Make taking care of yourself one of the best parts of the day
So that taking care of yourself stops being a fight against pleasure.
The deal we broke
Eating well in Ecuador used to mean giving something up: flavour, the time to sit down, real coffee. You either ate well or ate properly. PROT INN was built to break that deal, and the menu is the proof: there is no healthy section hidden at the back, because the whole menu is one.
What we shifted in the market
When we opened in 2017, asking for nutritional information in an Ecuadorian coffee shop was unusual. Today we publish the macros of every item — protein, carbohydrates, fat and calories per serving — on the menu itself, not on request and not in a "healthy" section at the back. We don't know of another specialty coffee chain that does it across the whole menu. It's the thing we'd most like to be copied on.
The coffee
We work with Ecuadorian-origin beans. Ecuador grows high-altitude coffee in Loja, Pichincha, Manabí and the Amazon, and much of it is exported before the country ever tastes it. Our roast is calibrated for two uses: a full-bodied espresso for milk drinks, and lighter profiles for filter methods and an 18-hour cold brew.
The kitchen
Every item carries calculated nutritional information. It isn't a marketing label: it's the tool that lets someone cutting, bulking or eating keto order from us without guessing. Bread and pastry are made in house, which is why the Basque cheesecake tastes a little different each season.
The spaces
Exposed concrete, aged brick, camel leather, natural wood, brushed brass and stainless steel. Six materials, few colours, an open kitchen. The brand reads as expensive through well-chosen materials, not through saturation.
How we grow
We started with one coffee shop and today run three formats: full shops you can spend the afternoon in, to-go kiosks inside malls and Fybeca pharmacies, and a Signature location at Plaza Lagos where we test what later reaches the rest of the chain. We open often, and every opening is carried by people who grew inside the team.