INDUSTRY PROFILE
A chain reaction Five Senses Coffee is in a supermarket near you. The specialty coffee roaster explains why its partnership with Coles is a win for consumers and the broader industry at large.
Y
ears ago, the perception of specialty coffee brands sitting on supermarket shelves was met with industry concern and misunderstanding. Fast forward just a few years and now, it’s almost a badge of honour to join the exclusive club. For roaster Five Senses, rolling out a new range of specialty coffees in Coles nationwide from mid-April is not just a win for the brand, but for the acceptance of specialty coffee in a mainstream consumer platform. “It’s a pretty amazing development for us, and a moment the wider specialty coffee community can celebrate. It’s a sign that specialty coffee has made it out of our niche world and into the mainstream market where we can move people away from commodity coffee, open the door and welcome them into this wonderful world of specialty,” says Five Senses Strategic Projects Manager Ben Bicknell. “Specialty coffee should be accessible to anyone. For so long there’s been a barrier between the specialty world and regular home coffee drinkers, and that gap is now closing.” When Five Senses started in 2000, it was on the cusp of the specialty coffee
movement that quickly spread throughout the country from early to mid 2000s. In the 22 years of operation, the roaster has shared its love for specialty coffee with customers and worked with top wholesale accounts that shared that same excitement. Now, Five Senses is ready for its next adventure. Director of Coffee Matt Slater has curated the new range with Five Senses’ same ethos to specialty coffee, just in a more accessible way. Rather than overwhelming customers with specialty coffee language about extraction parameters, brew ratios, water temperatures and malic acidity, just three key tasting notes are written on the front of each bag. On the back, is a simple lifecycle diagram depicting the four key steps of coffee making: farm, coffee mill, roasting, and into the cup of coffee lovers. “We wanted the messaging to be fun, visual and approachable, not an information dump of stats and figures, which we love talking about, but it’s about offering bite-sized steps first,” Ben says. “It’s about taking consumers on a journey, and this new ‘discovery range’ of coffee aims to do just that.” The All Aboard espresso blend celebrates notes of chocolate, roasted
nuts, and praline. Ben says this coffee is a “steppingstone blend” into specialty coffee, allowing consumers to improve their coffee experience with a comforting profile that tastes delicious as a milk-based coffee. “All Aboard is not just a name, it’s a philosophy based upon collaboration. The coffees which make up this super balanced blend have been sourced from Five Senses Coffee relationships spanning a decade,” Matt says. “The trust, integrity and mutual respect of these human centric relationships have created a unique opportunity to celebrate not only these amazing coffees, but the very people who are responsible for them.” The Sightseer is a single origin espresso offering featuring beans from SanCoffee in Southern Minas Gerais, Brazil, a relationship Five Senses has had for the past 12 years. Ben notes that the profile of toffee, choc fudge and raisins is a great introduction to single origin coffees. The Rambler single origin coffee features beans sourced through womanowned Primavera Coffee in Guatemala. It offers softer stone fruit acidity and notes of nougat and milk chocolate, which is more suited to black coffee drinkers looking to try something different.
The new range includes the All Aboard espresso blend, Sightseer single origin espresso using Brazilian beans, and The Rambler single origin from Guatemala.
beanscenemag.com.au
43
