Shop Front: Koja Coffee Shop In Jeffries Passage

Published on: 19 Sep, 2020
Updated on: 24 Sep, 2020

By Hugh Coakley

Walking into Koja Coffee Shop in Jeffries Passage, it is calm, quiet, understated and with the promise of good quality; dare I say it has a Skandi feeling.

And that Skandi touch is not just a coincidence. The owner, Victor Holmberg is Swedish. and he is working in partnership with Surrey Hills Coffee, owned by Monika and Chris Simion, also from that part of the world.

Koja Coffee shop in Jeffries Passage, Guildford.

Victor said: “We are tucked away in Jeffries Passage but there is a nice amount of movement from the High Street and North Street and we are getting a lot of regulars coming in.”

It is a lovely place. They serve a variety of coffees, teas and cakes and pastries, some from the vegan bakery, Monlicious, in Addlestone.

Victor Holmberg outside the Koja Coffee shop in Jeffries Passage with Monika Simion of Surrey Hills Coffee.

It was called the Surrey Hills Coffee shop until August this year, but while they are still in partnership with Surrey Hills Coffee, they are taking the opportunity to do some re-branding.

Open again after the lockdown, Koja Coffee Shop in Jeffries Passage.

It is now called Koja (approximately pronounced koha), and it means a cosy little den in Swedish. That feels quite apt.

“It’s going quite well,” said Victor. “We have such lovely, local customers. It has been a nice reaction when people see that we have stayed open. It feels good but we have a long way to go after the pandemic, but so far, so good.”

Why Guildford? “It’s such a lovely town and my wife grew up around here,” said Victor.

Plans for the future? “We would like to be more sustainable and only use compostable packaging but that is difficult because the council doesn’t do a compostable collection. But we are doing the next best thing and that is to be fully recyclable.

“We are also focusing on our mini-market in the shop and we sell sourdough bread on the weekend. Let’s see how that goes.

“But the main thing is that we have great coffee, it’s super fresh and tastes fantastic. And we have great customers who want to support local shops.”

During September, they are open Tuesday to Friday 8am to 1pm, Saturday 10am to 5pm and Sunday 10am to 2pm.