanging coffee’ concept. “You just buy an extra coffee when you pay for yours and leave a ‘voucher’ for someone else who might come in and need one,” says Caleb.
Whether you’re dropping the kids off at school or and need a good cup of coffee or are on the hunt for a quick and tasty takeaway, we highly recommend a stop at Champs!
Details: Champs Cafe & Takeaway, Old Main Road, Umhlali, @champs_cafe_umhlali
Text: Leah Shone | Photographs: Mary-Ann Palmer
