Business Model Adjustment in a Non-Producing Emerging Market: A Case Study of Specialty Coffee Roasting in Kazakhstan

Business model adjustment is a critical capability for microenterprises operating in import-dependent industries within emerging markets, and is increasingly recognised in the sustainable business model literature as a mechanism through which firms build economic resilience under resource constraints and volatile operating conditions. This paper examines how a specialty coffee microenterprise in Almaty, Kazakhstan, has adjusted its business model to create, deliver and capture value in a non-producing, landlocked economy characterised by rapid demand growth, currency volatility and high import dependency. The study answers two research questions regarding this case using Osterwalder and Pigneur’s business model canvas as the main analytical framework: (1) How did the case company set up its business model to create, deliver, and capture value? (2) In the context of Kazakhstani specialty coffee roasting, what possibilities and challenges influenced this business model? The analysis combines secondary market data with qualitative evidence from a semi-structured interview conducted in autumn 2025 with the founder of a nine-employee microenterprise that has evolved from a mobile coffee bar into a hybrid B2B–B2C roaster, café operator and e-commerce subscription service. Although Kazakhstan is not a coffee-producing country, its retail coffee market expanded from USD 326.71 million in 2019 to an estimated USD 554.5 million in 2025, with the fresh-coffee share rising from approximately 30% to 37%. The interview account describes a business model centred on locally roasted, traceable specialty coffee delivered fresh to a young, urban customer base, supported by educational and community-building activities. As reported by the founder, the enterprise faces structural challenges including exposure to international green-coffee price spikes—such as the record nominal highs of 354.32 US cents/lb reached in February 2025—currency-related cost volatility, logistical complexity across Eurasian transit routes and constrained access to growth-stage financing. Because the evidence base is a single founder interview combined with secondary market data, the paper does not independently verify the firm’s resilience, viability or financial outcomes. The findings are presented in the form of analytical generalisations—that is, generalisations relating to theoretical conclusions drawn from this specific case, rather than from a broader set of companies—which illustrate, based on the founder’s own account, how this micro-enterprise pursued a targeted, phased adaptation of its business model rather than a radical overhaul; the study does not independently verify resulting sustainability or resilience outcomes. As this is a case study, the present analysis does not allow us to determine the extent to which this model is representative of other micro-enterprises involved in coffee production, or of other non-manufacturing sectors in developing economies; the contribution of this study is empirical and contextual rather than theoretical: it extends the scope of business model analysis to under-researched geographical and institutional contexts and lays the groundwork for future comparative studies.