Wakuli Wagenaarstraat

Wakuli Wagenaarstraat is a coffee shop in Amsterdam-Oost. According to Wakuli’s public bar-locator, the establishment is located at Wagenaarstraat 70H. Local reports place the shop on the corner of Dapperstraat and Wagenaarstraat, in the vicinity of the Dappermarkt. This places the location in a part of Oost where daily shopping, market visits, and cafes are closely clustered.

Public sources identify Yorick Bruins and Lukas Grosfeld as the founders of Wakuli. Bruins is described as having a background in Food Policy and professional experience as an agricultural advisor in East Africa and Tanzania. Grosfeld is described as a co-founder and university friend, with degrees from the Universiteit van Amsterdam in Economics and Business and in Philosophy & Economics.

Public sources vary regarding the company’s founding year. The Universiteit van Amsterdam referred to Wakuli as a startup in 2018, while Marketingfacts listed 2019 as the year of establishment. There is more certainty regarding the development of the coffee bars. Wakuli’s first coffee bar opened in September 2022 on the Linnaeusstraat, also located in Amsterdam-Oost.

No exact opening date was found in the consulted public sources for the Wagenaarstraat location. On January 3, 2025, Oost-Online wrote that the shop had already been operating there for about a year and a half. This phrasing suggests an opening around mid-2023, making the Wagenaarstraat location a later expansion within Wakuli’s Amsterdam network.

In its own communications, Wakuli presents its bars as part of a shorter coffee supply chain. The company states that it sources directly from farmer organizations, roasts the coffee itself, and aims to return more value to the producers through its network of bars. Additionally, Wakuli links this approach to nature-oriented production. The coffee bars thus function not only as points of sale but also as the visible endpoint of the broader business model.

The location uses coffee from Wakuli as the roaster. According to the company’s public information, Wakuli sources directly from farmer organizations and roasts the coffee itself. Wakuli’s help pages place the roastery in Watergang, just outside Amsterdam. The bar thus utilizes coffee that is sourced, roasted, and served within the same organization.

Wakuli’s official bar page lists espresso, cappuccino, and filter coffee as the permanent offerings in the bars. At the time the page was captured, seasonal drinks were also listed, including Tiramisu Latte and Apple Pie Chai. This indicates a combination of coffee classics and rotating drinks that may change periodically.

Wakuli’s product pages show that the assortment is positioned for both espresso and filter. An English-language product page also mentions pour-over, AeroPress, moka pot, and cafetière as brewing methods for Wakuli coffee. For the Wagenaarstraat location, Oost-Online reported in early January 2025 that a monthly coffee was being served as filter coffee. This report concerned a Mexican coffee available in medium and light roast. The same article also mentioned compostable pods in several flavors.

Wakuli also links its coffee bars to activities centered around taste and knowledge transfer. The official workshops page states that the company organizes workshops in coffee bars in Amsterdam, Den Haag, and Leiden. This programming begins with coffee tastings and cuppings. Furthermore, Wakuli’s Instagram posts mention coffee lectures and cuppings, noting that the workshop program was restarted at a later date.

No dedicated, recurring event calendar was found in the consulted public sources for the Wagenaarstraat location. However, Wakuli documents collaborations with Unfair Amsterdam via Instagram. This included, among other things, serving coffee during the fair and a limited-edition collaboration coffee. Such partnerships show that the brand presents itself in public and cultural contexts beyond its own bars.

Sourcing takes a central place in the public information about Wakuli. The company states that it works with 13 partners worldwide and sources directly from farmer organizations. On its impact pages, Wakuli describes regenerative agriculture as the core of its approach. This approach is linked to the restoration of biodiversity, soil improvement, and carbon sequestration.

Publicly mentioned partner organizations include BAHO Coffee in Rwanda, Kata Muduga Union in Ethiopia, CBC in Tanzania, Union San Pedro in Mexico, Ontosoroh in Indonesia, CAFESMO in Honduras, Raw Material in Timor-Leste, and Rebuild Women’s Hope in DR Congo. Furthermore, Wakuli has published that it holds a B Corp certification. No separate sustainability award or individual certification was mentioned for the Wagenaarstraat bar in the consulted sources.

Outside its own channels, Wakuli appears in public mentions. Lukas Grosfeld won the Isaac Roet Prize in 2018 with a business plan for Wakuli. This recognition pertained to the company as a whole, not specifically to the Wagenaarstraat location. Indebuurt reported on the opening of the first Amsterdam-Oost bar in September 2022 and reported the opening of a third Amsterdam location in July 2023. Oost-Online created a profile of the bar near the Dappermarkt in January 2025. Additionally, Wakuli Bar is listed in guides and overviews from I amsterdam and European Coffee Trip. A bar-specific price list for Wakuli Wagenaarstraat was not found in the consulted sources.