At just 20, Samantha Lloyd has found the recipe for success. As she sips a sea salt caramel matcha, the coffee connoisseur tells Canterbury Today how she’s doing business her own way.
Parked at The Vale, 110 Papanui Rd, Gigi’s Coffee and Matcha has taken the city and the Internet by storm. The coffee cart goes through two kilograms of matcha powder a week, enough for over 1,000 drinks. “Coffee is the first thing I think of in the morning,” says the brains behind it all, Samantha Lloyd. Many regulars now think of their morning Gigi’s in the same way.
It’s popular with all sorts of people: students from nearby schools, people on their way to work, grandparents encouraged by their grandchildren, and Hagley Park hot girl walkers, to name a few. For some customers, it’s their introduction to matcha, a finely ground powder of green tea leaves with a slightly sweet and earthy flavour. The cart is named after her bijon jack Russell Gigi. “It was the only name that came to mind. It had to be that.”
From spray-painting the cart matcha green to her hectic day-in-the-life videos today, Sam documented the entire start-up process in short-form video content. Her journey began in September 2024, but she first posted in November, creating a content backlog that meant a more concise digital timeline that maintained the audience’s hype. Her online strategy encapsulates the power of social media marketing. At times, the response has been overwhelming. “There are real people behind the TikTok views. Imagine a crowd of 40,000 people. People are actually watching what I’m doing.”
Sam served her first customer in December, a time she describes as chaotic. Now she’s celebrating one year of matchas and more. Looking back, Sam is “100% happy” that she took the risk and embarked on the Gigi’s journey when she did. At age 20, out of high school and with hospitality experience, Sam says it was the perfect time. “When better to drop everything to follow a dream?”
“You don’t check boxes to be a business owner; you just have to want to do it. That’s what Google is for,” she says. “I didn’t want a linear career. I didn’t want to go to university. I worked hard and saved. Like me, you can do it your own way.”
One of Gigi’s first challenges was securing enough matcha to meet demand. Sam’s original supplier ran out of stock only a couple of months after launch, forcing her to navigate the long production pipeline that matcha requires, because high-grade leaves take months to grow, harvest, grind and ship. Now, Kiwi-owned, mother-daughter-operated Nomu Matcha, which launched one week before Gigi’s opened, is their loyal supplier.
One of Sam’s favourite jobs is inventing new sweet treats. She takes inspiration from café TikToks but always puts her own spin on them. “I’m always thinking of what new drinks, goodies, and flavour combinations I can offer. Putting the menu together and having that creative freedom is the fun part.”
When she’s not in the cart, Sam can often be found baking, a passion her mother instilled in her as a child. She rents out a nearby kitchen where she bulk-bakes cart favourites and experiments with new creations. “Cookies, cinnamon rolls, cookies stuffed with TimTams and Oreos, I can go on.”
Using unique flavours is another element. Sam draws inspiration from Asian flavours, such as ube and pandan, in line with matcha. “When was the last time you ate something you’d never tried before?”
Though new drinks and treats are always in the pipeline, some crowd pleasers are menu mainstays. “The iced cinnamon roll latte is my most iconic drink. Cinnamon rolls are my favourite food, so I wanted to make them into a drink. The same goes for the banana pancake matcha. I love banana pancakes. And the sea salt caramel latte – who doesn’t like something sweet and salty?”
“[Opening Gigi’s] was a lot more work than I thought it was going to be, but now I have found the rhythm. Leading has a learning curve, but every problem has a solution. I’m so proud, and I don’t want to jinx it, but it’s important to realise when you’re doing well.”
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