A World-Class Coffee Magazine
JUNE 2019
Simply the best Appreciating the coffees that stand out from the crowd
Jody Leslie’s new direction for Toby’s Estate
Imagine a world without waste MICE2020: the world is coming
Flavour fights futures
NZ $11.95 No.57 ISSN 1449-2547
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9 771449 254002
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JUNE 2019
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contents UPFRONT
12 NEWS 18 STUFF ON THE SCENE
The latest must-have products
INDUSTRY PROFILES
40 NO TIME TO WASTE
SKILL BASE
44 TIME FOR CHANGE
Australian Latte Art Champion Jibbi Little presents her Fairy Rabbit design
47 SUSTAINABILITY FEATURE
Mocopan Coffee's Kyle Rutten on why it's important to understand your market
58 PASSING OF THE TORCH
Dr Monika Fekete explores the impact of grind temperature on extraction temperature
What's changed two years on from the War on Waste movement?
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KNOWLEDGE LEADER
Fairtrade works with farmers in Peru to help combat the effects of climate change
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CELEBRITY CHEF
Companies share their sustainable industry practices
Toby's Estate welcomes new General Manager Jody Leslie Scott Pickett on using coffee as a vehicle for flavour
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KINGS OF THE ROAST
The winners of the Australian International Coffee Awards share their secrets to success
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A GOOD CUP FOR ALL
Gloria Jean's on making great coffee accessible
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BON APPÉTIT
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PETE CALLS AUSTRALIA HOME
French toast, but not as you know it The former WBC Champion joins the Nomad Coffee Group in Melbourne
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CAFETTO BARISTA PROFILE
Jack Hanna waves goodbye to the The Grounds and hello to a new career
FEATURE NEWS
36 THE ONES THAT SPARKLE
Campos Coffee on why the Cup of Excellence is key to the longevity of specialty coffee 6
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Meet the new World Barista and Brewers Cup Champions
60 THE WORLD RETURNS
Excitement builds as MICE gets set to host the WBC in 2020
62 BOSTON STRONG
Reliving the best parts of this year's Specialty Coffee Association Expo
74 ORIGIN
Cofi-Com's John Russell Storey on a day in the life in one of Australia's biggest traders
TECHNOLOGY FOCUS
67 FIRST CRACK
Elemental Beverage Company turns hot brewed coffee cold in less than a minute
78 TECH TALK
Service Sphere reflects on the evolution of coffee equipment and what the future might bring
80 ESPRESSO YOURSELF 82 TRAINING TACTICS 84 R&D LAB
CAFÉ SCENE
68 CAFÉ SCENE
Around Australia
76 FLAVOUR FASCINATION
Zest on what roasters can do to support the ongoing investment of quality coffee production
87 ASCA
Discover why judging is much more than a clipboard job
88 NZSCA
New Zealand presents its new Cup Tasters and Latte Art Champions
89 TEA SCENE
Bradley Cahill and Mafalda Moutinho on why the standards of specialty tea need to change
90 E-SCENE
Fans of the magazine
RAISING THE ESPRESSO BAR
Find out more camposcoffee.com
vershoot o c e n e c S n Bea PUBLISHER Christine Clancy christine.clancy@primecreative.com.au MANAGING EDITOR Sarah Baker sarah.baker@primecreative.com.au JOURNALISTS Ethan Miller ethan.miller@primecreative.com.au Alexandra Duffy alexandra.duffy@primecreative.com.au ART DIRECTOR Blake Storey DESIGN Kerry Pert, Madeline McCarty BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT MANAGER Camilo Molina camilo.molina@primecreative.com.au
Campos Coffee Newtown 193 Missenden Road, Newtown, New South Wales 2042 www.camposcoffee.com For the June edition of BeanScene, it was straight to one of Campos Coffee’s flagship Sydney venues to celebrate the company’s contribution to the Cup of Excellence (COE) program and the many coffees that ‘sparkle on the table’ (see page 36). For the past 10 years, Campos Coffee has invested over $2 million in purchasing COE coffees to reward the farmers that put so much effort into producing specialty coffees and showcasing the true value of high-grade coffees to its customers. In honour of the company’s leading position as one of the program’s greatest buyers and Australian advocate, there seemed no better time to feature the number two winning Colombian COE coffee from Linarco Rodriguez Ospina on the cover, a coffee that will be available to Campos customers from 24 June. “Linarco is one of the best coffee producers in Colombia, someone always investing back into his farm. I always thought he was special and his recent results at the COE competition in Colombia proves that,” Campos Coffee Founder Will Young says. To help make the coffee sparkle, BeanScene called in Sydney photographer Jeff Mackay. He captured rows of cupping bowls in the afternoon sun on Campos Newton's beautiful white marble bar, then drew on the coffee’s delicate golden colour for a range of pouring shots from Zuko's custom green hand-made ceramic filter set. “I couldn’t believe how pumping the café was for a Thursday afternoon,” Jeff says. “I was genuinely surprised to see a constant stream of customers 20-deep. This made for an interesting selection because some of my shots had people blurred in the background, and others were clean, still images, so we had lots of options.” BeanScene Editor Sarah Baker says it's one thing to see luxury COE coffees available at Campos stores, but to represent their 'sparkle' on the Simply June cover is extra special. the best “This is our way of saying 'thank you' to the farmers for their incredible contribution to specialty coffee, and it's an important reminder to support the future of the COE competition,” Sarah says. JUNE 2019
A World- Class Coffee Magazi ne
Appreciating the coffees that stand out from the crowd
Jody Leslie’s new
Imagine a world
direction for Toby’s
without waste
MICE2020: the world
is coming
Flavour fights futures
NZ $11.95 No.57 ISSN 1449-2547
04
9 771449 254002
8
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Estate
CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER Brad Buchanan brad.buchanan@primecreative.com.au DESIGN PRODUCTION MANAGER Michelle Weston michelle.weston@primecreative.com.au CLIENT SUCCESS TEAM LEADER Janine Clements janine.clements@primecreative.com.au PHOTOGRAPHY Blake Storey, Jeff Mackay, Jeff Hann, Yongzhi Zhang, Jennifer Hall, World Coffee Events CONTRIBUTORS Jibbi Little, John Russell Storey, Darren Stinson, Maurizio Marcocci, Emma McDougall, Kieran Westlake, Kyle Rutten, Dr Monika Fekete, Bradley Cahill and Mafalda Moutinho HEAD OFFICE Prime Creative Pty Ltd 11-15 Buckhurst Street South Melbourne VIC 3205 p: 03 9690 8766 f: 03 9682 0044 enquiries@primecreative.com.au www.beanscenemagazine.com.au SUBSCRIPTIONS 03 9690 8766 subscriptions@primecreative.com.au BeanScene magazine is available by subscription from the publisher. The rights of refusal are reserved by the publisher. ARTICLES All articles submitted for publication become the property of the publisher. The Editor reserves the right to adjust any article to conform with the magazine format. COPYRIGHT
BeanScene magazine is owned by Prime Creative Media and published by Christine Clancy. All material in BeanScene magazine is copyright and no part may be reproduced or copied in any form or by any means (graphic, electronic or mechanical including information and retrieval systems) without written permission of the publisher. The Editor welcomes contributions but reserves the right to accept or reject any material. While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of information Prime Creative Media will not accept responsibility for errors or omissions or for any consequences arising from reliance on information published. The opinions expressed in BeanScene magazine are not necessarily the opinions of, or endorsed by, the publisher unless otherwise stated.
Unpretentious coffee that delivers consistency in every cup.
Quality roasted coffee – SINCE 1954. www.mocopan.com.au 1800 423 267
CONTRIBUTORS In each issue of BeanScene we profile a few of our talented contributors. Dr Monika Fekete is a chemical scientist with a passion for coffee. She is the Founder of Coffee Science Lab, Australia’s first independent scientific coffee consultancy. She has collaborated with innovative coffee companies, roasters, and competition baristas, helping them underpin coffee research and development projects with solid scientific principles. Monika regularly hosts workshops around putting coffee science to practice. She also works for the Department of Food and Agriculture Innovation at Monash University.
Kyle Rutten is the National Training Manager for Suntory and Mocopan Coffee Australia. He has extensive experience in training and development, and people management. Kyle has a strong background in specialty coffee with a focus on bringing that expertise into the corporate coffee industry. He is passionate about developing people through knowledge and experience to further their careers.
Rawirat Techasitthanet, also known as Jibbi Little, is originally from Thailand and lives in Sydney, Australia. She is a barista, latte artist, and roaster at Jibbi Little Roasting Co. She is also the designer and creator of the Jibbijug milk pitcher. Jibbi has worked in the coffee industry for the past 10 years. She is a five-time Australian Specialty Coffee Association (ASCA) NSW Latte Art Champion, and is the 2019 ASCA Pauls Professional Australian Latte Art Champion. Jibbi is also a Q-Grader, competition judge, and founder of the Jibbi Academy.
Maurizio Marcocci lived in Milan and attended the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, where he completed a Masters of Economics and International Relations. He has distinct qualifications from Italy as a Certified Coffee Taster with an Espresso Specialist Certificate. Now, as the Managing Director of Service Sphere, Maurizio has grown the business to become an industry leader in the sales and service of coffee equipment in just 10 years.
Emma McDougall is the Communication and Administration Coordinator for the NZSCA. After gaining a Degree in Hospitality Management, Emma has worked in Sydney, Dublin, Auckland, London, and most recently, Wellington. She has owned and managed cafés and tech-judged the New Zealand Barista Championship in 2015 and 2016. Now, she gets to help run them. One of the greatest joys she gets from the coffee industry is watching young people progress through their coffee journey.
A word from the Editor
FAMILY TIES
B
oston holds a special place in my heart. As cold as it was on arrival for the Specialty Coffee Association (SCA) Expo in April, the warmth was felt in the city’s people, landmarks, coffee shops, and classic New England clam chowder. One of the things I love about international travel is the feeling of belonging to a particular family, not related by blood but nationality – or in this case, the industry of coffee. It’s rare you get to catch up with some of the people you interview and email constantly throughout the year. So for me, Boston was not only a chance to explore the new innovations at the SCA expo and watch the World Coffee Championships, it was an opportunity to unite with my extended coffee family – baristas, company executives, producers, and others (see page 62). The barista at George Howell’s café instantly picked that I was in town for the expo – must have been my Aussie accent or the way I constantly filmed Insta-stories. Whatever it was, admitting I was there for the expo and having travelled ‘all that way’ from Melbourne always got two reactions. One, impressed. And two, envy that I lived in one of the world’s most famous coffee cities. I turned that envy into an invitation when I mentioned our famous city will host the World Barista and Brewers Cup Championship in 2020. That had him thinking (see page 60). Meanwhile, my mind ticked over at the Re:Co Symposium as I listened to speeches about the dire situation of the world’s global coffee price crisis and what possisble solutions could be. On my final morning in Boston, I went to watch the famous Boston Marathon. The electric feeling of watching the elite runners coming down Boylston Street to rapturous applause from the crowd was a feeling I’ll never forget. But it was the everyday runners, the mums, dads, sons, and daughters running for personal achievement that was the real highlight. No moment was more emotional than watching the first wheelchair division participant use every last bit of strength to propel himself up the final hill before the home strait. But with the crowd’s support, he did it, and we can too. Despite the seemingly colossal challenges ahead for the industry, we can tackle it bit by bit together, with our extended coffee family.
SARAH BAKER Follow us on Twitter @BeanSceneEd ‘Like’ us on Facebook @BeanSceneCoffeeMag Follow us on Instagram @beanscenemag
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NEWS
DANNY WILSON OF ONA COFFEE WINS ASCA 2019 MONIN AUSTRALIAN CIGS CHAMPIONSHIP Danny Wilson has won the 2019 Australian Coffee in Good Spirits (CIGS) Championship, his second Australian CIGS title in a row, at Manly Spirits Co Distillery in New South Wales on 2 May. Tristan Clark of Soul Origin placed second and William O’Neill of Molly Bar placed third in the Australian Specialty Coffee Association and Monin hosted event. The competition saw eight of Australia’s best baristas turn their skills to cocktails as they competed for a spot at the World CIGS Championship in Germany from 6 to 8 June. In the competition, the mixologists produced two Irish coffees and two coffee-and-alcohol-based designer drinks. For his designer cocktail, Danny served a twist on a classic Manhattan cocktail, which he named the Cafe Manhattan. He says that inspiration for this cocktail came from competing in the 2018 World CIGS Championships
Monin and Manly Spirits Co are among the sponsors who made the Australian Coffee in Good Spirits Championship possible.
Danny Wilson is a two-time Australian CIGS Champion. He placed third in the 2018 World Championship.
in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. “I wanted to build on what I did last year and incorporate more of an understanding about classic cocktails and bartending,” Danny says. “The Cafe Manhattan was intended
to be a drink that brought together the world of specialty coffee and the world of classic cocktails.” Danny used a throwing method several times in order to mix the Cafe Manhattan ingredients and bring them to serving temperature, before serving it over ice with a vermouth toffee garnish. For his Irish coffee, Danny used a Trinity coffee brewer to extract his coffee into a hyper chiller, before adding it to a mixture of Manly Spirits Co vodka, homemade coffee bitters, maraschino cherry syrup, and rye whiskey. This was topped with a layer of thickened Riverina Fresh cream. “It was a pleasure to return to the stage and be a part of this competition,” he says. “I’m looking forward to working on some more drinks and presenting them in Berlin.”
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NEWS
MATTHEW LEWIN REPRESENTS AUSTRALIA IN WORLD BARISTA CHAMPIONSHIP perfectly, it can impact your end result,” Matt tells BeanScene. “I got feedback from the judges and it ended up being a few tiny things that made the difference. There was only about 10 points between 11th place and making the finals. That’s half a mark in one box.” Matt says his second-round exit came down to not fully describing the complex flavour of his coffee. “I tried to keep it simple, but the coffee really opened up on that second day and the judges were detecting a little more complexity than I’d described,” he says. “With barista competitors, we have a story, know how our drinks will taste, and Photo: Jeff Hann
Matthew Lewin went into the 2019 World Barista Championship (WBC) with his head held high, routine prepared, and ready to share his ideas with a global audience. The Ona Coffee Barista Trainer finished the WBC preliminary round in first place, with the highest scoring espresso in the world and second highest signature drink. Unfortunately, Matt’s WBC campaign came to a close in the semi-finals, placing 11th in the competition. “I had three very connected courses tied closely to my concept that proved to be very approachable yet rewarded highly. But on the day, you have to make a couple of decisions and if you don’t execute them
Matthew Lewin of Ona Coffee placed 11th in the 2019 World Barista Championship.
try to stick to that. But often, things change with coffee and we need to change with that. I probably did not react to the coffee as well as I should have on day two.” Matt’s WBC routine focused on how to connect the everyday consumer to specialty coffee. “When Ona opened its Marrickville café, we had coffees on the menu that were $16 and a lot of the feedback from the public was that they couldn’t believe you could charge $16 for a coffee,” he says. “I thought there was a space here to be explored. There’s such a gap between people that order everyday coffee and the pointy end of what coffee can be. I wanted to bridge the gap and show coffee can be an incredible experience, comparable to a $16 glass of wine.” Despite not making the finals, Matt is proud of his performance and what he shared on the world stage. “No other platform pushes me harder to find deeper levels of excellence in coffee, dig deeper within myself, and demands more of my time and focus than competition has,” he says. “When you have an opportunity to present yourself, your ideas, and your values around coffee to the broader community – to the extent of your peers being judges – it forces you to dig deep into what you’re capable of.” With the WBC to be held at the Melbourne International Coffee Expo in 2020, Matt is ready to compete again, this time with a home field advantage. “I think every competitor who’s ever represented Australia – or tried to – should come back to try again,” Matt says. “It would have been nice [this year] if I could have maintained the day one ranking. I’ll have to go again, using this WBC experience to turn those weaknesses into strengths.”
COFFEE PRICES REACH LOWEST POINT IN MORE THAN A DECADE In April 2019, the International Coffee Organization (ICO) composite indicator fell by 3.2 per cent to 94.42 US cents per pound, the lowest monthly average since July 2006 when the price reached 88.57 US cents per pound. The daily price fell to 91.79 US cents per pound on 17 April, the lowest it had been since 1 August 2006 when it hit 88.77 US cents per pound. “International coffee prices have been falling since 2016, with the ICO composite indicator breaking through the US$1 per pound mark in September 2018,” ICO Senior Economist Christoph Sänger tells Global Coffee Report.
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“Since then, the market has remained broadly at this level, which is almost 30 per cent below the average coffee price
over the past decade. This is bad news for farmers around the world. “Low prices result in dwindling farm incomes and puts rural livelihoods at risk, especially those of smallholders. Prolonged periods of low coffee prices hamper growers’ ability to invest in productivity-increasing technologies and climate change adaptation. In the long run, production volume and quality may suffer, with serious implications for future supply.” Low prices discouraged sales in March 2019, and world coffee exports amounted to 10.98 million bags, 3.8 per cent lower than in March 2018.
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NEWS
YANINA FERREYRA OF PROJECT ORIGIN RELIVES HER WORLD BREWERS CUP PERFORMANCE
Photo: Jeff Hann
Coming off the back of her first national title, Yanina Ferreyra of Project Origin travelled to the World Brewers Cup (WBrC) in Boston determined to do her best in the championship. Yanina tells BeanScene she didn’t know what to expect going into the championship and was amazed by the experience. “There are big names in the coffee competition world. It’s exciting to back yourself against the best people in the industry,” she says. “I was pleasantly surprised with the results. There was a great atmosphere
of excited coffee lovers wanting to try coffee and everyone was so helpful and friendly.” In her open service, Yanina used a Geisha varietal produced by Jamison Savage of Finca Deborah in Panama, which she named Opal. Using a thermometer, Yanina demonstrated to the judges what happens to the flavour of the coffee as it reaches different temperatures. “I wanted to have as much complexity within the flavour as possible and really push the boundaries with the profile,” Yanina says. “When you drink a coffee, you experience different textures
Yanina Ferreyra of Project Origin placed ninth in the 2019 World Brewers Cup.
and I really wanted to have more control over what was happening to the coffee, at what stage, and why. The flavours have to hit at certain times, so nothing gets lost when tasting.” She says the correlation to the gemstone was shown within the variety of colours that change between the different temperatures. While hot, the blue flavours resembled blackberries and dark grapes. When warm, the flavours transitioned to green and yellow, representing kiwi and pineapple. Once the coffee cools, its red flavours reflected white peach and watermelon. Yanina finished her WBrC campaign in ninth place, with the fourth highest open service score of all the competitors. She says in her next competition, she will approach the compulsory round differently and “really try to understand what the judges are looking for”. “I’ll continue to work on the connection with the consumer and keep developing a more complex coffee with distinct flavour stories,” she says. Yanina adds that any brewers looking to compete in high level competitions shouldn’t be deterred by the more experienced competition. “There’s a moment of truth in competitions,” she says. “When you get mic’d up before going on stage. It can be scary with adrenaline and excitement taking over. Practise helps build your confidence when presenting in front of judges.”
MAIKO MORIMOTO OF EXTRACTION ARTISAN COFFEE WINS BREEZEY MASTERS QUEENSLAND Maiko Morimoto of Extraction Artisan Coffee has won the first regional Breezey Masters competition of the 2019 season, held at her workplace in Queensland on 7 May. Kyujong Han of Ginger & Green Café placed second, with Naoto Tanabe of Bellissimo Coffee and Jake Huang of B+C Lab rounding out the final four. Breezey Masters lets baristas showcase their latte art skills using organiser Almond Breeze’s barista blend almond milk. Competitors are required to make four different patterns – a heart, tulip, rosetta, and swan – and a free pour design. The baristas are judged on the quality of their designs, with the added pressure of completing their drinks within a set time period. Maiko and Kyujong finished the final round with equal scores, meaning they had to produce another free pour in a one-minute tiebreaker round. Twenty-four baristas competed in this year’s Breezey Masters Queensland in
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front of a panel of industry judges. Maiko took home $1000 in prize money and will compete in the 2019 Breezey Masters Grand Final in New South Wales in September. The next Breezey Masters regional will take place in NSW on 21 May
at Specialty Coffee Curators in Marrickville. Breezey Masters will head to Melbourne on 4 June, Adelaide on 17 June, Darwin on 24 June, Perth on 15 July, and New Zealand on 6 August, with locations to be confirmed.
A tiebreaker round was held between Maiko Morimoto and Kyujong Han to determine first place at the Queensland regional.
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“Riverina Fresh Gold was perfect for my competition coffee, as it balanced the darker style chocolate flavours. It complements a range of coffee f lavours and is why we use it in all of our ONA cafes.” MATT LEWIN 2019 World Barista Championship Semi Finalist
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STUFF ON THE SCENE
Stuff on the scene ROCKET APPARTAMENTO Sleek and contemporary, the Appartamento is a heat exchange unit with espresso brew temperature maintained by a commercial E61 group head. A small footprint and straight side panels featuring a circular design make this an attractive and practical unit when looking to maximise bench space. Rocket engineers have optimised the chassis and internal layout of the Appartamento to design a functional machine featuring components capable of producing an espresso full of flavour and powerful steam quality simultaneously. Capturing the modern style of design and incorporating this into an espresso machine, the Appartamento features a simplistic circular feature on the side panels with the option of white, red, copper and matte, or gloss black. With the addition of these colours, the Rocket Appartamento can fit perfectly into any home or office environment. For more information, visit www.espressocompany.com.au
MONIN HIBISCUS Just a dash of floral freshness with the new Monin Hibiscus Syrup brings enough tropical spirit to turn any beverage into a real Asian experience, thanks to the crowned “Queen of Tropical Flowers”. Monin Hibiscus makes for a consistently delicious tea, cold brew, frappe, soda, cocktail, or punch. Like all of Monin’s range, this vivid garnet syrup uses the best of cane and natural flavours, and is 100 per cent vegan. Do your guests a favour and brighten up your beverage list this winter? Combine 20 millilitres of Monin Hibiscus syrup with 250 millilitres of black cold brew coffee for a delicious Hibiscus Cold Brew recipe that can be batched on a nitro keg for on-tap flavoured coffee. For more information, contact orders@stalex.com.au or call 1800 225 417.
HUSKEECUP
Each year, more than 500 billion takeaway cups end up in landfill. Huskee seeks to answer this problem through the HuskeeCup range and HuskeeSwap solution. HuskeeCup features coffee husk waste as a raw material and functions as both a dine-in and reusable cup solution. Every HuskeeCup can be used in the HuskeeSwap exchange system. All consumers need to do is purchase a HuskeeCup and lid at a HuskeeSwap café, drop it off at the counter when they order their next coffee, and get their drink in a different, clean HuskeeCup. HuskeeSwap provides coffee drinkers with the best on-the-go coffee experience, while enabling cafés to reduce single-use cups without causing bottlenecks in their bar workflow. Participating HuskeeSwap cafés can be found at www.huskee.co/locations. To register as a café or for more information, visit www.huskee.co/swap and click “I’m a business”, or email swap@huskee.co
BLACKFIN COLD BREW COFFEE LIQUEUR Blackfin Cold Brew Coffee Liqueur is a sassy, bittersweet complex character with an exquisite smooth dark side to be devoured. Using sustainably and responsibly sourced beans, distilled native botanicals, and sea minerals infused into Manly Spirits Co’s smooth wheat vodka, this coffee liqueur is for those who respect coffee. Blackfin is a collaboration between two northern beaches locals, Manly Spirits Co and Seven Miles Coffee Roasters, which are passionate about coffee, spirits, native botanicals, and what can be crafted with them. The custom blend for Manly Spirits was developed to enhance caramel, chocolate, and brown sugar notes. With origins hailing from Brazil, Indonesia, and India, the blend was optimised to balance these flavours in the cup. The roast and extraction process were further refined to achieve the best balance for use in Blackfin. Enjoy straight, on the rocks, or in a delicious espresso martini. For more information, visit www.manlyspirits.com.au
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LELIT GIULIETTA Lelit has built prosumer espresso machines in its Milan factory for decades and has now turned its attention to the commercial market with the two-group Giulietta. The Giulietta has full-size specs with a 10-litre boiler and two E61 group heads but a relatively compact body at only 58 centimetres wide. The Australian version comes with two cool-touch steam wands, temperature stable heat exchangers, and a centrally mounted hot water wand. The portable coffee market will appreciate its 10-amp option that can be plumbed in or run off an external tank, while the office market will value the clean lines of its all-stainless steel body. Service costs are minimised with easy access to internal components via side and top panels with one screw each. The Lelit Giulietta is distributed in Australia by Jetblack Espresso. RRP $6000. For more information, visit www.jetblackespresso.com.au, contact 1300 747 873, or wholesale@jetblackespresso.com.au
SUNNY QUEEN FRENCH TOAST Café owners and chefs alike will be saying “bon appétit” to customers with the readymade, snap-frozen French toast launched in April by Sunny Queen, one of Australia’s best-known and well-loved food brands. It’s created to service Australia’s growing $7.4 billion out-of-home breakfast category and further extend the current Sunny Queen meal solutions range of omelettes, fritters, and poached eggs. The new French toast fills a gap in the market and helps café and hospitality businesses increase revenue and decrease expenses with a safe, convenient, and timesaving breakfast product. With more than 30 years in the industry, Sunny Queen knows Australians love their eggs and has developed a French toast recipe that ensures diners start their day off right. For more information, visit www.sunnyqueenmealsolutions.com.au/products/french-toast
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GUIDING GROWTH Jody Leslie has held senior roles at Frucor, Guzman y Gomez, and McDonald’s, where she oversaw the rollout of McCafé across Australia as VP/Director of Supply Chain. She now brings her knowledge, leadership skills, and desire for growth to Toby’s Estate.
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KNOWLEDGE LEADER
Jody’s shift Toby’s Estate General Manager Jody Leslie on her career in food service, diving head-first into specialty coffee, and preparing for long-term growth.
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n her short time as General Manager of Toby’s Estate Coffee Roasters, Jody Leslie has already seen how the Australian coffee scene differs to the rest of the world. “Compared to the United States for instance, Australia has a larger focus on specialty coffee,” Jody tells BeanScene. “If I had a theory as to why, it would be around the age of our coffee industry. It matured around the same time as the rise of specialty coffee [globally]. “Momentum wise, Australians also like to be seen as the best and punching above their weight in a lot of things. You see that in sport, and it’s reflected in coffee. Once it was recognised we were leading this area, it’s almost taken on a life of its own.” Jody’s career has followed a similar path. At the University of Sydney, Jody studied a Bachelor of Commerce, majoring in accounting and marketing. “I didn’t want to be a marketer, so I became an accountant,” she says. “I actually have a lot of interest in food and how it starts from an ingredient, travels through the supply chain, and ends up with the consumer, so I’ve always gravitated toward the foodservice industry.” Jody has held corporate positions in a number of food and beverage companies, including Guzman y Gomez and Frucor. However, she entered the world of foodservice management through McDonald’s, the same company in which she worked her first part-time job at the age of 15. “They hire a lot of people who have worked in their restaurants through their corporate office, quite similarly to Toby’s Estate, where we hire a lot of people who are baristas or have café experience into our corporate organisation,” Jody says. Among other roles, Jody served as the Vice-President/Director of Supply Chain when McDonald’s first rolled out McCafé around Australia in the early 2000s. She played a pivotal role in developing its blend and offering. “I think Australia responded well to McCafé for two reasons. One, we were able to create some consistency in the offering, and two is on the back of why
McDonald’s is successful: the combination of convenience, speed, and sensibility,” Jody says. “At that time, [my focus] was on elevating the offering from bad Americanstyle drip coffee to espresso-based coffee. I am excited to again be involved in coffee, nowadays elevating the specialty coffee experience which we are super passionate about at Toby’s Estate.” Jody says while she has a growing appreciation for coffee, it’s her commercial acumen and leadership skills that make her suitable for the new GM role at Toby’s Estate, to which she was appointed in mid-January 2019. “Toby’s Estate has a lot of passionate, knowledgeable coffee people. Part of the reason I was brought in to the role was to help harness that and continue to grow Toby’s Estate using that knowledge and drive,” she says. “Coming into this role, I was quite impressed by how passionate everyone is about keeping quality standards high. Even though we’re working with raw ingredients, from thousands of kilometres away, our ability to deliver a consistent tasting cup of coffee in every bag is what I think makes Toby’s Estate stand out.” Jody says her supply chain experience will also prove beneficial within the coffee industry, where there is an increasing recognition of transparency and accountability. “Coffee is a product that actually doesn’t
have a lot added to it post-raw ingredient. We roast the green bean, pack it, and that’s it. If you think of other products, a lot is done to them before reaching the final product,” she says. “That supply chain appreciation is also why I’m quite passionate about what Toby’s Estate does with its direct-to-farm relationships. Toby’s Estate has done a good job really valuing those partnerships.” While Jody has not yet had a chance to visit origin, she plans to join Toby’s Estate Green Bean Buyer and 2015-16 French Barista Champion Charlotte Malaval on a trip in late 2019. Charlotte was with Jody when she went to the US in April to attend the Specialty Coffee Expo in Boston, Massachusetts to firm up her understanding of the specialty coffee world. “I joined the Re:co Symposium and toured the expo floor for a good two days with our Head Roaster Nicholas Rae. We got a lot of ideas and were inspired by the innovation taking place in the industry,” she says. “I also spent a fair amount of time watching those magicians participating at the World Barista Championship. I tried to convince Charlotte to compete again, but she’s ‘retired’ from competing, or so she says.” Jody’s first exposure to barista competitions was at the 2019 Melbourne International Coffee Expo (MICE), where Toby’s Estate showcased its multiple espresso, filter, and cold brew coffees. Jody works closely with Toby’s Estate Head Roaster Nicholas Rae and Green Bean Buyer Charlotte Malaval.
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KNOWLEDGE LEADER
“It was my first MICE as part of a roaster and I loved how our team came together to create a fun vibe on the Toby’s Estate stand,” she says. “I absolutely love [connecting with the Australian coffee community]. I really enjoy the passion and deep knowledge about coffee that everyone has, as well as the camaraderie. Everyone is enthusiastic to raise the profile of the industry [as a whole].” Jody experienced this firsthand at her first Knowledge Talks event in March. At the Toby’s Estate-hosted educational tour, Ever Meister of Cafe Imports spoke on traceability and marketing ethics within the specialty coffee industry, with Jody attending the Brisbane, Sydney, and Melbourne events. “We see Knowledge Talks as valuable to our internal staff and customers, and as pioneers in the industry, it is a way to give back and demonstrate our commitment to being protectors and supporters of specialty coffee in Australia,” she says. “Knowledge Talks also acts as a propeller for change for Toby’s Estate. The last one from Meister really got us thinking about what we can be doing differently. Post talk, we renewed our
commitment to not using children in any of our marketing material – outside of our sponsorship of the Las Nubes Day Care – and developed an agreement form for our direct relationship farmers to approve use of any photos taken at their farms.” Jody has spent her first few months at Toby’s Estate familiarising herself with the business and now has her sights set on the future. “I have identified a few key opportunities for us to focus on for the rest of the year: expanding our geography and strengthening our commitment to our single origin program, including the launch of Shift Volume 2, which will hit the market soon,” she says. The Shift series aims to change perceptions within the coffee industry. The first volume, launched in 2018, included three unidentifiable coffees, one from Brazil and two from other origins, in an attempt to challenge people’s ideas about the quality of Brazilian coffee. “It encourages people to participate, make coffee, and ‘shift’ their perception on something they think is true,” Jody says. “I can’t give too much away about Volume 2, but there’s a new twist on Shift that we
think will stir debate and conversation.” In terms of expansion, Toby’s Estate – which already has flagships in Kuwait, Indonesia, Singapore, and the Philippines – intends to increase its presence in these regions. In the next 12 to 18 months, Toby’s Estate intends to open cafés in Qatar, Dubai, and Saudi Arabia, and has further growth opportunities in South-East Asia. “Globally, the Middle East is where our next markets will open and is an immediate focus for our expansion. We have a really good partner there,” Jody says. “It’s important that we expand sustainably, not compromising on quality for potential growth. We don’t want to go into countries where we can’t set up a consistent Toby’s Estate experience.” This ethos applies to Australia too, where Toby’s Estate intends to reach new locations across the country. “We’ll expand to new locations in a way that still protects what the brand stands for: premium specialty coffee,” Jody says. “I am excited about the future of the specialty coffee industry in Australia and the important role Toby’s Estate will play as we continue to push boundaries from our part of the world.”
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THE ONE TO WATCH Scott Pickett is an award-winning chef, author and television presenter. His talent was recognised early in his career when he was awarded the title of “The One to Watch� at Salon Culinaire. Scott will launch his second cookbook, The Marriage of Flavours, in August.
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Scott sets the bar
Chef Scott Pickett talks to BeanScene about using coffee as a vehicle for flavour, respecting origin, and the reality of being a business owner in Melbourne’s competitive restaurant scene.
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en years ago, 12 coffees a day was a regular scenario for Scott Pickett. That was until a Chinese doctor took one look at his eyes and knew instantly his caffeine intake was through the roof. “I’d never really thought about it, but I drank a lot of coffee. I’d have one in the morning, one at home, one on my way to work, one when I’d get to work, one when the waiters arrived at 11am, one before lunch at 12, one after lunch, and so on. It quickly added up,” Scott says. “Now I’ve cut down to three or four a day and no more after 3pm – I sleep a lot better and I don’t shake as much.” What Scott does consume now, however, he drinks for enjoyment. He looks for strong pronounced flavours and a consistent crema, and starts the day with a double-strength latte with less milk as the day goes on. “I know people will hate it when I say this, but I do love Nespresso. I am a fan and I’ll tell you why. My Nespresso machine gives me a very consistent, solid coffee first thing in the morning. It’s so much better than the dried powdered stuff, which my mum and dad still drink. They love it because they grew up on it,” Scott says. “When I want a specialist coffee, and a really good one, I go to a great place like Tinker in High Street Northcote, or St Ali in South Melbourne. I’ve always loved what Salvatore [Malatesta] has done there. Before my restaurant Estelle, I was at The Point Restaurant in Albert Park for seven years so I’d always pop into St Ali around the corner for my coffee fix.” Scott became accustomed to commercial kitchens from a young age when he started working as an apprentice chef in various South Australian restaurants. There, he quickly discovered how much coffee was ingrained in a chef’s world thanks to generous offerings from front of house staff. Although it wasn’t until Scott’s 20s when his appreciation for specialty coffee grew. That appreciation is now evident through his own restaurants, including
By Sarah Baker Estelle and Pickett’s Deli and Rotisserie at the Queen Victorian Market where Scott serves Dukes Coffee Roasters. A second Deli is due to open at Melbourne Airport later this year. The 150-seat venue will largely focus on coffee, salads, healthy fast food, and a big roast chicken rotisserie. “We’re also really excited to change the landscape of fast food. When you think of fast food you think of burgers, fries, and chips, but it doesn’t have to be that way. Why can’t you eat something healthy for under $20 for lunch and a coffee?”
A self-proclaimed saucier by trade, Scott perfected the art of sauce creation when he undertook classical French chef training in Europe. One of the first things he learnt was the basics of the ‘sauce tree’, which begins with water and three classic stocks: white chicken, veal, and fish stock. Then, it’s simply a matter of infusing flavour, how you do it, at what stage, and how it tastes. The approach to coffee, Scott says, is no different. “In its basic and pure sense, coffee is flavoured water. It’s a vehicle for flavour,
“IN ITS BASIC AND PURE SENSE, COFFEE IS FLAVOURED WATER. IT’S A VEHICLE FOR FLAVOUR, WHETHER THAT VEHICLE IS THROUGH A CLASSIC TWO OR THREE GROUP MACHINE OR A FILTER LIKE A COLD DRIP. IT’S THE SAME WITH DIFFERENT STOCKS IN DIFFERENT SAUCES.” “We’re looking forward to working with Five Senses Coffee for this new venue, another great coffee brand. We looked at who we thought was in the top five to 10 coffee guys in Melbourne, then we did a tasting to determine what we liked, and we liked Five’s vision for the Deli’s big coffee counter, which will serve filter and cold drip coffee.” Coffee is more than just a beverage to Scott, and he enjoys the challenge of incorporating it into his menus. Estelle features a take on the classic tiramisu but Scott is already thinking ahead to other ways coffee can be reworked with liquor and mascarpone. He has also used coffee as a savoury ingredient, such as in his own coffee-cured salmon recipe. “We grind the toasted coffee beans with sugar and salt and you get the wonderful aromats through the cured salmon. It’s a really good marriage – slightly unusual but it goes really well,” Scott says.
whether that vehicle is through a classic two or three group machine or a filter like a cold drip. It’s the same with different stocks in different sauces. You then build on that and explore the flavour profile,” Scott says. France might have taught Scott his core sauce-making skills, but when it comes to coffee education, Scott says Australia is leading the world. “I think France is still catching up to be honest. I really do think Australia is a world leader when it comes to our coffee standards and coffee culture – it’s on an international scale,” he says. “Our standards have become more refined, and the same has happened to our food culture. People have really challenged themselves and focused on it. Thirty years ago when I started in the kitchen, you didn’t have a dedicated barista to make the coffee in the restaurant. It wasn’t an art form or a science as such. It wasn’t as much a respected vocation as it is now. The same goes for a
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sommelier or a waiter, which can be great career choices.” As for Scott, he chose a career as a chef after a life on the family farm in the South Australian town of Kangarilla taught him the value of the paddock-toplate philosophy. “I’ve always loved food, but farm life helped me understand where food comes from. We had calves, they grew, we looked after them, they went to the abattoir, they came home, they went in the freezer, we dry-aged some, we cured some, we ate them. It was the cycle of life,” Scott says. “Some people see it as the brutality of the food cycle, but it’s just reality.” It’s that same respect and curiosity for produce that Scott has carried into his culinary career. He first completed work experience at a local winery, but the minute he stepped into a commercial kitchen was the moment he found his calling. Scott honed his skills in some of the most rigorous Michelin-starred kitchens of London in the late 90s, and returned to Australia in 2004 to settled into Melbourne’s growing restaurant scene. For more than five years Scott was
Scott Pickett is celebrating eight years of operation at his Melbourne restaurant Estelle.
Executive Chef at the helm of The Point Restaurant, of one of Australia’s most credited steak restaurants. In 2011, he opened his first restaurant venture, Estelle in Northcote, followed by Saint Crispin, ESP, Pickett’s Deli and Rotisserie, and Matilda 159 Domain. On 30 April, Estelle celebrated its eighth birthday, an achievement reached by few businesses in Melbourne’s competitive landscape. “Every year in business is a bonus and
a year of success, as any owner of a small business would tell you. It’s a tough job,” he says. “Every year we survive, doing what we want to do, moving forward and growing, is a wonderful year. “Cooking is all I’ve done ever since. I don’t go to work each day. I wake up, and live my life. The day it becomes a job or chore is the day I walk away from it. You wouldn’t be living and breathing it and driving it every day if it wasn’t what you wanted to do.”
THE PERFECT TRIO
Ph: 1800 000 162 I Unit C1, 53 Huntley Street, Alexandria NSW 2015 E: sales@espressomechanics.com.au I www.espressomechanics.com.au
GOOD CUPPING SINCE ‘79
THE MOST INTERESTING THING IN THIS PHOTO ISN’T A PIECE OF HEADWEAR PUT THE DIGITAL WORLD ON SILENT WITH A CUP OF COLOMBIA GOLD Want to taste something spectacular? We’d like to introduce you to Colombia Gold. A staff favourite, this Golden Bean gold medal filter is a classic mild with tropical fruit
and grape to start, caramel highlights and lime on the finish. A perfect sunny sipper. Pairs well with pastries and vinyl records. Brew for a cru or take the plunge. Jean x
INDUSTRY PROFILE
Kings of the roast BeanScene talks with the winners of this year’s Australian International Coffee Awards to find out their secrets to success.
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ver three days in March, a panel of coffee experts congregated in a mass blind tasting to award the smoothest, most flavoursome, and most refined local and international coffees in the industry’s revered annual roasting competition. New South Wales roaster Danes Specialty Coffee took home the coveted Champion Australian Roaster for the second year in a row at this year’s Australian International Coffee Awards (AICA). Owner Paul Jackson says the backto-back win was a shock and makes him more determined to continue producing high quality coffee. “It’s a humbling surprise. I’ve been in coffee for 25 years. To have been honoured like this says that I’ve been here for a long time, but it doesn’t make me irrelevant,” Paul says. “For our espresso blend, we used two high grade origins. One was a washed Kenya and the other was an Ethiopian ascension blend with an abundance of fruity flavours. When combining two blends, one is going to be more dominant, and the other more submissive. To get the
Coffee Tech aims to give producers a bigger platform and distribution outlet through entering their coffee in competitions.
right balance and the right percentage we continued to practice and experiment to create that uniqueness that gave us the right roast profile.” The Royal Agricultural Society of Victoria (RASV) hosts the annual coffee roasting competition. This year it received more than 800 entries from more than 150 local and international coffee roasters
Paul Jackson (far right) and the Danes Specialty Coffee team are back-to-back Champion Australian Roasters.
including coffees from Australia, New Zealand, China, Greece, Hong Kong, the United States, and the Maldives. Using the RASV scoring system, the judges awarded a total of 330 medals at the Melbourne Showgrounds from 20 to 22 March. Any coffee awarded 54 to 60 points was presented a gold medal, 49 to 53 points a silver, and 44 to 48 a bronze. The judges awarded 15 gold, 100 silver, and 215 bronze medals to exemplary coffees. Eight trophies were presented including Champion Australian Roaster, Champion International Roaster, Champion Direct Trade or Microlot Coffee, Champion Espresso, Champion Milk-Based Coffee, Champion Soy-Based Coffee, Champion Filter Coffee, and Champion Cold Brew Coffee. As well as the prestigious Champion Australian Roaster title, Danes won the single origin category for its Kenya Gakundu and silver for its Kenya Ndiaini in the cold brew category. Another roaster to share success at this year’s AICA was Coffee Tech from Auckland NZ, winning five of the AICA trophies, including Champion International Roaster, Champion Direct
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INDUSTRY PROFILE
Darks Coffee Roaster received its 15th award at the AICA competition.
Trade Coffee, Champion Espresso, Champion Milk-Based Coffee, and Champion Soy-Based Coffee. It also was awarded seven gold, 21 silver, and 15 bronze, finishing with 48 awards in total. Coffee Tech Founder Alan Zuo says the secret to his success comes down to his meticulous sourcing and roasting. “We will test the product that we’re given more than 20 times. We’ll try different profiles for that chosen coffee and try to find that sweet spot. Each bag that gets sent to us, we mark where it comes from, the soil, and its density,” Alan says. “When we have the right profile and we know what works, we keep developing the same blend using the same equipment, in the right room temperature, and we keep building that profile in hope it performs well at international competitions.” Alan says his aim is to highlight the quality work of famers by using their beans at coffee competitions. He hopes this will give them a bigger platform and distribution outlet. “A lot of them don’t have the resources to produce, roast, and test their coffees. We do, we have those resources. We brew and test those coffees for them and the best ones get entered,” Alan says. “Regardless of the outcome from any competition, we provide the farmers with a complementary analysis report on how well the coffee performed, so they can improve and so does our coffee.”
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Alan adds he can already see the exposure coffee farmers are receiving from their AICA competition win, with more consumers asking about the coffees’ origin and purchasing the winning products. This year’s AICA Champion Filter Coffee was awarded to Darks Coffee Roaster for its Bourbon Ateng Super Indonesian, scoring 55.54 out of 60 points. Company Co-Founder Adam Hills says that while the roaster is not known for its filter coffee, this style is hugely important to his business as it’s a great method to showcase Darks to a wider audience. Adam adds that it was their goal to win gold at AICA, yet he was pleasantly surprised when he did. “We were up against people who used exclusive high-quality products. We knew we needed a coffee with a unique cup profile and to utilise a natural Sumatran was an opportunity we grabbed with both hands. Our tasting notes were simple featuring candy cherries, toffee apple, and Riesling, but it
was balanced,” Adam says. This marks Darks’ 15th award in AICA competitions, and Adam still feels as though it’s his first. “We’ve been entering these competitions since 2016. It’s great industry recognition. It gives myself and my team more confidence. The overall standard in coffee is mind-blowing and to win is recognition of us doing a good job,” Adam says. Adam uses this win as a reflection on his career in coffee and the people who played a part in his journey. “I credit those who showed me the business side of the coffee industry and who taught me to roast. Their knowledge is invaluable,” Adam says. With more roasters and baristas putting their best cup forward, winning roasting competitions such as the AICA is becoming harder, differentiating the best from the good. “The coffee world is only growing and with that, standards are only getting higher,” Adam says. “It pushes us as a company to continue to put our best foot forward and produce the best quality.”
Darks Coffee Roaster was awarded AICA Champion Filter Coffee for its Bourbon Ateng Super Indonesian.
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TRULY ORIGINAL AND UNIQUE KAFA is an exclusive coffee, which traces its origins to the Earth's first coffee plants in the Ethiopian forest, a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. 100% Arabica selected and hand harvested, sun dried and roasted slowly by Lavazza for the perfect balance of taste, body and aroma, with intense notes of dates, cherries and honey. Only for the finest coffee shops, restaurants and hotels.
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INDUSTRY PROFILE
A good cup for all Gloria Jean’s Coffees wants to make great coffee accessible to all Australians, and is doing so through its Good Cup philosophy.
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hen Gloria Jean’s first arrived in Australia in the mid-90s, it brought with it robust coffees and darker roasts, and the goal of making good coffee accessible to all Australians. After more than 20 years of operation, Gloria Jean’s has seen Australians’ coffee preferences change and grow. To match the country’s evolving standards, the brand intends to revitalise its quality coffee, food, and service through its new Good Cup philosophy. “Good Cup is the biggest and most exciting development for the brand since our launch in 1996,” Gloria Jean’s Head of Learning and Development and Beverage Innovation Melita Ferraro says. “It is more than just a philosophy – it is an eco-system made up of 12 components that ensures we deliver award-winning coffee that makes our customers’ day.”
Gloria Jean’s began rolling out its Good Cup philosophy across its stores in February.
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These components include key developments such as roasts, menus, uniforms, Acme crockery, fashioninspired takeaway cups, and its Day Maker service. “It’s been 23 years since Gloria Jean’s launched its first coffee house, and Australians’ palates have changed in that time, particularly in the last decade,” Melita says. Gloria Jean’s new house blend consists of the same beans as its original blend, but is now produced with a lighter roast to bring out different flavours in the cup. The result is a blend that is less intense than the original but still full of flavour. “We wanted to bring a smoother house blend to the menu to accommodate more peoples’ taste buds, but we know it’s not just the coffee that makes up a coffee experience. [So,] we embarked on introducing an entire eco-system that will ensure we deliver a Good Cup experience each and every
time,” Melita says. Further broadening Gloria Jean’s coffee offerings is a new Nicaraguan single origin to cater to the six per cent of the brand’s customers who drink their coffee black. “[The] new Nicaragua single origin offers a complex yet smooth and balanced cup of coffee,” Melita says. “We’re also introducing Moccamasters into all of our coffee houses to brew the new single origin filter whole bean range.” This Nicaraguan single origin is also used as the base for Gloria Jean’s new cold brew soft serve. The Nicaraguan coffee is brewed for 12 hours using the Toddy Cold Brew method before blending with Gloria Jean’s signature vanilla soft serve. “Cold brew has always been a great part of our menu and a popular item, used as base for iced coffee. We saw an opportunity to bring to life something that has never been done on our menu before,” Melita says. “The result is a creamy soft serve with a smooth balance of coffee and sweetness. We’ve even discovered that non-coffee lovers really enjoyed the flavour of it.” To complement its reinvigorated coffee offerings, Gloria Jean’s has crafted a new food menu with a streamlined focus that reduces the number of ingredients used but still provides a quality product. “The food menu has shifted the pattern of the stores to more of a dine-in setting where customers are staying for a second or even third cup of coffee,” Melita says. The focal point of Good Cup’s food menu is a new range of gourmet toasties that Gloria Jean’s began rolling out to its stores in February 2019. The coffee shops will also introduce a café-style menu with an all-day breakfast. “Our toasties have always been a good seller, and a customer favourite, so it made sense for that to lead the
charge,” Melita says. “The inclusion of our gourmet toasties was the starting point for Gloria Jean’s stores to offer a canteen-style café menu with an all-day breakfast.” From the kitchen to the shop floor, customers will also notice a redesigned retro logo and new staff uniforms that pay tribute to the brand’s heritage, while Acme crockery will help keep coffee warmer for longer. Tying together the various elements of the Good Cup philosophy is Gloria Jean’s Day Maker customer service experience. “Day Maker service is the overarching program that brings Good Cup to life,” Melita says. “It only takes little things to really make someone’s day. Our staff go above and beyond to make sure our customers have a positive experience at our stores.” To assist its franchise partners with the new Good Cup rollout, Gloria Jean’s developed an extensive training program to ensure each of its 250 individual franchise stores was fully supported and set up for success.
Field team members then provided two full days of in-store support upon rollout, focusing largely on the company’s new coffee, cups, tools, and standards. “This allowed us to work alongside our franchise partners and their teams to ensure they felt confident and comfortable, and to help answer any
She adds that the Good Cup philosophy has been embraced by a broad demographic, contributing to the Gloria Jean’s ethos of being an accessible brand. “Good Cup appeals to the everyday Australian adult. From tradies and admin officers to nurses, teachers, and stay-at-home parents, we serve more
“GOOD CUP IS THE BIGGEST AND MOST EXCITING DEVELOPMENT FOR THE BRAND SINCE OUR LAUNCH IN 1996.” questions along the way,” Melita says. The first store to trial Gloria Jean’s refreshed look and feel was in Chipping Norton, New South Wales. “Good Cup has changed the Chipping Norton store’s business pattern radically. People are staying for longer and ordering additional drinks. Sunday went from its quietest day of the week to its second busiest,” Melitta says.
than 20 million customers every year across our 250 stores,” Melita says. “We want good quality coffee to be accessible to everyone. This was our philosophy when we started 23 years ago, and it’s the same philosophy we believe in today.”
For more information, visit www.gloriajeanscoffees.com
INDUSTRY PROFILE
Bon appétit Sunny Queen has released a snap-frozen French toast that fulfils the café market’s need for versatile, practical, and high-quality breakfast alternatives.
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ut-of-home breakfast consumption is growing year on year in Australia, with NPD Crest placing the market’s worth at $7.4 billion in 2018. This has led many cafés to develop diverse breakfast menus, with items ranging from the notorious smashed avo to extravagant concoctions of unique ingredients. However, this growth also brings an opportunity to appeal to peoples’ nostalgia with a traditional breakfast option. Australian egg producer Sunny Queen has done just that, taking the nostalgia and popularity of a classic breakfast item – French toast – and delivering it in a way that’s convenient for the average coffee shop. Sunny Queen’s real egg French toast is produced at its facility in Carole Park, Queensland. The bread is dipped in a mixture including milk, egg, and cinnamon, before being oven baked, frozen, and delivered to cafés. Sunny Queen National Marketing Manager Isabelle Dench says the readymade French toast provides multiple benefits to coffee shops, including the ability to produce a gourmet product for small shops with storage restrictions. “[Cafés] don’t have to do anything in the kitchen, purchase the ingredients, crack the eggs, or prepare the mix. Everything is done prior. All they have to do is pop the toast in an oven, sandwich press, or toaster,” Isabelle says. “It’s also consistent. Coffee shops know they’re serving the same delicious product to their customers every time.” Isabelle says the French toast can be served or plated in many different ways. “With this one product, cafés can add two or three new items to their menus,” she says. “You could serve it as a full slice or cut into halves or quarters and topped with sweet or savoury ingredients. It can be served plated in the shop but also as an on-the-go option.”
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Sunny Queen has produced a ready-made, snap-frozen French toast to cater to a growing need for takeaway breakfast options.
Isabelle suggests cafés could sell the French toast as a takeaway item in a small box or paper bag and dusted with icing sugar. She says it’s increasingly important that cafés be able to offer fast and convenient alternatives. “A lot of shops these days are opening drive-through options, so we know there is an increased demand for products that can quickly be reheated and ready to serve,” Isabelle says. For in-store options, Sunny Queen hired Katrina Neill as the company’s own Development Chef to constructs recipes for use in cafés. “[Katrina’s] role is to help us better understand the needs of our customers so we can respond in the most suitable ways. She’s an expert in balancing flavour and texture, so she’s important to the quality
of the product as well,” Isabelle says. “She’s been a chef for many years in Australia and has international experience in Canada and Italy, which she uses to help us ensure we are always delivering the best product to suit the needs of the market.” One of Katrina’s recent creations sees the French toast topped with stewed fruits and custard. Others use vanilla bean yoghurt, granola, and blueberries, and caramelised banana with a twist of chocolate on top. “The French toast helps [coffee shops] increase their offering and bring innovation to their menu. For example, cafés can innovate and transform this product based on the season, into something more wintery or summery at different times of the year,” Isabelle says.
“There are so many ways to plate and serve this one product, and you can do it without having to order a large amount of stock or different products.” Isabelle says many coffee shops have limited space in their kitchen or freezer and using one product across multiple dishes can minimise storage. The French toast comes in packs of 54 with a ninemonth frozen shelf life, meaning cafés don’t need to worry about running out or the product going to waste. “Furthermore, it’s going to save time in terms of prep. When you save time, you also save money,” she says. Sunny Queen achieves this long shelf life by snap freezing the bread, which also allows the toast to maintain its texture. “Snap freezing is when you bring the temperature down very quickly which reduces the size of the ice crystals in your product,” Isabelle says. “Because of this, when you reheat the French toast, it is as close as possible to a fresh product.” Throughout the product’s development, Isabelle says Sunny Queen
took care to maintain the quality of the ingredients as well as the finished products. “The bread is obviously a critical ingredient and finding exactly the right size and texture was vital,” she says. “The balance of flavour was also very important because we were creating a product that could be plated with sweet and savoury ingredients, so we had to make sure the mixture didn’t sway one way over the other.” An internal panel tests the French toast daily to ensure a consistent level of quality. This testing occurs across Sunny Queen’s portfolio, which also includes frittatas, omelettes, and poached eggs. Isabelle says Sunny Queen’s experience in the foodservice industry gives the company the ability to listen to and learn from its café customers. “We work very closely with a lot of coffee shops in Australia and believe we have created a French toast that suits their needs,” she says. “We are also
Sunny Queen French toast can be plated for both sweet and savoury options.
owned by Australian farmers and are proud to serve an Australian product.” Isabelle says the best way to understand the benefits of the product is to try it. “It can be hard to explain how good it is,” she says. “Nothing can replace that firsthand experience.”
For more information, visit www.sunnyqueenmealsolutions.com.au/ products/french-toast
CARAMELISED BANANA FRENCH TOAST
• Sunny Queen French toast • Lady finger bananas chopped • Caster sugar • Salted butter • Fresh pouring cream • Melted milk chocolate (for serving) • Icing sugar (for serving) Method: • Melt butter in a frypan and add about three times as much sugar. Cook until melted and caramel in colour • Add cream and mix until all ingredients are combined and it has reached a good consistency • Add bananas and quickly toss to cover then remove from heat • Reheat Sunny Queen French Toast in a toaster or sandwich press until golden brown • Cut into fingers and serve in bamboo cones • Top with caramelised bananas, drizzle with melted chocolate and dust with icing sugar.
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The ones that sparkle Dubbed the Academy Awards of coffee, the Cup of Excellence celebrates the world’s best coffees. Campos Coffee Founder Will Young explains why the competition is key to the longevity of specialty coffee. 36
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FEATURE NEWS
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etting your hands on a Cup of Excellence (COE)-winning coffee takes patience and commitment. The real fun for Australian buyers starts in the early hours of the morning when international online auctions commence, but the game’s not over until a final bid is made, the countdown clock expires, and the hammer falls. “The longest auction I’ve ever experienced was early 14 hours for a COE coffee,” says Will Young, Campos Coffee Founder and Chairman of the Alliance for Coffee Excellence (ACE), the association that runs the COE competitions and auctions. “My wife went to sleep and I was still bidding when she woke up. I was making breakfast – still bidding. We had people over – still bidding. I took my phone everywhere with me that day, even bidding as I walked the dog. I wasn’t going to stop until we won. It was a coffee we had to have.” The COE has been discovering coffees, rewarding growers, and creating markets for exemplary coffees since 1999. Each year, thousands of coffees are submitted for consideration, with winning coffees sold in the global online auctions at premium prices. The vast majority of auction proceeds go to the farmers.
With 12 COE auctions held throughout the year, Will now enlists the assistance of his team, including Chief Coffee Officer Adam Matheson and his green bean buyers, to secure winning lots. He says it’s always an exciting feeling to wake up the next morning and discover a top-rated coffee is on its way to Australia. “We want people to get excited
seven ranked Nyabumera coffee from Rwanda for US$9.55 per pound, a price Will says was astounding at the time, but quickly surpassed. Today, Campos purchases COE coffees in excess of US$100 per pound. “I first heard about COE like it was a mythical place where you could buy coffee. We didn’t think it would be so easy to jump into an auction and bid,
“WE WANT PEOPLE TO GET EXCITED ABOUT COFFEE. THE COE IS A BONA FIDE OPPORTUNITY TO LEARN ABOUT THE BEST COFFEES IN THE WORLD, AND SHOW OUR CONSUMERS HOW SPECIAL COFFEE CAN BE.” about coffee. The COE is a bona fide opportunity to learn about the best coffees in the world and show our consumers how special coffee can be,” Will says. Campos Coffee has been buying COE coffees since 2010. At first, Will’s goal was to simply get his hands on one of the COE-listed coffees. He achieved that in 2010 when he bid on the number
but it was. We thought you had to be of a certain size or status, so we held off for a couple of years,” Will says. “When our first COE coffee arrived in Sydney, it tasted distinctly different to any other coffee we had. It had a significantly higher quality and impact on the table. That began our COE odyssey.” It isn’t just the quality coffee that Will invests in, it’s the opportunity to learn
After four years on the Alliance for Coffee Excellence Board and two years as Cup of Excellence Chairman, Will Young is stepping down from his board position.
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INDUSTRY PROFILE
and support the world’s coffee-producing countries, communities, and individuals. This is what Will describes as the “value chain” opposed to merely a supply chain. “When we bought that first Rwandan coffee we discovered how important coffee was to the Rwandan community. It’s a country still emerging from the difficulties it endured in the 90s,” Will says. “For the population of Rwanda, well over 50 per cent of incomes are from coffee. We didn’t realise how low the average income was. When we saw that we could increase the prices of the coffee and pay 10 to 20 times more than what the farmers were used to getting – it was really thrilling for us. To be able to make such a significant impact on not only the people but the entire economy of the country drives home the power of focusing on your value chain.” A year later, Will went to visit the Nyabumera community. After an arduous flight, he endured a five-hour car ride down a bumpy road and a surprise two-hour boat ride to get there. On arrival, the farmers were having a meeting under a mango tree, seemingly “in the middle of nowhere”. On a nearby clifftop, a woman was chanting a mystic Rwandan tribal song that echoed off the surrounding cliffs. This set the scene for Will’s “incredibly moving and surreal” meeting with local producers under that same mango tree.
“IF YOU DON’T AIM FOR 90-PLUSSCORING COFFEE, TO BE THE BEST IN THE COUNTRY, OR TO ENTER COMPETITIONS JUDGED BY AN INDEPENDENT PANEL, THEN THE FARMERS WON’T HAVE ASPIRATIONS AND WILL JUST AIM FOR AN 86-SCORING COFFEE.” “That was just an incredible experience – the most foreign experience I’d had to that point,” he says. Since then, Campos Coffee has bought over 100 COE coffees (more than 78,000 kilograms) and committed $2.6 million to the cause over the past nine years. Some consumers still struggle to understand what Geisha coffee is, or where their coffee comes from, but Will says that’s even more of a reason to buy elite COE coffees and build the profile of specialty. “Us turning our backs on the program now wouldn’t be genuine. We believe in the cause, of discovering and rewarding exemplary coffee farms. We have to keep supporting. This give the farmers
Campos Coffee has bought more than 100 COE-winning coffees over the past nine years.
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a bar to aim for. If you don’t aim for 90-plus-scoring coffee, to be the best in the country, or to enter competitions judged by an independent panel, then the farmers won’t have aspirations and will just aim for an 86-scoring coffee,” Will says. “The attitude will be ‘that’s good enough’, then that attitude will be accepted by the whole coffee world, and frankly, I think there’s an element of that out there, which is really upsetting.” Will is well aware that quality coffee production comes at a cost for producers, but says the results are worth it for those who successfully reach COE-winning status. “The farmers can get a significantly higher cost per pound for their coffee. More often than not, the winning farmers invest in better equipment, they can buy the farm next door, or assist their standard operations so they can produce more high-quality coffee and get better prices,” he says. “My big, probably naive, belief is that if every farmer can have one portion of their crops as a dedicated micro-lot, maybe it’s only five to 25 per cent of their land, they can get at least quadruple the price for this coffee in comparison to their usual crop. They can also make a name for themselves on the world stage.” Since Campos Coffee started investing in COE coffees, Will says he’s seen a noticeable increase in the prices paid to deserving farmers, with the top scoring Costa Rican coffee from Don Cayito farm fetching US$300 per pound in the 2018 COE. “Overall, the prices of coffee have doubled on average since the program started, and they should be at exponential levels soon. The better the coffee is, the higher price it should fetch, and the greater the recognition. If these unicorn
coffees don’t receive the recognition and prices they deserve, specialty coffee has a problem,” Will says. One producer who’s recently made his mark on the COE scene is Linarco Rodriguez Ospina from Huila, Colombia. He placed second in the March 2019 COE competition with a score of 92.17. Will has bought from Linarco for the past five years and says to see him recognised in “the awards of all coffee awards” is a wonderful achievement. “Linarco is a beautiful guy who invests more and more into his farm with new varietals, farming techniques, and processing equipment. Coffee is not a cash crop for him, it is totally his passion and his neighbours recognise him as this coffee-crazy guy who leads their industry,” Will says. “I’ve been swearing for years that he was one of the best producers in Colombia, and now to see him actually place gives me faith the COE is doing the right thing. His quality coffee is proven to be true and certified – we felt the same thing when Emilio Lopez Diaz, our longest partner in El Salvador, won first and second place in their COE last year.” After four years on the ACE Board and two years as COE Chairman, Will is stepping down from his board position. He says he’s proud to have helped establish three new COE competitions: Peru, Indonesia, and Ethiopia, the latter two launching in 2020. “Until now Ethiopia has been a challenging country to start the COE due to its politics and infrastructure. We’ve had to go through many loopholes and challenges, but there’s a new government attitude and the competition is finally happening,” Will says. “I’m a bit sad to leave the Chairman position, but I’m very happy where I leave it.” As a business, Campos has attended over 54 juries, had 11 judges support the competition, and plans to continue to attend and judge in future. Will is one of Australia’s greatest ambassadors for the COE. It’s because of his faith and devotion to the program that many Australian and international roasters have also seen the benefit in rewarding farmers for their quality production of the very thing the industry is still trying to progress – specialty coffee. “Australia is leading the way. It’s almost a role model for specialty coffee. China is now a major buyer and typically takes its cues from Australia, which is great for a market of 1.3 billion consumers,” Will says. “If we turn our back on it now, chances are other countries will as well because they follow our lead.” With the current C market price at a low US$0.94 per pound according to the International Coffee Organization April report, buyers may think they’re taking home a bargain, but Will says buying at C price is unsustainable. Rather, now is the time to buy coffee two to three years in advance to give farmers peace of mind for the future, to build trust, and to invest in relationships. “If the C price stays dreadfully low, the danger I see is mass farming, the commodification of coffee – a specialty coffee dystopia where giant farms will mechanically produce coffee and high-yield low-quality varietals will be pumping out cherry the same way maize is produced in the US,” Will says. “What we’ll be left with is 81-scoring coffee and the coffee world will be seemingly OK with it. If that happens, all the luxury specialty coffees we’ve been enjoying will go by the wayside. That would be the end of an era. We can’t let that happen.”
Campos Coffee will stock Linarco Rodriguez Ospina’s COE-winning Colombian coffee from 24 June. For more information and to secure this limited-release coffee, visit www.camposcoffee.com
FEATURE NEWS
No time to waste
Two years on from the War on Waste movement, BeanScene looks at what has actually changed in the Australian coffee industry and the efficacy of a single-use plastics ban.
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housands of Australians order coffee to go from their favourite cafés every day, leaving with their precious beverage safely contained in a roughly eight-ounce paper cup. For many of them, once the coffee is gone, the cup is no longer of any use and disposed of without a second thought. That’s the problem. Gary Smith, CEO of compostable packaging manufacturer BioPak, says coffee cup waste is emblematic of a wider issue facing the food service industry, making up a fraction of the 1.8 million tonnes of food packaging that goes to landfill every year. On the bright side, he says sustainable changes are being made across the industry. “The shift towards sustainable packaging has been aggressive in the past year,” Gary tells BeanScene. “If you look, you will notice far less plastic in food service. Large companies are getting involved too. Woolworths has replaced plastic bases for its cakes, biscuits, and fruit with sugar cane pulp-based alternatives and Qantas announced it will remove 100 million single-use plastic items per annum by 2020.”
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By Ethan Miller Although part of a wider issue, coffee cup waste has seen increased awareness since 30 May 2017, when ABC series War on Waste aired an episode addressing the impact paper coffee cups were having on the environment. The show saw host Craig Reucassel ride around the streets of Melbourne in a tram filled with 50,000 disposable coffee cups, the estimated number sent to landfill every half hour because they supposedly couldn’t be recycled in Australia. While many in the coffee and packaging industries knew of the issue and had tried to address it, for most consumers, it was news to them. Detpak General Manager of Marketing and Innovation Tom Lunn says while War on Waste raised public awareness, the sustainable packaging manufacturer has seen growing discussion on the industry’s waste issue within business circles for some time. “The specialty coffee industry has been concerned about packaging for many years. These are the same people and companies pushing organic and single origin coffee and supporting coffee farming communities. That end has always
considered sustainability,” Tom says. “I think the mainstream coffee retailers, however, have become more aware of consumers being concerned about their packaging. Even then, I think most of the brand owners have been aware of the issue for some time but haven’t had the technical options to address it.” The episode led to many consumers choosing reusable cup alternatives and cafés began offering discounts or incentives to those who brought their own coffee cup. However, Dr Robert Crocker, Deputy Director of the China Australia Centre for Sustainable Urban Development and Senior Lecturer at the University of South Australia (UniSA), says these discounts do little to influence consumer behaviour. “Very few people are influenced by monetary incentives unless it is quite substantial,” Robert tells BeanScene. “Coffee is cheap to most people, so 50 cents here or there is not going to necessarily change their habits. “You’d have to raise incentivisation considerably, maybe a dollar or more, for people to really take notice. Or, make the takeaway more expensive instead of offering a discount for reusable cups.”
CONSUMER PRESSURE
Robert and his colleagues recently led a study into the cultural and institutional drivers behind coffee cup waste. “In many cities, [disposable coffee cups] are now the second most common form of litter. They’re a nuisance at every level and like plastic bags, they block drains and don’t break down,” Robert says. “We also don’t really know how many are produced in the world, or even in Australia, because once something enters the waste stream, it becomes very difficult to track or enumerate.” Researchers conducted more than 20 in-depth interviews with café owners, baristas, and consumers to understand what influenced their behaviour. They also revisited the pilot program of a local council in South Australia that saw local cafés receive rebates for providing sustainable alternatives. “Our study basically confirms what a lot of other studies have found: incentivisation programs don’t have much effect, or at least don’t have the kind of effect many people assume them to,” Robert says. “What we did find, however, was that
War on Waste and its shot of a tram full of coffee cups had a profound effect on a lot of people. Many people we spoke to that had changed their minds were influenced by that image. [The show] really got people thinking about this, that’s very important.” Robert says that while changing individual’s minds is important, there are cultural factors contributing to coffee cup waste. “There is now so much more pressure on the consumer to do more in an average day. I regularly go to a café where the local emergency response workers get coffee. Many of them hang around to drink their coffee but order it in takeaway cups anyway because it’s so ingrained in our culture. Their boss would be angry if they sat down to have a break,” he says. “This is one of the reasons why we can’t blame [coffee cup waste] on the consumer. We’ve shaped this ‘on the go’ culture through mobile phones, work pressures, and many other factors.” Robert says this means the consumer alone should not carry the burden of reducing coffee cup waste. “We need a level playing field where the
government sets the rules and we develop a system where certain kinds of nuisance packaging is banned,” he says. “The unrecyclable standard should be outlawed everywhere, because like the plastic bag, the cost is picked up by the rest of us.”
THE GOVERNMENT ACTS
It may not be long before the government does take action on coffee cup waste, and single-use plastics more generally. In early 2019, the South Australia, Western Australia, and Australian Capital Territory governments all revealed they were considering single-use plastics bans. Detpak’s Tom says the advantage of government legislation on single-use plastic is that it can set parameters for how companies should address the issue. “At the moment, there are lots of different approaches because no-one knows what the clear objective is,” he says. “There are definitely risks, but ultimately, Detpak’s view is we’re better off actually doing something and if the government wants to choose a path, the industry will find a way to make it work.”
FEATURE NEWS
The ACT Government is considering a ban on some single-use plastics, which would include disposable coffee cups.
ACT City Services Minister Chris Steel proposed the territory ban singleuse plastics on 19 February 2019 while discussing a review of its plastic shopping bag ban and released a discussion paper on the topic in April. Chris tells BeanScene that the ACT hopes to lead the rest of Australia on addressing single-use plastics. “Beverage containers make up a large part of the waste stream, and of that, coffee cups are a small but significant portion,” Chris says. “[Coffee cups are] used by people on a daily basis and one of the first things people think of when it some to single-use plastic waste. Having it as part of the discussion paper is important because people and local businesses in the ACT care about reducing their reliance on plastic-lined coffee cups.” Through the discussion paper, the ACT Government hopes to consult with consumers, businesses, and industry on how best to implement legislation. Chris suggests a rollout of the ban could begin
by “dealing with some of the low hanging fruit” contributing to plastic waste. “For each different single-use item – from coffee cups to cutlery – there may be certain products we look at as part of a staged approach,” he says. “For example, plastic-lined foam coffee cups – which in my view are a relic of the 1980s – are clearly not good for the environment and have clear alternatives which are more likely to be recycled.” The ACT Government has set itself the target of recovering 90 per cent of waste that goes to landfill by 2025. This goal combined with the success of its 2011 shopping bag ban, action in Europe, and consumer awareness, led to its focus on single-use plastics. “The main concern from our perspective is the waste of resources. Around 50 per cent of plastic produced goes to landfill in the ACT and a lot of this could be reused or recycled,” Chris says. He adds that a solution will need to be practical for businesses and industry as well as consumers.
“We need to think about what the costs are and see if we can work with [manufacturers] to help design out some of the problems,” Chris says. He encourages interested parties to share their opinions on how the territory should address single-use plastics waste. “Part of this discussion is figuring out from business and industry what the best alternatives are and what approaches the government should be taking,” Chris says. Should the government institute a single-use plastics ban, BioPak’s Gary says it will also need to invest in the infrastructure to support it. “We can educate the consumer on how to dispose of their cups, but in many areas, those options aren’t available for them to do that sustainably,” Gary says. “For an end-of-life option and to recover resources from alternative materials, the government needs to build the infrastructure.”
TO COMPOST OR NOT TO COMPOST?
Conflating the issue of coffee cup waste is debate over the best course of action to address it. UniSA’s Robert says consumers are still confused over whether or not a cup is compostable or recyclable, the difference between the two, and which alternative is ‘better’. “Our research made it clear a lot of consumers are confused about what is compostable and what is recyclable,” Robert says. Traditional takeaway coffee cups are made of paper with a thin, plastic lining to prevent liquid damage. This lining is what causes paper mills problems when processing the cups, as it cannot be separated from the paper shell without specialised equipment. Instead, BioPak produces compostable coffee cups and food packaging, and has set up a service that collects its packaging
Editorial credit: Shutterstock.com
– and food scraps – then takes it directly to composting facilities around the country (see page 47). BioPak’s Gary says coffee cups and other foodservice packaging is frequently contaminated with food and beverage residue, which makes conventional recycling impractical. “Compost systems thrive on food scraps, so contamination is not a problem. This makes composting the most efficient and effective way of diverting foodservice packaging from landfill and returning nutrients back into the soil,” he says. “Using compostable foodservice packaging made from renewable resources not only addresses the pollution caused by the production and use of conventional plastics derived from fossil resources, it will facilitate the transition towards a more sustainable circular economy.” To address some of the flaws in the mainstream recycling process, Detpak has established its RecycleMe system, with recyclable coffee cups and collection points at participating venues, where consumers can easily separate the cups, plastic lids, and liquid – preventing contamination – when they dispose of them (see page 51). Paper collection company Shred-X collects this material and delivers it straight to paper mills, ensuring the cups are recycled into paper products. Detpak’s Tom says it is important for any government action on single-use plastics to not limit the ability of manufacturers to create recyclable products. “If [legislation] favours composting over recycling, it will limit the development of truly circular economy options,” he says. “While composting is an expedient answer, and suitable in situations where industrial composting infrastructure exists, it could distract people from chasing recycling. Paper can be recycled up to seven times, and while composting diverts the used cup from landfill, it means the valuable
In 2017, ABC series War on Waste estimated 50,000 disposable coffee cups were sent to landfill every half hour.
resources are only used once.” UniSA’s Robert commends companies like BioPak and Detpak which are attempting address coffee cup waste. “I’m full of admiration for these companies – they try to walk the talk,” Robert says. “But, without uniformity, standardisation, and regulation, its costs they bear themselves.”
A WASTELESS FUTURE?
Around the world, action has already been taken to reduce the usage of disposable packaging. Countries including Kenya, Taiwan, and Zimbabwe have implemented far reaching plastic bans. The European Union is also on board, announcing its intention to ban a range of single-use plastic items by 2021. BioPak’s Gary says Australia should follow their lead. “By next year, France will become the first country in the world to ban disposable plastic cups and plates. A new law will require all disposable tableware to be made from 50 per cent biologically sourced materials that can be composted at home by January 2020. That number will rise to 60 per cent by January 2025,” Gary says. “It’s not like we are leading the world or have to test the waters. In Australia, we
have case studies and can see massive shifts overseas in that direction. I believe [a singleuse plastics ban] is where we’re going.” For Australia, Detpak’s Tom thinks a combination of reusable, recyclable, and compostable options will be implemented in the future to address coffee cup waste. “Reusable and recyclable packaging for coffee will be the norm and widespread,” Tom says. However, UniSA’s Robert believes companies can’t and shouldn’t do this alone. He says it is the government’s responsibility to create new rules for disposable packaging and make sure businesses and consumers know what they are. “Governments need to ensure the industry is modernised, can deal with the amount of waste we produce, and put pressure on business to produce products that are more sustainable,” Robert says. “It shouldn’t be up to individual companies. They can’t shape the market as a whole. “You also can’t punish the individual café or consumer. You have to change the system, so all producers are only allowed to give away sustainable cups and lids. It needs to be a level playing field where it’s not up to choice.”
FEATURE NEWS
Time for change Fairtrade is working closely with coffee farmers to help protect future production volumes and combat extreme weather and changing seasonal patterns resulting from climate change.
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he price of coffee is volatile, and can fluctuate wildly year to year. Unpredictable weather conditions and susceptibility to disease also present significant challenges to growers. As a result, independent nonprofit organisation Fairtrade says many of the small-scale farmers who supply 80 per cent of total coffee volumes experience reduced yields and are at risk of producing low-quality crops. Due to systemic inequality in coffee trade structures, many also lack the financial and technical capacity to adapt to or mitigate these damaging effects. To empower disadvantaged producers in developing countries struggling through economic instability and a changing climate, Fairtrade focuses on three components of sustainability: people, planet, and prosperity, representing the social, environmental, and economic pillars underpinning a 30-year global mission to transform trade and transform lifes.
“For us, the key element in our vision is sustainability,” says Alfredo Alarcon Enuso, General Manager of Unicafec, a coffee-producing Fairtrade cooperative in Peru. “The focus of our mission is competitiveness, but [individual] farmers [being] competitive, not only the cooperative. We as an organisation of small farmers are committed to achieving competitiveness through productivity improvement, quality, and our dedication to specialty coffee markets. That’s what the markets are asking for.” Climate change, however, looms as a major challenge to that competitiveness, and is likely to drive significant changes in the industry’s traditional growing areas. Already, Alfredo says there have been changes in Peru’s climate. As a result, harvest has moved later, with temperatures rising and low-altitude areas more affected. “The weather has changed. We [used to] have a typical, normal month [in August] when we should be harvesting. [Now, when] it should be at the peak of
Unicafec staff members with Australian Fairtrade products.
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the harvest, it’s at the bottom. Also, the activities we are able to do to mitigate the effects are quite limited. There is no easy resolution,” Alfredo says. “There are works to diversify coffee varieties, but that’s a dual threat. For example, if you don’t diversify with new varieties of coffee, then you will be exposed to pests, which are now more frequent because of climate change. If you diversify with new varieties that are resistant to these impacts of climate change, then you can get low quality coffee. [You have to] choose your poison.” Alfredo adds that coffee plants are becoming distressed through the effects of climate change, threatening to impact Peru’s natural production cycle. “You can no longer farm coffee successfully within 800 metres of sea level. In the range of altitude for coffee crops, it’s going up,” Alfredo says. Fairtrade is working to deliver training and education that will be vital in equipping small-scale farmers to meet the challenges posed by climate change. It is also providing better access to credit, market information, and riskmanagement tools. Alfredo says crop adaptation strategies include developing more resilient production systems, diversifying crops, and shifting farms upslope. Farmers’ capacity to implement these strategies is often dependent on education, access to information, health, equity, and food security. Membership of a Fairtrade cooperative offers producers an opportunity to share knowledge, and invest in research and development. According to Alfredo, together with representatives of other cooperatives, Unicafec is taking a hands-on approach to coping with the unpredictable consequences of a changing climate. “We are working now on a research project to try and train new varieties in order to have resistance to the pests from climate change, but also cup quality. It’s a process. It’s in the middle of
Unicafec General Manager Alfredo Alarcon says the effects of climate change are already being felt in Peru.
development. So we are yet to see how it goes,” Alfredo says. Aside from Fairtrade coffee helping fight climate change, purchasing its products ensures benefits for farming communities in developing countries. In addition to the Fairtrade minimum price, which is set to cover the cost of sustainable production, coffee cooperatives receive an extra sum of money – the Fairtrade premium – for their produce. The coffee farmers, who are members of the cooperative, decide democratically how this is invested. This could be education or healthcare, building vital infrastructure such as roads and bridges for the community, or enhancing their businesses. At least 25 per cent of the premium is guaranteed to be invested in increasing productivity and quality improvement. Fairtrade says many farmers, however, lack reliable market information. This, coupled with small yields, leads to unequal trade relations, where farmers lack bargaining power in negotiations. Frequently, this means they are not paid a fair price for their produce. To counteract this problem, Fairtrade helps to bring farmers together to strengthen their position and learn from one another. “In 2018 for example, we saw extremely low stock exchange prices for coffee. There is a huge benefit [of cooperative membership] for the families and the farmers because most of the cooperatives, in the specific case of Unicafec, can pay much higher prices to the farmers than if they were selling to middlemen or conventional traders,” Alfredo says. While the New York C market price for coffee has dropped to economically unsustainable levels, well below production cost, Fairtrade says it continues to unite consumers, producers, and commercial partners to enable action on critical issues such as climate change adaptation, supply chains, and global trade so that producers such as Alfredo and their cooperatives can embrace a sustainable farming future. “That’s the vision towards 2021, that Unicafec will be [an] environmentally, socially, and economically sustainable organisation that will contribute to improving the living conditions of the coffee families,” Alfredo says. “That’s the challenge for us.”
SUSTAINABILITY FEATURE
“If you work with honesty and values, you can achieve many goals” WILSON SANTOS, PRESIDENT OF CENFROCAFE COFFEE COOPERATIVE, PERU © GIORA DAN/FAIRTRADE ANZ
SERIOUS ABOUT SUSTAINABILITY? SO ARE WE. FAIRTRADE WORKS WITH FARMERS TO SAFEGUARD THE FUTURE OF COFFEE. SPECIALTY. AWARD WINNING. ETHICAL. FAIRTRADE.COM.AU
SUSTAINABILITY FEATURE
BioPak gives back BioPak’s vision is a world without waste. Through its compost service, BioPak hopes to offer a circular economy solution that treats foodservice packaging and food scraps as resources, not waste.
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ioPak is working with cafés and restaurants to spread awareness of its simple composting solution and encourage a behavioural change around packaging and waste. In December 2017, the foodservice packaging company began studying waste, where it was going, and what it was doing to the environment. From its surprising research, BioPak found the foodservice and hospitality sector sends more than 900,000 tonnes of organic waste to landfill. BioPak started speaking with café owners about the amount of waste they were producing and how its compost service could help manage that waste. As a result, 18 months ago BioPak launched its compost service, designed to close the loop and divert waste from landfill. “Compostable packaging is the most logical solution for cafés and restaurants. It allows food waste, along with the packaging, to be disposed of in one bin. We have created a simple solution that is easy and cost effective for any café to implement,” says Gary Smith, BioPak CEO. The BioPak Compost Service collects compostable cups and lids, packaging, food scraps, and organic waste in the same bin. Working with its composting partners, it then transforms the materials into nutrient-rich compost in eight to 12 weeks. “We felt compelled to close the loop and leverage organic recycling, a solution that is already available. We are not reinventing the wheel – we are simply connecting the waste collection contractors with the commercial compost facilities to provide them with a valuable feedstock for their business,” Gary says. BioPak’s goal is to reduce the environmental impact of single-use
disposable packaging using circular economy principles. Gary says the amount of food waste being sent to landfill and plastics ending up in our oceans is contributing to global warming and damaging ecosystems on a scale that has never been seen before. “The back of house operations in cafés and restaurants generate a significant volume of organic waste. The real problem is most of that waste currently ends up in landfill, where it releases greenhouse gasses that contribute to global warming. Now, it can be converted into compost used to regenerate and return valuable nutrients to the soil,” Gary says. He adds that the early days of launching BioPak’s composting service weren’t smooth, as local councils were unwilling to provide support or funding. Eventually, they collaborated with independent waste collection contractors and industrial compost facilities that could take organic material and convert it into compost. “We started in Sydney where we worked with a local organic waste collection company and a compost partner in Wollongong. Initially, we only serviced 100 postcodes. Twelve months later, the service is available to more than 2200 postcodes, is in almost every major metropolitan city, and has more than 300 cafés signed up,” Gary says. “Composting organic, plant-based products diverts organic materials from landfill and reduces emissions. The composters are happy with the high quality material they receive from us in the form of food scraps that are rich in nutrients. What was once waste is now a value-add product in the form of compost that improves the quality of the soil and reduces the foodservice industries carbon footprint and overall environmental impact.” BioPak offers plant-based
compostable single-use packaging designed for a circular economy as an alternative to conventional plastic foodservice packaging derived from fossil resources. This includes packaging made from rapidly renewable sustainably sourced materials that are non-toxic throughout their lifecycle. Its products are certified carbon neutral and can be composted after use. “Our vision is to develop a closed loop circular solution that diverts valuable resources from landfill, to be reused and repurposed, and make it available to everybody,” Gary says.
For more information, visit www.biopak.com.au
BioPak works with composting partners to transform waste materials into nutrient-rich compost in eight to 12 weeks.
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SUSTAINABILITY FEATURE
Swap and go Huskee has established a reusable cup system where cafés and consumers don’t have to compromise on efficiency or aesthetics.
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or coffee cup manufacturer Huskee, sustainability is a principle that extends beyond single-use plastic waste to how a café can prosper long term. “We believe sustainability is multidimensional. It’s more than just a product. It needs to be addressed across the ecosystem of takeaway coffee as a whole, which includes cafés operating in a way that doesn’t cost them in efficiencies or profitability,” General Manager Nicole Barnes says. “The industry is showing tangible signs of moving towards being single-usecup-free. We’re seeing this through topdown and bottom-up initiatives – from government bans to individual cafés making the change – but consumers are not showing less demand for takeaway coffee. We need to provide a solution that fills this gap.” While reusable cups have been a popular solution to reducing waste, Nicole says each customer retaining their own cup
presents cafés with challenges regarding organisation, cleanliness, and workflow. “The model of each person owning their own cup and keeping it to themselves is putting a burden on café operations that makes it unsustainable at scale from a workflow perspective,” she says. “Every café is unique, but we have received overwhelming feedback that this model wouldn’t work if they had to implement it for every single takeaway coffee they serve.” To overcome this, Huskee has launched HuskeeSwap, a scalable reusable cup system that sees cafés swap and serve coffee in the company’s HuskeeCups. “With HuskeeSwap, we have made it as simple as purchasing a HuskeeCup from any of our locations and dropping it off when next ordering at a participating café. That particular cup will go into the dishwasher and the customer’s coffee can be made immediately by the barista in a clean HuskeeCup that was already sitting on the bar,” Nicole says.
HuskeeSwap allows customers to exchange their used HuskeeCups for fresh ones when they buy coffee at participating cafés.
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“Our goal is to provide a convenient solution to single-use waste that doesn’t cost the environment, café, or consumer, and is sustainable from how the system operates to how the cups are made.” HuskeeCups are produced using raw materials including up to 50 per cent repurposed coffee husks, the outer layer of the coffee bean that breaks away during the milling process at the coffee farm. “There’s tonnes of coffee husk waste generated during the milling stage of coffee production and finding a use for this waste is something that really sets this product apart,” Nicole says. She adds that despite the cups’ sustainable qualities, Huskee knew consumers would be hesitant to adopt the system if they didn’t like the look or feel of the cups themselves. As such, design and function as well as sustainability were key drivers for Huskee and it was awarded for its efforts with Best in Class at the 2018 Australian Good Design Awards. “To be recognised by industry professionals for the design acumen of the product has really helped our messaging that HuskeeCup is not just sustainable, but visually appealing with an intelligent and sophisticated design,” Nicole says. “We see a lot of consumers buying the cups because of how they look, before they know anything about the ecocredentials behind them.” Since launching in Australia in 2018, HuskeeSwap has already spread globally to nations from the United Kingdom, to Hungary, the Middle East, the United States, Canada, and most recently, South Korea. “Our focus is on developing the partnerships to get the product to market in every region, with the introduction of HuskeeSwap to follow,” Nicole says. “Ultimately, we aim to provide a solution to the problem of single-use coffee cups that will function on a global scale.”
For more information, visit www.huskee.co
SUSTAINABILITY FEATURE
Make room for recycling As the population continues to rise, so to does the country’s waste levels. Organic Recycling Group offers simple solutions to prevent coffee grounds and food waste from heading to landfill.
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rganic Recycling Group’s (ORG) philosophy is centred on three concepts: flexibility, sustainability, and reliability. These pillars are the foundation the company is promoting in the war against waste. To help achieve this goal, ORG provides cafés with recycling wheelie bins to collect food scraps and coffee grounds. ORG maintains its hands-on approach with cafés through regular follow ups, meetings, and a 24/7 customer hotline. “We provide a service that helps increase cafés recycling rate, collects their waste, and generates a monthly or quarterly report showing them how much organic waste they have diverted from landfill,” says ORG Sales Manager Jon Shaw. “The cafés are in control of when they get their bins collected. We understand small businesses are busy, so we wanted to make this as simple as possible. We can also provide signage, so consumers know what goes into the bins and we train staff on why it’s important they use them.”
Jim McBurney, General Manager of ORG, says he learnt of the need for an organics waste system from observing the increasing rate produce and materials were being sent to landfill. “From there, it became a passion project. There is a need to preserve our planet for future generations. There is seven million tonnes of food waste generated every year in Australia, and most of that goes to landfills. Our system not only provides a solution for your organic waste, but a complete recycling system for all waste streams,” he says. In addition to the environmentally friendly services they provide, Jim hopes that ORG’s waste program will help cafés see cost saving benefits. “Coffee grounds are very heavy. If cafés are disposing of them in a general waste bin, overweight charges can be applied. Organic bins are designed to have a higher weight limit for coffee grounds, food, and waste, saving cafés those additional charges,” he says. ORG’s service can also accept compostable packaging such as BioPak coffee cups and can ensure they are
transported to the appropriate facility and converted into compost. “We’re taking our organic waste to an anerobic digestion facility called Earth Power in New South Wales, which converts organic waste into green energy and organic fertiliser. If an organic waste bin has compostable packaging in it, we take it to Soil Co, a composting facility which converts food, garden, and compostable waste into nutrientrich compost over a six-week period,” he says. Jim and Jon agree that the buck doesn’t stop with cafés and are encouraging shopping centres, restaurants, and businesses to employ recycling services as landfills rapidly fill. “As the population grows, we as a country are running out of landfill space. ORG provides a total waste solution for businesses, ensuring the highest percentage of waste is diverted from landfill and recycled or converted into green electricity, compost and fertiliser,” Jim says.
For more information, visit www.org.com.au
ORG’s collection service accepts compostable packaging and transports it to appropriate composting facilities.
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SUSTAINABILITY FEATURE
Project Origin gives back Project Origin is working with coffee farmers in Nicaragua to promote social sustainability by asking producers “what can we do to help?”
Thanks to Project Origin’s sustainable farm practices, 90 to 95 per cent of all coffee cherries are now picked perfectly ripe.
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asa Sestic, Founder of green bean trader Project Origin, has been working closely on a farm called El Árbol in, Dipilto, Nicaragua with coowners Tim Willems and Claudia Lovo for more than three years to improve its coffee and the livelihood of the farming community. “When Sasa first visited the farm, he was appalled with its living conditions. Workers were sleeping in a concrete building on the floor and were up at 3am making really basic food with little nutritional value,” says Jordan Montgomery, Project Origin’s Media and Marketing Manager. Determined to make an improvement, Sasa set some short- and long-term goals. “Over the years, our initiative was to see if we could transform this commercial, low altitude farm that produces low quality coffee into a specialty farm,” Jordan says. He says in the beginning locals questioned their motive. This made them realise the importance of involving the
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community in their plans. “We needed to work together. That was the real lesson. We began asking them questions on what they needed and started having discussions on how we could meet their needs,” Jordan says. Those needs were improved through education, lifestyle, and farming practices. Jordan says at the time, there was very little housing and morale was non-existent. As such, Project Origin and the El Árbol team implemented an education system with a tutor coming into the farm each week to teach English and agriculture to the farmers, providing locals with an opportunity to learn and grow. “The farmers now have a safe place, education, and a community. They are more passionate and excited to get involved in coffee farming,” Jordan says. El Árbol has also employed all its workers full-time, with most living on the farm and have been able to create their own space and a safe sanctuary. Jordan says since Project Origin
collaborated with the workers at El Árbol, through implementing a training and education program and funding improvements to living conditions, El Árbol has transformed into an agricultural hub that’s improved its coffee quality. “During 2017’s harvests, the workers were not selectively picking, meaning many cherries were being processed unripe and were then sold as a lower quality product. Overall, the farm and the workers weren’t getting that much. It was far from sustainable. Fast forward to 2018, and now 90 to 95 per cent of all coffee cherries picked are perfectly ripe, entering in the specialty coffee range,” Jordan says. Thanks to Project Origin’s commitment to sustainable development on the El Árbol farm, and the farmers openness to new ideas, coffee has jumped seven cupping points in grading from 77 to 85. Jordan hopes this will help break preconceptions about which countries can produce good specialty coffee and that it ignites more conversation about the ability of smaller origin productions. “Every step we make is going towards helping customers understand what they consume and where it’s coming from,” Jordan says. “It’s saying, ‘look at this community that’s working so hard. They began making next to nothing and are now producing specialty coffee’.” Upon reflection, Jordan talks with pride when discussing how far this project has come. “Before, El Árbol was a run down, tired farm, with a concrete shed for lodging and an outdated wet mill,” Jordan says. “I’m just so proud to be part of a group who are focusing on people as much as the product.”
For more information, visit www.projectorigin.com.au
SUSTAINABILITY FEATURE
Cutting the rubbish Detpak rolled out its RecycleMe service in 2018, providing a credible end to end solution for takeaway coffee cups that can be recycled up to seven times.
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hen family-owned Australian packaging manufacturer Detpak launched its RecycleMe system, the goal was simple: to develop a truly recyclable takeaway coffee cup that can be easily recycled using existing paper mill infrastructure, allowing cups to live again as other paper products, contributing to a circular economy. General Manager and Marketing Innovation Manager Tom Lunn says RecycleMe was developed following feedback from the specialty coffee sector looking for sustainable packaging options for their cafés. “We knew there was a need for a takeaway coffee cup that was truly recyclable. Consumers were wanting it and people in the coffee sector were after a sustainable solution they could implement,” Tom says. As a result, Tom says Detpak launched
Simply separate the RecycleMe lid from the cup and place it in a RecycleMe collection station at participating cafés.
the RecycleMe coffee cups that feature a next-generation lining. “RecycleMe coffee cups are recyclable for two reasons. First, the cup itself has a unique coating. Its lining can be removed during the normal repulping process so it’s different to a normal plastic lining,” Tom says. “Second, we’ve created a collection system with our waste collection partner Shred-X, where they collect and shred all the paper cups and deliver them to the paper mill where they are made into paper products.” Tom says traditionally paper cups are coated with polyethylene (PE) and other polymers to seal the cup and hold the liquid. This type of plastic coating is incompatible with traditional paper recycling facilities, meaning paper cups are diverted to landfill. As such, the RecycleMe cup with a mineral-based lining can be fully processed by standard recycling systems. This allows paper materials to be recovered efficiently and economically, and made into other paper products. The RecycleMe system is designed to be as easy as possible. Consumers can find RecycleMe collection stations at cafés stocking RecycleMe cups, and can easily separate the lid and place it into the station. “Our collection partners will pick up cups and guarantee they will be recycled. It’s important only RecycleMe cups are collected, as non-recyclable cups will contaminate the recycling process,” Tom says. “The Australian government has legislated to assist the move away from plastics and to packaging that is 100 per cent reusable, recyclable, or compostable by 2025 or earlier. Cafés using recyclable products will be making great inroads to this goal and are also making a smart choice for single use packaging, ensuring its contribution to a global move toward a
RecycleMe coffee cup lining features a mineral base that can be fully processed by standard recycling systems.
circular economy. “The internationally recognised waste hierarchy helps navigate this move as it is easy to work out where single-use packaging fits.” Seven Seeds Coffee Roasters has implemented the RecycleMe system at its Melbourne store. General Manager Marcus Frangos says at every stage, he’s trying to lessen the café’s impact on the environment. “We are always looking for better options. This was the best option and it gave our customers the opportunity to plan where their cup ended up,” he says.
For more information, visit www.detpak.com beanscenemag.com.au
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INDUSTRY PROFILE
Pete calls Australia home Pete Licata has made a permanent sea change to the coffee city so many international baristas dream of. He talks about his new career focus and why education is key to the next generation of talent.
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elbourne will always be held in the highest esteem for coffee competition veteran Pete Licata. It’s the city where he won the 2013 World Barista Championship (WBC), the city that made him a household name, and the city he now calls home. Six years on from his championship win, Pete and his family have made the move from Kansas City to Melbourne, with Pete accepting the role of Research and Development Coffee Consultant with Veneziano Coffee Roaster’s parent company Nomad Coffee Group. “We were joking a year ago about me coming to Australia and eventually the talks started becoming more serious. One thing led to another and next thing I know we’re here,” Pete says. Pete’s connection to Australia-based Veneziano Coffee Roasters began prior to his WBC win. While living in Hawaii, Pete met Veneziano’s Head Trainer Jade Jennings in 2011 when she visited local coffee farms. They met again during the 2013 WBC when Jade introduced Pete to Veneziano as part of the competition’s barista buddy program to support him during his WBC preparation. “Jade really took care of me. I was able to hang out at Veneziano where we had a machine set up and I did run throughs. They were really great to me and it started a strong relationship,” Pete says. Pete adds he was never concerned about packing up his life and moving around the world. In fact, he welcomed the idea. Having been to Melbourne before, he had already fallen in love with the city, and was ready for a change of scenery. “The main focus is working with
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[Veneziano’s] research and development team, which will include new equipment testing and looking at products and solutions we might want to use for different coffee brands,” Pete says. “The second focus is an educational component. I’ll be working with the Nomad staff to oversee the direction
Pete Licata is Nomad Coffee Group’s new Research and Development Coffee Consultant.
of the educational program. The third [component] is competition-focused, providing coaching and training to staff who might be taking part in coffee competitions.” Pete believes that through Veneziano’s training and developing program, the coffee community can explore new
Pete Licata has returned to Veneziano as an employee to train the next generation of barista talent.
avenues to produce and grow coffee. “Eventually, our expectations will change. So will our resources. I think the next generation of specialty coffee will see a new level of knowledge of what coffee could truly be,” he says. “Veneziano is looking to grow and is constantly looking for opportunities to have a world-class training and educational program to get people to the top levels of the coffee industry.” Pete knows all about that level. After 16 years working in the coffee industry, Pete has cemented himself as a well-regarded barista and trainer, but his career is far from the one he set out to follow. While studying linguistics at the University of Kansas in the United States, Pete started working at a local café to support his college life. “I started working in a local café near my school where my friend Holly Bastin asked if I wanted a job. I originally turned it down,” Pete says. “I eventually got into it and it was such a lot of fun that I just kept going.” Pete soon discovered there was a lot more that coffee could offer, including a competition circuit and the chance to represent his state and country at a competitive level. “There was a regional championship in Kansas where I was introduced to Tim Wendelboe, who at the time was the 2004 World Barista Champion and [soon to be] 2005 World Cup Tasting Champion. He was hosting a workshop weekend and I learnt a lot about the competitions. It made me very excited and motivated to [compete myself],” Pete says. On his first attempt, Pete stunned the crowd and judges in his hometown by winning the 2005 Midwest Region
“EVENTUALLY, OUR EXPECTATIONS WILL CHANGE. SO WILL OUR RESOURCES. I THINK THE NEXT GENERATION OF SPECIALTY COFFEE WILL SEE A NEW LEVEL OF KNOWLEDGE OF WHAT COFFEE COULD TRULY BE.” Competition. This was the catalyst for Pete’s competition career. “In 2005, I spent two to three months doing 15-minute run throughs, figuring out what I wanted to say, how I wanted to say it, how to make the drinks properly, and refining my technique,” Pete says. “I’d make a shot and do different milk steaming techniques and then try a different way. It’s that discovery you have go through multiple attempts before you can instinctively do something well.” Pete says people outside the industry don’t realise how taxing coffee competitions can be. There are a multitude of factors that can implode in the blink of an eye. The tray you’ve picked out might be too smooth for your cup and it could slide off. You might forget your speech in front of the judges, or your coffee’s quality isn’t up to the consistency you know it could be. Pete says the key to preparing comes down to three things: practice, practice, and practice. “The amount of time you put into your presentation is pretty intense. You have to come up with a 15-minute speech of what you want to present and how you intend to do it. Then, you practice that
over and over again,” he says. From there, Pete’s competition record continued to grow, competing for a consecutive eight seasons, winning four regionals, two national US Championships, and placing first in the 2013 WBC. It was Pete’s cocktail-inspired signature drink that gave him a 12-point win over Australian barista Matthew Perger in an epic showdown at the 2013 Melbourne WBC. This made Pete the second US barista competitor to take home the global title with a score of 631. Melbourne may be hosting the WBC again in 2020, but this time around Pete is content in giving back to the community that raised him rather than making an allstar comeback. In his new role, Pete hopes to inspire baristas looking to dive into the coffee industry and competitions, and guide them on their own competition journey. “Competing is tough,” Pete says. “It tests everything you thought you knew. But it can be a catalyst to drive you to the highest levels you ever imagined and make you a professional better than you may have ever thought.”
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CAFETTO BARISTA PROFILE
From The Grounds up Former World Latte Art Champion Jack Hanna reflects on his journey through the coffee industry and what comes next.
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ack Hanna has left his mark on the Australian – and world – coffee industry, from winning the third World Latte Art Championship (WLAC) in 2007 to opening Australia’s “most Instagrammed” café, The Grounds of Alexandria, in 2012. Now, for the first time since leaving high school, Jack is stepping away from hospitality to focus on his family and follow new passions. “I wanted to begin a new chapter in my life,” Jack says. “For me, it’s always been about doing what I love and having a purpose for doing things. I never wanted to be in a job where I wasn’t fulfilled. When it stopped being fulfilling was when I made the decision to leave coffee.” Jack didn’t set out to establish such an illustrious career in hospitality. In fact, when he began his first café job, it was just to earn extra money. “I worked at a local pizza shop and simultaneously at Gloria Jean’s. At the start, I was just doing it to earn some money but quickly realised I actually really enjoyed making coffee. I distinctly remember that every time I’d go to work, I’d hover around the coffee machine to see what the guys were doing and how,” Jack says. He quickly developed an affinity for latte art and set out to learn everything he could about the discipline. “I was always fascinated with people drawing things on coffee,” Jack says. “I did some online research and watched latte art videos. YouTube wasn’t around yet, so it required a lot of digging. Eventually, that led me to Caffe Artigiano.” Caffe Artigiano is a Canadian café operated by former Canadian Barista Champion Sammy Piccolo and his brothers Vince and Mark. Jack says it was, at the time, one of the busiest cafés in the world and widely recognised for its latte art.
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Jack Hanna has decided to follow other passions after a successful career in coffee.
“I contacted Sammy Piccolo and told him I’m keen to learn everything I can. He invited me over, and two weeks later, I was on a plane to Canada,” he says. “That’s where I believe I had more advantage than most [baristas]. I learnt how to work very quickly within a system that emphasises speed and consistency with quality.” While in Canada, Jack trained alongside Sammy to compete in national barista competitions. “I wanted to compete in the Australian Barista Championship and spent a solid year with Sammy, who at the
time was training for the World Barista Championship,” Jack says. Jack returned to Australia in 2006, where it wasn’t long before his attention turned to latte art. “The WLAC was just introduced one or two years before and while I was preparing for the Australian Barista Championship, I knew that my latte art was pretty decent,” Jack says. “Scottie Callaghan was nominated to go to Berne, Switzerland to compete for Australia in the 2006 WLAC and won. Me being me, I said to myself: ‘If he can win it, I can win it for sure.’”
Jack won the first official Australian Latte Art Championship the following year and went on to claim Australia’s second consecutive world title in Antwerp, Belgium. “It was a weird feeling after I won. The moment they announced I was the winner, I actually thought: ‘But, I know so little about coffee’,” Jack says. “It made me want to be better.” Despite this, Jack went on to realise what his win meant for the global coffee community. “I didn’t realise it at the time, but I was the first Asian champion of any world coffee competition. Still to this day, I have people come up to me and say ‘when you won, you gave a lot of Asian baristas hope’,” Jack says. “There was an idea that Asian baristas weren’t respected in the industry. I guess the perception was they didn’t know coffee. “I didn’t know it would impact so many people. Even the Thai 2017 World Latte Art Champion [Arnon Thitiprasert] said I inspired him to compete. Retrospectively, that was the most satisfying part of winning the WLAC.” After the WLAC, Jack operated a wholesale roaster called Jack & the Bean. He says cleaning product supplier Cafetto helped him establish this business and was a constant support during his WLAC journey. “I’ve always gotten along with [Cafetto Managing Director] Chris Short. He was one of the first people to support me after the WLAC and I’ve since had a good working relationship because of the wholesale business,” Jack says. “We’ve always bought his products – at The Grounds too – because we believe in them and Chris has always been a gentleman. Over the years and as I’ve grown up, I’ve spoken to him about many things, not just being a barista but life and whatnot.” Jack soon met Ramzey Choker, with whom he went on to form The Grounds. Based out of a former Four’n Twenty pie factory, its Alexandria, New South Wales flagship is renowned for combining an industrial décor with flowing greenery to create a café that houses a flower market, roastery, and wedding reception area. Jack says the venue has gone on to influence many others. “We wanted to do something unique in an industrial area, where we have space to roast as well as serve coffee and food. It was my business partners’ idea to come up with the garden, which was quite out there because there were no venues in Australia that had that kind of layout and setup,” he says.
“WHAT A LOT OF BUSINESS OWNERS DON’T DO IS INVEST BACK INTO THE BUSINESS. HOW WE GOT TO WHERE WE WERE IS WE KEPT REINVENTING OURSELVES.” “Since opening, we continued to put money back into the business and kept growing. What a lot of business owners don’t do is invest back into the business. How we got to where we were is we kept reinventing ourselves. Every year and a half or two, we’d change things up. You have to do that, or you become irrelevant and lag behind the people copying you.” Jack says that baristas interested in opening their own venues need to remember that it takes more than coffee to create a memorable experience. “The biggest piece of advice I can give is to not focus too much on the coffee. As coffee professionals, we might like a sweet fruity coffee that’s very aromatic and floral, but the general public just wants a flat white or a cappuccino,” he says. “If you want to open up a successful business, I really suggest you look away from just being a barista. Take on more responsibility like managing staff and rostering people. Be in a situation where you’re used to being able to manage problems. That is essentially what you do as a business owner – you’re consistently solving problems.” In his new profession as an investor/ consultant, Jack aims to share his accumulated business knowledge with others in an array of industries. His investment company, Jacks Full, helps fund small companies and guides them
through their growth. “When I left [hospitality], I wanted to do something that benefits others. When I was young, I found it hard to find funding. I wanted to start a company that’s investing in young business, giving people a go, and helping mentor them by finetuning particular aspects of their business,” Jack says. “I’ve always been good at problem solving. I really enjoy coming up with solutions for people that will ultimately help them.” Jack says for those who wish to remain in hospitality, it is as important to find a point of difference to succeed as it is to offer good service. “It is a perfectly valid choice to be a lifetime barista, but if you want more, you need to work out why you’re doing this, if it’s your true passion, and do it, but make sure you learn and develop yourself,” he says. “Your idea won’t be unique and interesting unless you’ve studied it, thought it through, and seen what’s out there. “Being a barista is much easier than being a business owner. Being a great business owner is even harder.”
For more information about Cafetto, its support of industry members, and latest product range, visit www.cafetto.com beanscenemag.com.au
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MAY 4 - 7 / 2020 MELBOURNE CONVENTION AND EXHIBITION CENTRE WWW.INTERNATIONALCOFFEEEXPO.COM
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FEATURE NEWS
Passing of the torch Jooyeon Jeon
WORLD BARISTA CHAMPION
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hen Jooyeon Jeon of Momos Coffee in South Korea was named the second female barista in a row to win the World Barista Championship (WBC), her predecessor Agnieszka Rojewska of Poland was on hand to award her the trophy. Jooyeon was overcome with shock and emotion upon the final announcement at the Specialty Coffee Association Expo in Boston, United States on 14 April. “I’m so happy right now,” Jooyeon tells BeanScene moments after the winning announcement. “Specialty coffee is a very small market in South Korea. Through my role as a champion, I hope to share my love and passion for specialty coffee with my country.” Michalis Dimitrakopoulos of Greece placed second, Cole Torode of Canada placed third, Mikael Jasin of Indonesia placed fourth, Wojtek Bialczak of Germany placed fifth, and Mathieu Theis of Switzerland placed sixth in the final round. Fifty-five national barista competitors competed over four days in the 2019 WBC, which took place inside the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center. Competitors prepared four espressos, four milk drinks, and four original signature drinks in a 15-minute routine. Jooyeon’s performance focused on creating a “happy and inclusive”
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Photo: World Coffee Events
Two new coffee champions were crowned at the Specialty Coffee Expo in April. BeanScene talks to Jooyeon Jeon and Jia Ning Du about what it takes to be named the best barista and brewer in the world.
2018 WBC winner Agnieszka Rojewska crowns Jooyeon Jeon the 2019 Champion.
environment for her customers, or judges in this case. Jooyeon used a Sierra coffee, a cross between Typica and Bourbon, and the same brew recipe for each of her beverage courses. The coffee was sourced from La Palma and El Tucan farm in Colombia, and underwent natural aerobic fermentation. Consultant Federico Bolanos of Al Quima Coffee Company says using critical technology to extract polysaccharides and add carbohydrates during farming and processing was one of the reasons Jooyeon’s signature coffee was so special. “Her drinks displayed a sweetness that had never been displayed before – it had always stayed in the puck or in the ground coffee. For the first time the judges were tasting a different type of sweetness here on the stage,” he says. Federico says during roasting, most carbohydrates degrade or vanish. As such, during the signature drink Jooyeon reincorporated the lost carbohydrates from her coffee, a technique Canadian Barista Champion Benjamin Putt originally displayed in his 2017 WBC
performance, and one that Jooyeon used with a different approach. Jooyeon has been working as a barista at Momos Coffee since 2007. She started competing in South Korea’s barista competitions in 2009 and after 10 attempts, won the 2018 national title. This year, Jooyeon says the key to her winning routine was taking a relaxed approach and enjoying the competition process. Despite her newly claimed world title, Jooyeon wants to continue working as a barista and hopes to venture into green bean buying for Momos Coffee. “I hope to visit Australia very soon – and hopefully attend next year’s WBC in Melbourne,” she says of the event, taking place at the Melbourne International Coffee Expo in May 2020. To celebrate her win, Jooyeon and her team of supporters attended a group dinner in Boston followed by some much needed rest, but not before a guest appearance at the expo’s official after party. “I only had three months to prepare for the Worlds following South Korea’s national barista championship,” she says. “I practiced my routine 77 times. I might take tomorrow off.”
Jia Ning Du
WORLD BREWERS CUP CHAMPION
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ia Ning Du has become the first Chinese barista to win the World Brewers Cup (WBrC). It was third time lucky for Jia on the WBrC stage, winning the prestigious title on her third attempt, having represented China in 2016 and 2018. “I [was] so overwhelmed, but at the same time my mind was blank. I felt so many different emotions,” Jia of Uni Uni Coffee tells BeanScene. “I honestly thought I’d never have the opportunity to represent my country on the world stage. It means a lot to China’s coffee industry. It’s the first time a Chinese barista has competed in this category, got into the final, and won.” Patrik Rolf of Sweden placed second, Alessandro Galtieri of Italy placed third,
Jia Ning Du won the World Brewers Cup on her third attempt at the title.
Chikako Nakai of Japan placed fourth, Hsu Shih Yuan of Taiwan placed fifth, and Daniel Hofstetter of Switzerland placed sixth in the final round. Forty-five coffee professionals competed in the WBrC over the fourday competition, preparing and serving
three individual beverages for a panel of judges. The baristas used compulsory coffees for their first round, and a coffee of their own choosing for the second and final rounds. For her routine, the Head Trainer of Uni Uni coffee shops chose to brew her coffee without explaining what varietal she was using until the end of her presentation when she could enjoy the coffee together with the judges. “Sharing a coffee experience is the most important thing we can do,” she says. “That’s the concept I tried to address in my routine.” Jia went to Ninety Plus Estate in Panama to select her competition coffee. She tried many different lots, but the moment she found The One was when everyone tasted the coffee and looked at each other in silence – it was a Geisha varietal. “But what makes this coffee different is its processing,” Jia says. “One of the local bacterias was introduced into the fermentation. It’s very experimental, but that’s what makes it so unique.” Jia celebrated her history-making win with lots of “beer and sleep” and is still amazed at her accomplishment. “Placing in the top six was my initial goal, but I’ve done a little better,” she says.
The world returns BeanScene finds out why MICE2020 is going to be the most exciting one yet and why top industry players are returning.
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elbourne’s coffee culture resinates deep within its laneways, where baristas can be seen serving coffee from an old shopfront, pop-up caravan, or a hole-in-the-wall covered in graffiti with milk crates out the front. It’s these unique characteristics that will be on display when the coffee world comes to Melbourne for the 2020 Melbourne International Coffee Expo (MICE).
Japanese brewing company Hario will make its debut at MICE2020.
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But that’s not all. For the first time since 2013, Melbourne will host the World Barista Championship (WBC) and World Brewers Cup (WBrC), making Australia the only country outside the United States to host these competitions more than once. National barista champions will descend on Australia’s coffee capital when the prestigious coffee competitions take place during MICE at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre (MCEC) from 4 to 7 May.
“Next year will be the biggest MICE to date,” says MICE Show Director Lauren Winterbottom. “The event will see the world’s most accomplished, inventive, and technical baristas compete under strict time constraints in front of elite judges and a packed-audience.” The combined competitions will see around 100 competitors, along with their family, friends and support crew from more than 60 countries head Down Under. One barista who hopes to compete again in front of a home crowd is 2013 WBC runner up Matthew Perger. “Ever since I managed to win second place in Melbourne 2013, it’s been at the back of my mind to compete again. With some good luck in the next Australian Barista Championships, I might be given a chance to settle that score,” Matthew says. International visitation to MICE spiked when it hosted the WBC and WBrC. Event organisers anticipate MICE2020 will attract a vastly larger global crowd, with the event, Australian coffee, and the world competitions growing in importance and stature since then. Lauren says the international attendance creates an exciting marketing opportunity for roasters to get their brand and products into the hands of international customers, with many setting their sights on overseas expansion. Already, roasters such as Bluestone Lane, ST ALi, Expat Roasters, and Toby’s Estate have been highly successful in establishing a presence in places such as South-East Asia and the United States. “Every market is represented at MICE, and what better place to start forming those essential relationships with future partners and customers?” says Lauren. Adam Genovese, General Manager of Genovese Coffee, says the WBC will generate a crowd of its own at MICE. “It will bring different people from different walks of the coffee world to it, regardless of where it is. We’re lucky enough to have it for a second time in Melbourne,” Adam says. “The Australian coffee scene has such a diverse nature and a consumer awareness
that’s greater than anywhere else in the world.” Genovese Coffee will return to MICE for the first time since 2014 to celebrate its 50th anniversary, showcase its new products, and network with the growing market. MICE remains a platform to conduct business and connect with the coffee community. Lauren says with more than 60 businesses launching, showcasing, and presenting new products, it’s the perfect opportunity to develop new business. Visitors can engage with coffee roasters, baristas, green bean traders, coffee producers, equipment suppliers, and machine manufacturers. “MICE is continuously evolving. We’ve now seen it as a space where people can sign major business deals,” Lauren says. “We’ve already seen a significant uptake in international companies wanting to exhibit in MICE2020.” One company who has secured its place in the expo is Japanese brewing manufacturer Hario, which will launch Hario Australia during the show. John Jong, President of Hario, says the company has received an overwhelming amount of support from the Australian coffee community over the years and is excited to engage with the Australian market in person. “We respect all coffee lovers and baristas who want to share good coffee together. Australia will experience the newest trends in coffee brewing equipment and Hario-style hospitality,” John says. “Melbourne has established itself as a sacred place for Australian coffee, constantly creating and grafting new coffee trends based on traditional coffee culture from Europe.” Another company set to make its MICE
Matthew Perger represented Australia in the 2013 WBC and hopes to do so again on home soil in 2020.
debut is Swiss Coffee manufacturer Eversys. Commercial Director Kamal Bengougam says Australia’s premier coffee event is the perfect place to showcase its automatics range. “We are pushing the boundaries of automation into traditional territory and believe that Australia could be early adopters of this new dawn,” Kamal says. “Australia’s coffee culture is amazing. People are very proud of their heritage as a coffee leading nation and, culturally, they are open to new ideas. Melbourne has taken the mantle as the coffee capital of Australia.” Cosimo Libardo, Carimali CEO, says MICE will provide an opportunity for the Italian coffee machine manufacturer to compete in the Australian market. “We are launching new products and technologies focused on sustainability, modularity, and workflow improvement,
More than 20 roasters have already signed up to exhibit at MICE2020.
that will definitely appeal to roasters and coffee shops,” Cosimo says. “Australia is extremely competitive in every sense. The average drink quality is high, with consumers always looking for the ultimate experience. There are more than a thousand roasters offering great coffees. Melbourne, in this sense, is the pinnacle of it all.” What’s more, MICE will invite attendees to experience the world’s finest coffees, with more than 20 roasters already signed up to exhibit. “Australian is a leader and an influencer when it comes to coffee trends and technology developments. Each year we see the bar raised in terms of the quality of coffee we experience in cafés,” Lauren says. “MICE is an incredible opportunity for visitors to sample some of the world’s best coffees from world-class roasters.” From its beginning in 2012, MICE has remained Australia’s largest and only coffee-dedicated trade show, connecting buyers and sellers, and bringing industry members together. And connect it has, with last year’s event hitting a record attendance of more than 11,000 people. Lauren says MICE2020 is set to be Australia’s anticipated coffee event of the year, predicting more than 11,000 attendees to pass through the MCEC’s doors. “MICE attracts a quality audience and provides us with opportunity to connect the Australian and international coffee community,” Lauren says. “There’s less than a year to go, and we can’t wait.”
For more information and to book exhibitor space, contact MICE organisers at +61 3 9690 8766 or event.organiser@primecreative.com.au beanscenemag.com.au
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Boston strong Photo: Specialty Coffee Association
The 31st Specialty Coffee Expo was a celebration of all things new, shiny and unique. BeanScene relives the show highlights as more than 14,000 guests attended the industry’s annual family reunion.
The Specialty Coffee Association Board officially opens the 31st SCA Expo in Boston.
B
oston may be the most populous city of the Massachusetts state, but on the week of 9 April it could be argued it also hosted the most international guests. One only had to look at Airbnb and hotel booking websites to learn the city was brimming with visitors. Not only was the US city hosting the Boston Marathon that week, one of the world’s most iconic annual races, but the Specialty Coffee Expo, North America’s biggest coffee event and one of the most prominent fixtures on the global coffee calendar, was being held there too. A brief tour of the historic city’s main streets quickly identifies that Boston
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is home to the iconic Dunkin’ Donuts chain, founded by William Rosenberg in the neighbouring city of Quincy, Massachusetts in 1950. Dunkin’, as it’s now formally known, is prominently scattered throughout city’s streets, among Starbucks stores and the classic four-kilometre red brick path known as the Freedom Trail. Dig a bit deeper however, and specialty coffee shops such as George Howell’s, PS Gourmet, and Gracenote quickly became destination venues with the baristas behind the counters picking up on the different accents and asking: “You here for the SCA (Specialty Coffee Association)?” Most were. Some arrived early
for the introduction event, the Re:Co Symposium, this year highlighting the significance of the global coffee crisis, necessary action and the future of the specialty coffee industry. For others, their time in Boston wasn’t only to catch a Red Sox game at the iconic Fenway Park or Boston Celtics at the TD Garden, it was to celebrate North America’s annual coffee trade show and the World Barista and Brewers Cup Championships. Day one of the show commenced with the traditional ribbon cutting and opening remarks from SCA Executive Director Yannis Apostolopoulos. Then, it was a matter of bolt or stand still as swarms of expo visitors made a beeline
through the glass doors, as though they were headed to purchase the latest Apple iPhone release. Those not fussed by being the first through the doors were happy to pose for a selfie in front of the giant SCA promotion wall or enjoy a milk-based coffee at the Slayer pop-up stand outside the expo entrance. On the outskirts of the expo venue, a record number of 35 educational classes were on offer, as were 88 lectures, including Australia’s own Sasa Sestic of Ona Coffee and Project Origin who spoke about how innovations in processing can change perceptions of specialty coffee, and Adam Carr of Seven Miles Coffee who also presented a talk on empowering coffee enthusiasts to make sense of complex chemistry. Inside the expo ware representations of the industry’s biggest brands, with more than 600 exhibitors representing everything from roasters to green beans, and equipment manufacturers to packaging. In the competition hall, heats for the 20th World Barista Championship (WBC) and World Brewers Cup (WBrC) were underway while exhibitors walked through the endless laneways of exhibitors scouring the newest and coolest technology and innovations on display. On the Nuova Simonelli stand, ambassador and former Swiss Barista Champion Andre Eiermann ran demonstrations of the Aurelia Wave, highlighting its patented pulse jet technology. “The pulse jet helps create different cup profiles with different water pressure during the dispensing phase. This greatly improves efficiency and the result is a more complex espresso flavour profile,” he says. On the adjoining stand, Victoria Arduino displayed is ruby red VA388 Black Eagle, the official 2019 WBC machine and the first professional coffee machine to gain lifecycle certification and join Victoria Arudino’s new ongreening platform. This is a new green building rating system the supports the growth and promotion of sustainable building. Victoria Arudino also launched its new #iamone social media campaign, asking supporters to share a photo that describes their passion and dream for the chance to win an exclusive Victoria Arudino experience, and participate at a product launch event. Over on the La Marzocco stand, the
Bellwether Coffee is the 2019 SCA Best New Product Award-winner for its electric, zero emission coffee roaster.
popular espresso machine manufacturer was buzzing with a swarm of visitors sampling coffees at the True Artisan Café, where guest roasters served their best roasts on Modbar equipment, but the real attention was on the KB90, the company’s ‘straight in’ portafilter machine. The new model makes espresso preparation easier with less strain on high-volume cafés and busy baristas. It was America’s first look at the new machine, with LM Board Chairman Kent Bakke, who the KB90 is named after, on hand to talk through the stunning new design. New releases were a topic of conversation throughout the show, including coffee preparation methods. None got more attention than the AeroPress Go, a new model of its signature filter coffee brewing device, optimised for portability. Not since 2005 had AeroPress made a change to its product, and order forms for its August release were quickly snapped up. On the Marco Beverage Systems stand, the company asked expo visitors for their direct feedback on its newrelease prototype, the Marco Friia, a minimalist font tap that distributes hot, cold, and sparkling water at the touch of a button. The overwhelming response was “terrific”, Operations Director Paul Stack says, with the boiler, carbonated chiller, and threelitre water delivery system housed under-counter, making the new system ideal for high-volume cafés and office spaces with limited space. “No longer are coffee machines
the only way to dispense coffee. We’re changing the game with beverage stations that dispense multiple beverage options from one font,” Paul says. “Cold brew is still building momentum and I believe this is a better option than shipping cold coffee concentrate, which is not sustainable. The Friia is the next step.” When it came to scales, Acaia also brought a new launch to the table with its new three-kilogram Pearl Model S scale, designed for the serious home brewers and roasters. It features a built-in interactive brewing guide. Roasters can input recommended recipes and home brewers can transfer them into the scales. The scale measures the weight, time, and flow rate of a pour over brew. All the
Acaia released its new Pearl Model S scale.
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Yoshikazu Iwase is an ambassador for Tree Field’s Furumai automated filter brewing machine.
user has to do is follow the specific brew recipe and step-by-step instructions. “Home brewers can create pour overs and share their recipe online to help improve the quality of their brews,” Acaia President and Co-Founder Rex Tseng says. The volume of new releases kept rising, with Wega updating its Urban machine with pre-infusion function, individual group boilers, and new Wi-Fi capability. Eversys introduced its new Cameo c’2 1.5 step feature that allows milk to be frothed in one of three ways, each catering to a different level of control and ability, and Elemental Beverage Co showed off its Snapchiller machine that turns hot coffee into cold (see more page 67). On the roasting front, it was Bellwether Coffee that had heads turning for its entirely electric, fully automated, zero emission coffee roaster. This machine won the electrical category of the 2019 SCA Best New Product Awards, just one of 11 awards handed out for products embracing quality and value to the specialty coffee industry. Mostly convective with a hint of conduction roasting, Bellwether’s roaster has no gas lines or ventilation, therefore no exhaust or emissions. The air is filtered and recycled through a closed loop system. “The idea is to make coffee more accessible and bring the cost of roasting down in a sustainable way,” Bellwether Coffee Operations Coordinator Marissa Parkes says. “People who begin roasting for the first time need a starting point, and this machine is a great reference for that. We can create profiles for you or
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you can edit your own, but ultimately the automated process makes roasting easy for anyone.” On Tree Field’s Furumai stand, it was all about automated filter brewing. Yoshikazu Iwase, 2014, 2015 and 2016 Japan Barista Champion and 2016 WBC second place competitor, was one of many stars on hand helping demonstrate the prototype. “This machine is super focused on replicating consistent recipes,” Yoshikazu said. “We, as baristas, can put in our own coffee and profile or we can customise the extraction profile to bring out the best result from each bean to suit specific
The top six World Barista Championship finalists, with winner Jooyeon Jeon of South Korea (third from left).
taste preferences. Controlled agitation and adjustable pressure increases both the extraction percentage and the complexity in the cup.” Just went you thought you’d seen it all, the Cometeer Coffee Capsule, winner of the Best New Product open class category, had fans flocking to the product like seagulls to a chip. These new-format capsules feature frozen brewed coffee in ‘peak state’ that’s able to be melted whenever you want. Served hot or cold, the capsule is 100 per cent recyclable and compatible with or without a K-Cup machine. Even George Howell, US-based coffee roaster, was on hand to endorse his own brewed coffee concealed in the new-look capsule. While there was plenty of gadgets and gizmos to swoon over, from the producer end, many origin countries were represented from Brazil to Honduras, Ethiopia to Colombia, but it was all eyes on this year’s Portrait Country Burundi, a designation given to a different coffee producing country at Expo every year. Burundi has 60,000 coffee farmers tending more than 25 million coffee trees on 48,000 hectares of land. Dr Déo-Guide Rurema, Minister of Environment, Agriculture and Livestock at Café Du Burundi, told the press that now was the time to “discover the undiscovered flavours of Burundi coffee”. “We have a rate opportunity this weekend for Burundi to present its coffee
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to more than 13,000 representatives of the coffee industry from around the world, including farmers, roasters, importers, exporters, manufacturers of the tools we use, and, of course, the ultimate consumer of coffee products, the coffee drinker,” Déo-Guide says. As quickly as the days began, they ended just as fast with competition results concluding the formalities each day, followed by industry parties to continue the celebrations. Notable mentions go to Nuova Simonelli for its aperitivo gathering and La Marzocco for its Rock and Lobster Roll gathering of inflatable lobsters and high-energy live music. As the expo days dwindled, so too did the number of competitors in the WBC and WBrC from 54 and 44 respectively, to just six. No Australians made the final round in either competition – although they made close and commendable efforts. The final day had spectators glued to their seats with extra crowd support for the finalists, including Nuova Simonelli’s noted Italian charmer and greatest sponsor support Gianni Cassatini. With the lights dimmed and strobe lighting to set the tone, resident emcee Stephen Leighton in his bright red shoes read the honours, announcing Jia Ning Du of China the 2019 World Brewers Cup Champion and Jooyeon Jeon of South Korea the 2019 WBC winner (see more page 58). 2018 WBC winner Agnieszka Rojewska of Poland presented Jooyeon the winner’s trophy and tears, selfies, and hugs streamed for the next two hours until Jooyeon was spotted on the dance floor at the official after party with those tears replaced with a huge smile. The Specialty Coffee Expo returns to Portland in 2020, from 23 to 26 April 2020, at the Oregon Convention Center.
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FIRST CRACK
Magic moments Elemental Beverage Company is shifting the beverage paradigm by developing technology that preserves and enhances the aroma and flavour of coffee – but cold.
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n theory, turning hot coffee into cold in less than 60 seconds sounds like a magic trick straight out of a Harry Potter movie, but one company has made it a reality. Elemental Beverage Company has created the Snapchiller, a machine that combines thermodynamics, engineering, and artistry to transform hot beverages into cold drinks on demand. Making its debut at this year’s Specialty Coffee Association Expo in Boston, the Snapchiller had heads turning as patrons were prompted with the question: “Want to see hot coffee become cold in less than a minute?” As crowds gathered, eyes fixated on the machine as hot brewed coffee was poured into the top chamber of the Snapchiller before the liquid filtered down the magnetic coils and extracted into a cup at -10°C. Elemental Beverage Chief Alchemist and Co-Founder David Dussault says fresh coffee is key to the ultimate flavour experience. To him, it represents magical flavours in the cup, but says this magic was lost when it came to cold coffee available on the market. “I’m sensitive to coffee being fresh, and I couldn’t find a fresh cold coffee. I even tried putting my own coffee in a freezer with ice, but the magic was lost,” he says. “My solution, as an engineer, was to figure out how to change the temperature of coffee without oxidisation so the coffee doesn’t go stale, and find a way to make cold coffee, tea, and cocktails better than iced, refrigerated, or cold brewed products.” Dave, a graduate at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), used his university experience to develop a patented technology that combines thermodynamics with heat exchange technology to rapidly cool liquids to temperatures as low as -23°C. David
Company has even Snapchilled Producer then worked with industrial designers Joseph Brodsky’s Founder’s Selection and found a passionate partner to Gesha from Ninety Plus Estates. help finance his idea and bring the “For a lot of people, cold coffee from Snapchilling concept to life. the Snapchiller will be the first time “Snapchilling preserves all the flavours they really experience particular flavour of a hot coffee, unlike any other method descriptors,” Jonathan says. “You know for making cold coffee,” says Ryan when someone asks if you can identify the McDonnell, Chief Coffee and Tea Officer strawberry or blueberry notes and you of Elemental Beverage Company. “Coffee struggle to identify them in your cup of is incredibly volatile at high temperatures, hot coffee? Well, for the first time, a lot of meaning its aromas are rising to our nose people will finally experience it because and out of the drink. From the moment Snapchilling the coffee immediately coffee is brewed, it’s starting to chemically preserves and amplifies flavour without break down. By Snapchilling the coffee, compromising on taste. It will be a whole we can experience flavours at a more new level of coffee appreciation.” drinkable temperature, without them The Snapchiller will be making dissipating into the air.” shipments at the end “Now the magic happens,” Dave of 2019. Readysays. “There’s no ice, no dilution, and to-drink cans are no oxidisation, so the product doesn’t available now. become stale. George Howell [Founder of US coffee roaster George Howell Coffee] told me he had been looking for a machine like this this year. He’s now got three of our machines and uses the Snapchiller for pour overs and chilling drip coffees.” The Snapchiller is available in 16-ounce volumes for restaurants, high volume cafés, and bars. Ready-to-drink Snapchilled coffees in 12-ounce cans or commercial-grade kegs are also available. Elemental Beverage CEO Jonathan Chen says because some coffees work better in the Snapchiller compared to others, it’s important to experiment with different temperature profiles and set the precise The Snapchiller uses patented temperature to suit even technology to rapidly cool liquids the most complex of single to temperatures as low as -23°C. origins. Elemental Beverage
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CAFÉ SCENE
Alter Ego aims to create a late night specialty coffee culture in Canberra.
ALTER EGO 10 Bunda Street, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, 2601 Monday to Thursday 7am to 11pm, Friday 7:30am to 12am, Saturday 8am to 1am, Sunday 8am to 10:30pm (02) 6174 3397 Alter Ego is a venue with two personalities: one is a relaxed café serving specialty coffee, the other a bar contributing to Canberra’s nightlife. Supervising Manager Patrick Egli says combining these two identities allows Alter Ego to cater to a wide array of customers. “We’ve covered a lot of bases. We see a lot of public servants through the day, young people and older couples at night, then the families drop by on weekends,” Patrick says. “It’s nice to split the venue up, so that people can sit in a quiet area, but still feel part of the bar.” Alter Ego’s later-than-ordinary closing hours allow the venue to serve its coffee long after other cafés in the area have closed for the day. “We want to create a culture of latenight specialty coffee in Canberra. Our machines are on until 10:30pm or 11pm most nights,” Patrick says. “It’s been a real blessing to a lot of people in Canberra to have a place where you can come and enjoy a coffee late at night that is this high a quality.” Alter Ego serves Ona Coffee’s The Hitman as its house blend, with The Founder as an alternate option, and rotating single origins for espresso. “Being involved with Ona Coffee in particular is awesome. They have a great reputation and offer such a good
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coffee,” Patrick says. “I’ve been able to go to Honduras with them to see the backend of coffee and how much work the producers put into it. To now see customers appreciate it for what it is and be able to explain it to them has been awesome.” A Sanremo Café Racer, designed with input from the Ona Coffee team, sits on the bench alongside Anfim and Mahlkönig grinders, and a Juggler milk dispensing system to reduce waste. Coffee is also prepared via V60 and batch brew. Patrick hopes to soon add Ona Coffee’s Reserve frozen coffee to Alter Ego’s menu. “We’d like to offer a couple of different espressos that people can choose from, sort of like a wine list,” he says. “Being a bar as well really helps communicate the idea of a reserve list. You can almost pair the wine list with a frozen espresso list.” With its coffee, wine, and alcohol,
Alter Ego serves a wide food menu fitting a venue open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. “We have a ‘Benny Bar’, where we offer four different types of eggs Benedict,” Patrick says. “It’s a bit different to have a pulled pork, kobe beef, or vegan benedict on top of more traditional breakfast options. “We also have a couple of nice dinner food items, from the classics like burgers to Asian-inspired items like dumplings and some seafood options. We want it so anyone can come in and enjoy something they are either familiar with or will have them step outside their comfort zone.” Despite opening in January, Patrick says the Canberran community has been quick to embrace Alter Ego. “It’s great to have people come in, be excited by the venue, and sit down to enjoy a nice coffee, whether it’s late at night or early in the morning,” he says.
Alongside Ona-roasted coffee, Alter Ego serves a wide range of beers, wines, and cocktails.
COMMONPLACE COFFEE BREWERS 104T/28 Rose Lane, Melbourne, Victoria, 3000 Open Monday to Friday 7am to 4:30pm, Saturday and Sunday 7am to 3pm 0411 438 917 At Commonplace Coffee Brewers in the Melbourne CBD, Owner Nicholas Ma says the customer experience comes first. “We try to add value and give back to the community rather than only focusing on business and making a lot of money,” Nick says. “Even in our name, we wanted to create a ‘common place’ that was welcoming and grounded, not too pretentious. “We focus on our customers, forming a connection with them and giving them control of what they can drink. We discuss with them how they want their coffee made and what flavours they enjoy, rather than having a set recipe.” Commonplace caters to these different tastes through a range of Toby’s Estate single origins prepared across multiple methods, including batch brew and Hario V60 filter. “I previously ran a café in Collins Street where I formed a connection
with [Toby’s Estate’s Mirko Bonmassar]. When I was looking to open Commonplace, I thought: ‘Where can I get great coffee for good value that I can extend to my customers?’ Toby’s really filled that need for us,” Nick says. “We sat down and discussed what I wanted, where I was heading, and what I wanted to focus on, and built our relationship from there.” Mythos One and Mahlkönig EK43S grinders sit on the bar next to a La Marzocco Strada AV, all customised with a white powdered finish to match the café’s décor. Toby’s Estate’s Brunswick blend is run for milk-based drinks. “The blend is really well balanced.
Commonplace Coffee Brewers takes a customer-centric approach to serving coffee in the Melbourne CBD.
When you’re running a house blend, you want to cover different types of drinkers and find something people want overall,” Nick says. Commonplace’s customer-centric approach to coffee has paid off, with Nick saying he has formed strong relationships with his regulars, who he estimates are 60 per cent city locals, 20 per cent corporate workers, and the rest tourists. “I’ve even had the chance to go out for drinks with some of our customers,” Nick says. “It’s been so rewarding building these good relationships, meeting lots of people, and getting to know their life and what they do.”
CAFÉ SCENE BATCH ESPRESSO 151 Clarence Street, Sydney, New South Wales, 2000 Open Monday to Friday 6am to 5pm (02) 9231 4672
Batch Espresso‘s Clarence Street venue takes on a warm bunker-themed aesthetic.
With two successful venues in the Sydney CBD and more than 15 years’ experience under his belt, Batch Espresso Owner David Smith and wife Nok wanted to try something new when they opened their third location. “We’ve got much more of a specialty coffee focus at the new Clarence Street café, with a lot of varietals and single origins on the menu,” David says. “Our York Street venue has a nice 20-seat dining area and full kitchen, and Pitt Street – my first location – is by a train station and busy five-way intersection, so it serves a lot of takeaway coffees. “People have become more educated about coffee in the city and we wanted to cater to that market.” Alongside espresso-based coffees prepared with a Modbar AV, Batch Espresso Clarence St features cold drip, cold brew, Marco SP9 filter coffee, and batch brew using different single origins roasted by Campos Coffee. “A lot of the time, customers will come in with an idea of what they like and we invite them to experience new flavour profiles with samples by different methods, sometimes creating a new sensory experience for them,” David says. “Every now and then, you’ll get someone who really takes to new coffee. We’re running a Geisha at the moment that I’ve been giving people just to try. They don’t believe it’s coffee. It has an almost sweet juice profile which really gets people interested in new possbilities.” At the time of writing, single origins on offer across the various brewing
methods included coffees from Guatemala and Colombia, and Port of Mokha’s Peaberry Lot from Yemen. Campos’ Superior Blend also continues to prove popular with customers. “The Superior Blend is a perfect match for Sydney. That milk-based blend just nails people’s taste preferences here,” David says. “I’ve been partnered with Campos for 10 years and they’ve really looked after me the whole time. I like that they’re staying on top of the game and producing outstanding quality coffees and sourcing new single origins each week.” The Clarence St venue maintains
An under-counter Modar AV allows Batch Espresso to emphasise customer interaction while preparing coffee.
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a warm atmosphere with soft lighting which David says complements the coffee. “For this shop, we built a theme around the equipment and adapted the café to the area. We worked with Giant Design Consultants to create a kind of warm bunker feel with a solid terrazzo [marble] counter,” David says. The café serves a concise menu consisting of healthy breakfast standards, creative sandwiches, and pastries from local, family-owned suppliers Tuga and Mezzapica. “We keep the food simple but done well. We have quite a good line of yoghurt, bircher, and chia cups, with vegan options that we make onsite,” David says. “At York St we offer a wider menu, with our roast pumpkin, grilled chicken, and halloumi salad being one of the favourites.” Despite the three venues having different audiences and offerings, David says they each emphasise good customer service, which has led to Batch Espresso’s success. “Good service is a key part [of hospitality] that I think has been forgotten a bit these days,” he says. “I like having people come into my shops to mingle, make new friends, and enjoy the entire experience. It’s truly important to me that customers have an enjoyable and perhaps educational experience, laugh a bit in the mornings, and have a good time.”
VOLT ESPRESSO 5 Hardinge Street Auckland, New Zealand, 1023 Open Monday to Friday 6:45am to 3pm +64 9 303 1117 Five years ago, Volt Espresso opened a hole-in-the-wall shop in Newmarket, Auckland to showcase its coffee and imported equipment. Now, the boutique roaster has branched out with a second espresso bar in the Auckland CBD. “When we started off, no-one else in the area was doing anything both good and fast, so we were able to captivate that office worker market,” Owner Peter Grant says. “Our baristas are really enthusiastic about the product and have great people skills. It allows us to fill that niche market combining quality and quick service.” Peter had more than 30 years of experience as a coffee technician before starting Volt Espresso with his wife Maree. This background inspired the name “Volt” and extends to the branding of the roaster’s blends – including Surge, Amp, Rush, and Pulse. “We started off as Grant’s Espresso because people already knew my name in the community, but decided we
Volt Espresso highlights its self-roasted blends at two espresso bars in Auckland.
needed something with more colour. Volt connotates high voltage, and that idea transfers into the strength of the flavour,” Peter says. “We roast to a medium level, which brings out the fruity flavours of the coffees. They have a crisp citrusy flavour with a nice cocoa aftertaste.” Volt’s coffees are showcased at both espresso bars, where they are prepared with a Mythos One grinder, Puqpress M2 automatic tamper, and a Spirit espresso machine. The city shop, located in the New Zealand Media and Entertainment office
courtyard, also serves a range of pastries, brioche, muffins, sandwiches, and realfruit ice cream. Peter says Volt’s hands-on approach has allowed it to develop a strong community of regulars in Newmarket and hopes to do the same in Auckland City. “We’ve kept our team small to allow quick communication and offer a personal touch,” Peter says. “Our café regulars and wholesale clients deal with the owners or same experienced baristas every day, so they know they are more than just another order.”
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CAFÉ SCENE SAZÓN ESPRESSO 3/19 Grenfell Street Adelaide, South Australia, 5000 Open Monday to Friday 7am to 4pm (08) 8221 6966 In 2011, Oswaldo and Jose Estrella channelled their Mexican heritage and more than 20 years of hospitality experience into their first café, Sazón Espresso, in Mount Barker. In 2015, the cousins added a second venue in the Adelaide CBD to their portfolio. “We felt there were a lot of places that really had similar concepts and that we could do something different,” Oswaldo says.
The Mount Barker café uses exposed brick walls, traditional crockery, and cactus plants to set the Mexico-influenced scene. Oswaldo says this and the Latin beats playing in the background contribute to a happy vibe. The CBD Sazón tones down these elements but still keeps this influence alive through its menu, which combines traditional breakfast and brunch items with Mexican inspired dishes. “We’re in the middle of rolling out an updated menu that pushes these Mexican flavours further and really represents the country,” Oswaldo says. A stand-out remaining on the menu is the huevos rancheros, Mexican ranch
style free-range scrambled eggs and San Jose chorizo, served with pico de gallo salsa on an oven-baked flour tortilla with melted cheese. Oswaldo says despite the cafés’ emphasis on food, the coffee always comes first. That is why Sazón chooses to serve Veneziano Coffee Roasters’ Forza as its house blend, Bella for black coffee, and single origins on filter and cold drip. “We’ve been working with Veneziano for eight years now and the quality of the coffee has been consistent since the beginning,” Oswaldo says. “The coffee is really popular. Forza in particular combines well with milk and our customers respond really well to it.” While the CBD café’s location results in a largely business demographic, the Mount Barker Sazón sees a variety of people visiting the venue. Oswaldo enjoys forming relationships with customers who become regulars of the café. “It means a lot when we see people coming back to the café, to know that we’ve been able to build that loyalty,” he says. “Sazón translates loosely to the flavour you add to a dish, or it can mean the passion you put into something. We always try to represent and give that to our customers.”
While Barbosa is a name many film fans will associate with The Pirates of the Caribbean, thanks to Barbosa Fine Food Deli, the population of Robina in Queensland instead connects the name to good coffee and high-end organic products. Located in the food precinct of the Robina Town Centre, Barbosa Fine Foods provides fresh local produce, as well as imported cheeses, meats, and other items you’d expect to find at an Italian deli. Jose Teixeira opened the deli/café two years ago, after more than three decades of experience in the hospitality industry. He says the community has responded well to the deli’s natural offerings. “We’re seeing more and more people want those healthy options,” Jose says. “They want to make sure that their products are pesticide-free and a lot people are looking for local produce too.” While the deli focuses on high-end delicacies, the café serves up breakfast and lunch café favourites. A standout is the scrambled eggs a la Barbosa – crème fraiche scrambled eggs served on sourdough and topped with crumbled soppressata salami, spring onion, and za’atar spices.
“Those flavours complement each other quite well and it’s proven to be quite popular,” Jose says. For coffee, Barbosa Fine Foods prepares Adore Coffee Roasters’ Fairtrade-certified Organic blend with a La Marzocco espresso machine. “I’ve been dealing with [Adore Coffee Roasters Director] Nick Mastro for probably 15 years now,” Jose says. “I like working with a company where I’m not just a number. There’s a relationship between us and them, which is the good thing about dealing with a smaller company like Adore.” Jose believes to succeed in hospitality, café owners must partner with the right people, like Adore Coffee Roasters, who are passionate about what they do. “You want to work with people who understand and want to grow the industry, rather than those who come in because they think they can make a quick buck out of it,” Jose says. “If everybody provides a good product, it will benefit the industry as a whole.” In the near future, Jose hopes to expand the deli and café offerings. “It’s a great feeling to see the same faces coming in again on a daily or weekly basis,” he says. “It lets you know you’re doing something right.”
Sazón Espresso offers a menu and decor inspired by its owners’ Mexican heritage.
BARBOSA FINE FOODS Robina Town Centre Drive, Robina, Queensland, 4230 Open Monday to Wednesday and Friday to Saturday 7:30am to 5:30pm, Thursday 7:30am to 8pm, and Sunday 7:30am to 5pm (07) 5593 3135
Barbosa Fine Foods provides highend organic products and coffee to the residents of Robina, Queensland.
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ESTATE
MICROLOT
SPECIALITY
COSTA RICA
HACIENDA PILAS
2019 SEASON Producer: Eduardo Gurdian Pacheco San Jeronimo de Naranjo
Peach, Apricot, Caramel, Dark Chocolate CONTACT 02 9809 6266 Dariusz@coficom.com.au / John@coficom.com.au
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ORIGIN
John Russell Storey is the Marketing Manager of Trade at Cofi-Com.
All in a day’s work Cofi-Com’s John Russell Storey explores what really goes on behind closed doors at one of the country’s largest coffee traders, and just how many coffees are actually consumed.
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ofi-Com’s Operations and Trading Manager Dariusz Lewandowski and I are between origin trips at the moment. We’re giving our passports a rest and wistfully reminiscing about the last plantations and the folks we saw and talked to. That being said, two weeks ago Dariusz snuck in a quick trip to Papua New Guinea. So what happens between trips? What is a normal day like as a coffee trader and what do we actually do? Is it all about slurping coffee all day, chatting to our many customers and discussing the minutiae of various processing techniques? Well, sort of. For most of us working at Cofi-Com’s Huntingwood warehouse in New South Cuppings are conducted throughout the day to assess new coffee samples before committing to a purchase.
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Wales, it’s a long drive each morning, an hour spent cursing Sydney traffic and phone calls. The day starts with a 50/50 blend of Colombian Narino and Rwandan Insovu Natural. The Insovu evokes a gorgeous fruitiness at the end of its cup profile. A coffee on arrival to the office is mandatory, and it’s hard not to with a superb blend on offer and a La Marzocco Strada machine to bring it to life. The day starts with a conference call with one of our Central American sister companies and a local roaster to discuss a project. As our day starts, theirs ends. Emails are next. It’s always interesting to receive responses from our origin colleagues who have replied to questions and queries overnight. From Brazil, it’s a reply on bag markings, from Kenya,
detailed notes on some micro-lots we’ve ordered, and from Costa Rica, some suggested dates for a trip later in the year. By 9am, we receive the daily report on all our coffees: what’s in stock, how much we have, and just as importantly, what’s arriving today and what’s on the way. Then I take a quick browse to make sure the arrival date on some PNG coffees are still good. Sometimes there’s a week’s delay if the containers need to be washed on arrival. Biosecurity checks are tight. A small mud splatter is enough to cause a delay. Then it’s off to the warehouse. Two things still amaze me each time I walk in. First, the view of hundreds and hundreds of neatly stacked pallets, and two, that truly wonderful smell of green coffee. Downstairs, Federal Biosecurity
The workhorse of the Cofi-Com Lab, a twin barrel Probat sample roaster.
staff is in and checking off new shipment arrivals. It’s good to see our new season of Kenyan micro-lots have been cleared by biosecurity, looking good in their new size of 30-kilogram bags. It’s a long walk to our blending operation at the end of the warehouse. Time to check on an order for one of our specialty customers. It’s a new recipe and Anthony De Luca, who manages the operation, has a 500-gram sample ready to send to the customer. The warehouse is a hive of activity. Our crew has been here since 4.30am picking orders that now line the warehouse dispatch area, clearly marked and tightly packed on pallets. Orders range from two or three bags to multiple pallets that will be heading as far away as Darwin, Perth, Tasmania, Singapore, and Taiwan. Local and interstate orders are already on the road. Back in the office, Dariusz has begun cupping offer samples, coffees sent to us by growers and producers. By the look on his face, what he’s cupped so far hasn’t impressed him. I join in, cupping quickly to catch up. We both stop at a Tanzanian AA coffee from the Mwika Co-Op, one of the mills I visited before Christmas. It’s gorgeous. Tangy and fruity with loads of cocoa and chocolate. (This was the mill that needs $10,000 to get power to their hulling machine, as mentioned in my previous BeanScene article on Tanzania.) Dariusz immediately emails our Tanzanian sister company to confirm the purchase. Leave it too late and the coffee could be sold. As trading is done in US dollars, we carefully watch the AUD/USD exchange rate, which can affect our daily ‘spot’
pricing where a roaster buys ‘on the spot’, paying whatever the current price is as opposed to a contract price where the price is locked for a fixed period. We absorb minor exchange rate fluctuations to keep prices steady. Our trading expertise comes from Cofi-Com Director Andrew MacKay’s experience, market knowledge, and an incredible buying network in all origins. Making the right call on what and when to buy impacts everything from shipment times to customer pricing. It takes savviness and instinct to get it right. Before long, our table is quickly cleared for a customer cupping mid-morning. It’s a new roaster coming in to try some Colombian, Costa Rican, and PNG coffees, and for us to try her first blend. The coffees are cupped and it’s fascinating to hear how someone else interprets the myriad of flavours from the coffees. The PNG Kimel stands out as always, and becomes the selected single origin. The blend is not so straightforward. There
are some sour and sharp notes coming through as an espresso, and the overall flavour fades in milk. The beans are telling the story, noticeably light and being all washed process, the acidity is dominating. A quick check with the Agtron confirms our suspicions: the roast needs to be fuller to draw out the sweetness and character of the coffees. Straight after a quick break, it’s time to roast a batch of arrival samples for cupping tomorrow. Dariusz and I do these ourselves. Some days it takes a couple of hours depending on container arrivals. It’s an opportunity to look closely at the green beans and compare with pre-shipment samples. What we are looking for is colour. Old or underripe beans are faded, lacking that translucent greenish grey of current season beans. The smell of the beans is important. Mustiness or a lack of green bean smell are quality indicators. The final check before roasting is the preparation. Are the bean sizes what they should be? Are there any physical defects like insect-damaged, black, brown, or broken beans? A couple of newly arrived Costa Rican naturals give off sweetish aromatics as they roast. These will be a treat on the cupping table. The rest of the afternoon is taken up with quotes, booking stock for contracts, speaking to customers, and emails. It’s a chance to catch up with Lindsay Armitage who manages everything from invoicing to coffee bean moisture contents in our laboratory office. The day winds up with a last visit to the warehouse. A roaster needs a green sample of our Malawi Sable Farm Estate coffee urgently. Another day in the life of a green bean trading business finishes. Twentyfive coffees cupped, including a blend and a couple of flat whites, and that’s a normal day.
Brazil Daterra coffee arrives at Cofi-Com’s Huntingwood warehouse.
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FLAVOUR FASCINATION
Darren Stinson is the NSW Manager of Zest Specialty Coffee Roasters.
Flavour fights futures Zest Specialty Coffee’s Darren Stinson on what roasters can do to soften the impact of the low C-market and support the ongoing investment of quality coffee production.
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t’s important to constantly re-evaluate your vision, to sit at the drawing board again and again until your direction aligns to benefit the entire supply chain. It’s something we at Zest Specialty Coffee, as a small to medium-scale specialty roaster, have no objection in doing to ensure our direction benefits the entire supply chain, the most vulnerable and most important members of our industry – the producers. But how do we do that? The answer is to ask them what they need. The Coffee Futures Market (the C) hit a record low in April, falling to below US$0.90 per pound, a level unseen since 2006. It’s good news for the money managers who have been betting on the decline of Arabica futures since August 2017, but much like other agricultural industries, it’s bad news for the producers who bear the ultimate cost. The National Federation of Coffee Growers of Colombia has tirelessly campaigned against the inevitable failure of the C market to support producers, proposing that cost price plus profit be the absolute minimum trading terms. It’s important to understand that, as the largest coffee producing country in world, Brazil is at the forefront of all C pricing. Over-
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A drone image over Finca Vitalina in Peru, where Zest Specialty Coffee conducted its fermentation project.
supply in Brazil with a weak Brazilian Real should not determine the base price for Colombia or other producing countries in Central America. So again, how can small roasters play a positive role in such a complex system? Our method has been to work to improve those coffees that are the bulk of our producer’s exports. This means not just selecting the best fruit on the trees and ignoring the balance of the
crop, but looking to discover ways to implement sustainable changes to large-scale processing methods that will increase flavour desirability, and therefore the value of the crop. At Zest, we have been lucky enough to set up long-term relationships with producers in Peru, Papua New Guinea, and Indonesia. We have implemented fermentation projects to improve our blended regional coffees by using a number of anaerobic and carbonic
fermentation techniques. These techniques, in improving the quality of the base product, have allowed our producer partners to demand a higher differential for their coffee. In focusing on the products, which constitute the bulk of our producers, we take advantage of the sheer scale at which such volume is produced in order to best implement change. At the heart of this strategy, is a fascination with flavour. We’ve already seen vast advancements in roasting and brewing technology, which we can proudly say has allowed many companies to achieve incredible flavour and variety in coffee, but we have further to go. Relatively new improvements and advancement in coffee processing and fermentation present entirely new paths of possibility. We decided it best to join partner producers on site to implement the changes necessary for advancement. Coffee fermentation is traditionally an on-farm process where microbial activity solubilises the coffees’ pulp layer around the seed. It produces metabolic end products like alcohol, carbon dioxide, and organic acids, which ultimately change the flavour in your cup. Where producers had previously seen fermentation as the time barrier before drying, they are now able to manipulate the microbial community with the help of yeasts and bacteria to improve the complexity of the flavour in the final product. By employing conscious and considered fermentation techniques, we can now coax out flavours that would have otherwise not existed. Our interest in the potential of these techniques was piqued by sampling a “slow natural” from Brazil that was the result of Tercio Borba from Three Brothers facilitating a project with producer Jhone Milanez Lacerda in the Santa Rita Estate, located at the Caparaó Region in Minas Gerais. We were mesmerised by their ability to produce a clean natural that cupped above 90 points. Buying this
Producers in Peru pulp the coffee before applying fermentation techniques to coax out maximum flavour.
coffee had a ripple effect. To this day I have café partners asking for the return of this absolute unicorn of a coffee. As a result, we were inspired to experiment with naturals in our most recent project in San Ignacio, Peru in 2018. We worked with producers to process a number of micro-lots exploring the effects on flavour of low oxygen fermentation. Experimenting with time, temperature, pH, processing method, and drying conditions, we produced six little lots of coffee that were to be a crucial stepping stone in our research program. After a few months on the high seas, we received our shipment into the docks at Melbourne. What we cupped took us all by surprise: a 83.5-scoring regional coffee suddenly kept its colours on a table full of Geisha. In the past, we had been able to improve coffees by two to three points, but this was a momentous achievement and one that we will truly celebrate with our producer Richard Jaramillo from Bosque Verdes Cooperative in San Ignacio. But how does this feed into our real
objective of helping ordinary farmers and cooperatives fight the problem of the low coffee price? Quite simply, a jump in cupping score of five or six points will mean that coffee will command a significant increase in sell price for the farmer that is unrelated to what is happening in the US Intercontinental Exchange. We sold out of that special sample lot at the Melbourne International Coffee Expo for an incredible $200 per kilogram based on its amazing flavour profile and are passing every cent of that windfall back to that cooperative in investment in equipment to upscale their potential for success. So, what’s next? This July, we have our green bean explorers travelling back to San Ignacio on a more exciting mission. Zest has purchased over 90 square metres of drying facilities for the cooperative, as well as a number of fermentation tanks to increase the scale of our special production. Our goal will be to highlight Bosque Verdes among the top producers in Peru. Keep an eye on the Peru Cup of Excellence results for 2019.
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TECH TALK
Maurizio Marcocci is the Director of Service Sphere.
Changing times Maurizio Marcocci discusses how commercial coffee equipment has developed over time and the new features that will lead the industry into the future.
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eople have always looked for ways to make their life simpler, and technology is constantly evolving to fulfil these needs. Cars and airplanes get us where we need to go, while phones and social media connect us to friends and family overseas. Coffee machines are no different. While coffee has been around for centuries, the coffee machine we know today began surfacing in its infant stages during the industrial revolution – from the first ever espresso machine made in 1884 to Faema’s iconic E61 in 1961. Coffee machine innovations over this period include: •1 884 – Angelo Moriondo patenting the first espresso machine for commercial use •1 901 – Luigi Bezzera designing a machine that forces steam and water through ground coffee •1 912 – Giuseppe Cimbali patenting the modern heat exchanger found in espresso machines •1 947 – Achille Gaggia registering a lever piston brewing mechanism for espresso machines •1 961 – Faema begins implementing the E61 group head These key milestones formed the basic building blocks manufacturers use today. At Service Sphere, we believe that technical advancements in commercial coffee machines can be broken down into three key areas:
MANUFACTURING PROCESSES
Over time, manufacturers have learnt the importance of developing new features and upgrading their manufacturing process in
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The Faema E61 established the group head size and design that many manufacturers still use today.
order to offer the most innovative models on the market. By doing so, they aim to meet consumers’ needs and expectations in terms of quality, performance, and serviceability. The simple espresso machine boiler is a clear example. Originally, many were made of aluminium, which caused corrosion issues in early machines. Manufacturers then developed improved boilers constructed with copper or stainless steel. LaCimbali has gone even further with its patented Ruveco Teck coating. Components that come into contact with water or steam are coated in order to protect consumers from trace elements found on the internal components of the machine. Manufacturers have not only improved single boiler machines but developed dualand multi- boiler models to meet growing demand. Many of these changes have been implemented in order to achieve a far more
controllable brew, including pre-infusion and temperature control. These days, there is more emphasis on ensuring manufacturers can deliver what consumers expect. So coffee machine manufacturers are incorporating lean manufacturing processes for a more practical and flexible approach. Simply look at the changes in how we use coffee machines, from the lever model to adjustable semi-automatics, and now, onebutton super-automatic machines.
USABILITY
While developments in coffee machine technology improve quality and consistency, they also help inexperienced baristas make the best coffee possible with their limited knowledge. Some features that were once considered a luxury have become the norm. For instance, many coffee machines have shifted from using toggle switches
to operate to LCD screens and in some cases, even touchscreens. But, before coffee is extracted, it needs to be ground. Grinders have evolved from simple, hand-operated equipment to far more advanced machines. Baristas are now able to select dosing times, desired dose weights, and telemetry compatibilities. A long-overlooked area, which has recently come under the spotlight, is the humble tamper. Tamping ground coffee may seem effortless to a consumer, but we in the industry know that baristas can often struggle to perfect the process. This is why the auto tamper has really taken off. A notable product in this field is the Puqpress, which we see in many popular cafés. It sets the perfect pressure and level tamp every time. LaCimbali’s elective grinder with in-built tamper has combined these two pieces of equipment. Its machines grind a perfect blend and automatically tamps the coffee in the group handle with a programmed standard. Another innovation is in the steam wand, which traditionally has just directed steam from inside the machine to the end of the arm. Now, manufacturers like LaCimbali have implemented technology such as the Turbosteam wand, which, with the touch of a button, allows baristas to froth milk automatically at a constant temperature to ensure a creamy foam. The one-button approach has been embraced within the super-automatic coffee machine market. Every step is factored in, including grinding, pouring espresso, and dispersing milk into the cup. In this regard, Eversys has led the pack with key features such as the 1.5 step in the c’2 Cameo. Milk is frothed in one of three ways, each catering to a different coffee type. Another popular Eversys feature is e’Foam, which allows baristas to electronically adjust the aeration and temperature of the steam going into the milk jug in order to achieve the desired consistency.
“MANUFACTURERS HAVE WORKED VERY HARD ADAPTING TO CONSUMER TRENDS AND TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS WITHIN THE COFFEE INDUSTRY.” this includes precise data analysis, quality control, and real time notifications. Manufacturers are also trying to appeal to the tech-savvy consumer who is most likely using their smart phone for online banking, social media, and purchasing clothing. So why not include coffee? A great application that shows the potential of utilising smartphone technology is LaCimbali’s Cup4You. Developed by Gruppo Cimbali, Cup4You is available on both the App Store and Google Play, and works with the S20 and S30 super-automatic machines. It allows users to create custom beverages and send them wirelessly to the machine to create the desired coffee. Delonghi offers a similar app for home coffee machines. This type of technology presents huge possibilities in terms of automation and robotics. In the near future, we could see high-quality drive through coffee venues where customers pay by card
and a machine automatically makes their beverage without human interaction. From their humble beginnings at a trade show in the 19th century, coffee machines have gone through more than 120 years of research and development. Manufacturers have worked very hard adapting to consumer trends and technological developments within the coffee industry. They have evolved their products to reach different consumer requirements and trends. What’s exciting isn’t the history of the machines, but what the future will bring. One thing is for certain – our love for coffee isn’t going away and coffee machines will evolve to produce even better coffee. This kind of technology is why we are constantly adapting our range at Service Sphere, concentrating on the latest features that will make any café or office coffee space flow consistently and operate more effectively.
COMMUNICATION
Multiple manufacturers have introduced internal computers and processors to their commercial coffee machines. These processors are able to read and interpret valuable information, including extraction times, temperatures, vend counts, and record service history. Thanks to the implementation of this technology, baristas and coffee machine technicians can interpret data through an internet connection. The benefits of
The Eversys c’2 Cameo’s 1.5 step feature allows milk to be frothed in one of three ways.
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ESPRESSO YOURSELF
Jibbi Little of Jibbijug is the 2019 ASCA Pauls Professional Australian Latte Art Champion.
Fairy Rabbit Jibbi Little takes to the skies with a fanciful flying fairy rabbit that combines two of her favourite designs.
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y the time many of you read this, I will have competed in the World Latte Art Championship. For now, however, I am dedicating all my time to training. With Easter just past and me about to take flight to Germany for World of Coffee in Berlin, I thought there’s no better time than to combine these events in the form of my flying Fairy Rabbit design. Combination actually played a part in the conception of this design. The idea behind it was really quite simple. My rabbit and angel designs were quite popular, so I thought, ‘why not bring them together?’ The result is a design that is cute and appeals to peoples’ love of fantasy and fairy tales. While the rabbit itself is front and centre in the design, elements like a tree to the side and the sun at the top add an extra level of character and scene setting. It may seem simple at first, but the design requires multiple techniques from dragging and dropping to wrapping and rosettas,
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and prowess in one underappreciated discipline – manoeuvring the wrist. You can’t perform some of the intricacies of this design without being able to subtly rotate your wrist as the body, head, and ears of the rabbit curve. Like most designs, with practice and persistence, any up and coming barista can master this pattern. In latte art, you can never stop improving and practice is key. For instance, at the time of writing, I am deep in preparation for Worlds and will stay that way until I fly out to Berlin at the start of June. My World Latte Art Championship patterns have been set for a long time, so now my focus is on developing a consistent routine and perfecting my ability to perform these designs. While the Fairy Rabbit design doesn’t appear in my World Latte Art Championship routine, it is a pattern I enjoy and I think many of you will too. Join me next edition when I delve into one of the designs I shared on the world stage.
1. Build your base with the handle at 12 o’clock. In one continuous movement, draw a C-shape from the bottom of the cup, pour a drop of milk foam below the top point, and drag it down past the bottom of the C.
3. Turn the handle to six o’clock. Draw a seven-leaf rosetta starting from the body. Drag and pull up along the left edge to reconnect.
5. Pour a seven-leaf rosetta straight across from one o’clock to 11 o’clock then drag down the centre.
7. Draw a circle at the top of the body and continue to wrap to form the head. Leave an empty space for the eye. If you can, use the cunning eye technique created by 2018 World Latte Art Champion Arnon Thitiprasert.
2. Turn the handle to three o’clock. Draw a small heart at the bottom of the C with the point touching the rabbit’s body to form a tail.
4. Pour a second seven-leaf rosetta from where the drag meets the body to form a second wing.
6. Back where the upper wing meets the body, drag out a thin loop that runs half the length of the wing. Do this a second time with the same end point. This should look like the McDonald’s ‘M’ with the bottom points pressed together.
8. Turn the handle to nine o’clock and finish with a dot at six o’clock representing the sun.
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TRAINING TACTICS
Kyle Rutten is the National Training Manager of Suntory Coffee Australia.
Make it so they will come Mocopan Coffee’s Kyle Rutten on why it’s more important than ever to understand your market and stand out from the crowd.
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he modern café market is a very dynamic one. While there are many simple yet successful cafés operating today, it’s not as easy as it once was to get people through the door. Once upon a time a simple window sign that read “coffee” with a large lurking coffee machine in the background was all you needed to attract a crowd. Today it’s about more than just the caffeine kick. Customers want the story, the flavour, and the trust that the person making their coffee is excellent at it, and a great environment to experience it in. We want it all. However, with so many factors to consider, where does one begin when considering opening a café, never mind a successful one? If you dare, read on as I present some of the key factors I believe you should consider and plan for before considering your opening day party.
LOCATION
In Australia, there is a varying level of saturation in the café market. For example, the number of cafés in Melbourne CBD is very different than the Victorian town of Traralgon. There is also a big difference in the number of people in the area too. You need to do a bit of research on how much competition there is, what kind of competition (we’ll explore this later on), and whether or not you can bring something uniquely different or better to the table. Setting up shop in a small town is not a negative, nor is being in a busy, saturated city location. The key to
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“SETTING UP SHOP IN A SMALL TOWN IS NOT A NEGATIVE, NOR IS BEING IN A BUSY, SATURATED CITY LOCATION. THE KEY TO PICKING THE RIGHT LOCATION IS KNOWING IF YOU CAN PULL A CROWD WHEREVER YOU FIND YOURSELF.” picking the right location is knowing if you can pull a crowd wherever you find yourself. Think about busy streets, roads, eating or shopping places, nearby schools, and other points of interest. If it attracts people, it can attract coffee lovers. The only way to overcome the location factor is if you can create a space so unique and special that you become a destination. The Grounds of Alexandria in Sydney springs to mind as a prime example of this, as does Veneziano Richmond in Melbourne. These operators have created such cool spaces that people will go out of their way to visit, regardless if parking is limited or there’s no access to public transport. If it is cool, they will come.
TARGET MARKET
Addressing your audience is one of the most important factors to consider when opening your very own shop. Understanding who lives in your neighbourhood or who you want coming
to your café is critical because your ‘regulars’ will become your bread and butter. Consider the following questions when addressing who your target market is: •D o your regulars care about the latest single origin from Ethiopia, or do 99 per cent of them just want a flat white or cappuccino? Understand what your market wants and provide them with it. •D oes the look of your equipment matter or is the consistency and speed at which people can get their coffee the most important? Many new café owners fall into the trap of going all out on the latest tech from the get-go before they have even tested the waters of the café business. On the other hand, it’s not always a bad idea to come out the gates with equipment that will turn a few heads. • I t’s worth considering the age demographic of your audience. What millennials want can be quite different to that of baby boomers. For example, millennials prioritise
experience over cost. In other words, they are generally willing to pay more for a great experience whereas baby boomers generally prioritise value over experience, meaning it doesn’t have to be the most insta-worthy spot as long as the price is right and the offering is consistent.
BUDGET
Working in the coffee industry for years and getting to know first-hand daily operation costs, staffing, and bottom line was the best budget experience I could have gained. My advice: don’t open your own place until you’ve spent enough time in the industry to know if it’s the right fit. Justin Carriere, Owner of Arvo Coffee in Toronto, tells me that running a café is about so much more than return on investment. It’s a lifestyle. His budget was an honest one of what he had in his hand – savings and a desire to see organic growth. Start small with big dreams and have a passion to push the boundaries. That’s what kept him going. He learnt quickly to diversify his growth and think outside the box. Consider introducing catering, masterclasses, an online store, and how you can turn your unique space into a profit generator. This way, you will quickly stop looking at the competition and focus on what you have in front of you – a business that needs growing. I’m a firm believer of having more vision than resources but always being honest with your budget so you can execute a plan and see your vision come to fruition.
LONG-TERM STRATEGY
What’s the end goal? Do you want to have a large multi-site café business with locations across the globe? Or is your dream to own a unique café that becomes an extension of you? Having a general idea will help you focus your resources, especially when it comes to hiring and the kind of systems you want to have in place. Write down your goals or put it into some kind of vision or mission statement so your employees can get behind the bigger picture other than making the best coffee possible.
HERO PRODUCT
While it may seem commonsense that a café these days serves both coffee and food, it’s not always the case or even required. One of my absolute
The Grounds of Alexandria is one venue that embraces Kyle Rutten’s advice to offer a point of difference, be it in design or product offering.
favourite cafés in Sydney is Artificer Coffee. They sell no food. You won’t find a single pastry in sight. It only sells coffee (and milk) and nothing else. They are also always busy because they are some of the best in the game and the owners have about 30 years’ experience between them. That business structure satisfies them, but it won’t for everyone. Sometimes less is more and other times more is more. Decide if you are going to make coffee your hero with food to support it, or food as your hero with coffee to support it. You can choose to go the best of both but keep in mind the cost of a good barista and a good chef is a lot higher than a great barista and a decent cook or vice versa. Some of the best cafés do awesome coffee and have a menu of three to six items with some pastries for sale. This is a not a bad way to start or even operate. It’s really up to you and the strategy you have for your café.
POINT OF DIFFERENCE
I mentioned it earlier that the way to cut through a crowded market and get attention is to have a special point of
difference – something that sets you apart. Even if you are the only café in the area, it’s always a good idea to have something that makes you unique. We’ve all seen those crazy milkshakes on Instagram or a unique cold brew method in the shop window. Whatever your X factor is, be aware of what others around you are doing and put some time and thought into what you can bring to the table. Some ideas could be around sourcing of beans, sustainability, special menu items, a unique story behind the café, unique shop fit-out, or location. The reasons people want to open a café may be different, but the one thing that they all need to have in common for them to be successful is profitability. Be smart about your offering and be aware of your market when it comes to your customers and competition. Be ready to adapt and open-minded to new ideas, all the while staying true to the core of a good café: creating a welcoming place where people enjoy great coffee and engage in conversation with their friends or with your staff. There is no concrete map to success but there are things you can do to help put yourself in a better place to succeed. Good luck.
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R&D LAB
Dr Monika Fekete is the Founder of Coffee Science Lab.
Putting the heat on Dr Monika Fekete explores the impact of grind temperature on extraction temperature and why shots tend to speed up over time.
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ialing in a delicious espresso shot is great way to start your day, be it at work or at home. As the day goes on, you might find that shots speed up and you need to adjust your grinder a bit finer to get the same result. It seems like your grind profile has changed. Does this sound like a familiar story? It might be a common observation, but to date I’m unaware of a viable explanation backed up by solid data. The reason is probably a result of many factors at play. Increasing temperatures over time is clearly of crucial importance. Or, as Colin Harmon of 3FE Coffee has been quoted as saying, “the daily process of ‘dialing in’ may as well be called ‘warming up’.” Temperature affects practically all aspects of the brewing process. We need to take into account all temperaturedependent variables involved and investigate their effects individually. This way, we might gain a better understanding of what happens when you give both grinder and machine a good workout on a busy day in the café. In the February issue of BeanScene, we looked at the effects of brew water temperature on extraction. I used the Rancilio RS1 espresso machine in an experiment to determine if we can control brew water temperature precisely. However, extraction temperature is determined by the combination of brew water and grind temperature. This time, I would like to focus on the latter. Grind temperature is generally less tightly controlled, even though it can vary significantly over time. Even a stone-cold grinder will spit out grinds about 10°C hotter than the beans due to the heat of friction. As the grinder heats up, grind
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temperature can reach up to 50°C. So, on a 20°C day, you’re probably going from grinds at 30°C at the start to 50°C at peak times. This significant difference will have an impact on the temperature the coffee is extracted at. In the experiment I’ll discuss here, I
focused purely on the temperature of the grinds, rather than any potential change in grind particle distribution as a result of grinding hotter. To be able to do this, I had to separate the two effects. To eliminate variation in grind size, I ground all coffee necessary on a Mythos 1 grinder, and then
Figure 1. Grind temperature was found to strongly affect shot times and temperatures.
Figure 2. The lower viscosity of coffee at high temperatures explains faster flow.
I mixed the grinds thoroughly. I let the grinds degas overnight to make sure they all retained the same levels of CO2 and volatiles. This way, there were no significant degassing effects over the course of the experiment. Stale coffee is of course not ideal for making great-tasting espresso, but this time I didn’t need to worry about putting them in front of a tasting panel. I dosed 25 x 22 grams of the mixed grinds into sealed containers and separated them randomly into five groups. The five groups of containers were all stored for a minimum two hours at set temperatures ranging from -13°C in the freezer to 8°C in the fridge, 21°C room temperature, and 45°C and 55°C in a thermostat. I used such a wide range of storage temperatures to be able to demonstrate the effect of grind particle temperature more clearly. Realistically, your grinds would more likely sit in the 25°C to 50°C range. Once the grinds reached the desired temperatures, I removed them from storage one by one and immediately used them to brew espressos on a Rancilio RS1 operating at 93°C brew water temperature. The pump was set up to deliver 80 grams of water each time. The cups used to hold the coffees were pre-warmed to 36°C. I recorded extraction variables, such as shot weights, times, extraction yields, and temperature in the cup. As expected, shot temperature in the cup increased with increasing grind temperature (see Figure 1). When the coffee grinds were very cold, the cooling effect on the shot was, of course, quite dramatic. In the more practical range,
increasing grind temperature from 21°C to 55°C led to an average 2°C increase in shot temperature. There wasn’t much variation in shot weight, which makes sense as coffee dose and the amount of water added were kept constant. No significant correlation between grind temperature and shot weight was measured. In a similar way, total dissolved solids and extraction yield were also not strongly affected by grind temperature. Shot times, on the other hand, showed a dramatic difference. The shots were speeding up as the grinds were getting hotter. This effect seemed to tail off past 45°C (also shown in Figure 1). This aligns with the observations in the café. Increased grind temperature alone, with no change in grind particle distribution, can account for faster shots. But why does this happen? The flow rate of liquids depends on a number of factors. (To calculate flow rate of coffee, divide shot weight by shot time). Imagine a liquid flowing through a tube. The flow depends on the following: - the pressure drop between the ends of the tube (or the puck in our case) - the length of the tube (or height of the puck) - the diameter of tube (or the basket) - the viscosity of the liquid (how easily a liquid can flow. The lower the viscosity, the faster the flow. Water can flow faster than honey due to its lower viscosity.) In our experiment, most of these variables were kept constant. Pressure always drops from pump pressure to atmospheric pressure by the time the
coffee drips out of the basket. The dimensions of the puck were the same, as were particle size and tamping to my best ability. This leaves us with viscosity to blame for the faster shots. Viscosity of liquids generally decreases with temperature (imagine warm honey flowing faster than cold honey). Coffee is no exception. I measured the viscosity of an espresso sample over a range of temperatures with the help of a rheometer. The results show that viscosity indeed drops off as temperature increases, just enough to account for the observed increase in flow rate (see Figure 2). Please note that this measurement was done using coffee brewed with grinds at room temperature and doesn’t take into account the increased solubility of all flavour compounds at higher extraction temperatures. This aspect would need more investigation. In conclusion, we need to appreciate that a complex array of changes happen with shifts in temperature. Separating variables and studying them one by one helps to put the pieces of the puzzle together. This set of experiments showed that grind temperature affects the flow rate of espresso shots by altering their viscosity. Colder grinds lower extraction temperature and therefore increase viscosity, which results in slower shots. As grinds heat up, extraction temperature increases, while, in turn, viscosity becomes lower – at least up to a point – and shots speed up. Warming up takes time, even in the case of “climate controlled” grinders. While this effect is difficult to avoid entirely, at least now we understand some of the contributing factors. Next time, we will take a look at the big picture and take on the challenge to map all temperature-dependent variables that affect espresso extraction. I would like to thank Absolute Espresso Services and United Supplies for providing the Rancilio RS1 machine for the experiments.
A rheometer was used to measured the viscosity of the espresso samples over a range of temperatures.
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ASCA
Kieran Westlake is the President of the Australian Specialty Coffee Association.
You be the judge With Australia’s coffee credentials established on the global stage, ASCA is committed to growing the community’s knowledge behind the scenes.
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ustralia has a great reputation on the world stage when it comes to coffee excellence. Our National Champions frequent the top 10 in the world, our entrepreneurs are introducing Australian coffee to international markets (think Bluestone Lane), and Melbourne is often hailed as one of the ‘coffee capitals’ of the globe. For us at ASCA, this is extremely exciting. To know that our baristas, roasters, and other coffee professionals are having success worldwide is both humbling and awe-inspiring. However, our work never stops. ASCA is now looking to increase talent within the coffee community – encouraging newcomers and developing existing members of the industry. As a board, we’ve been clear that this is part of our plan and in 2019, we’re providing more upskilling opportunities than ever before. While we’re never short of competitors (we absolutely love the enthusiasm shown by our baristas across the country), finding judges can be a tough task. Judging is a fantastic way to network with other coffee professionals, and develop your palate, technical proficiency, and, perhaps an unexpected benefit, conflict resolution and the art of giving constructive feedback. It can also be daunting if you’ve never participated as a judge before – you are part of the team that could make someone’s coffee dream come true.
Judging is a great way for coffee professionals to increase their skills and knowledge base.
To make judging more accessible, this year, ASCA will be introducing mandatory judges’ workshops before each of our Regional Championships. The workshops will cover how to interpret the rules and score fairly and impartially, palate development, and how to interact with competitors and provide them with accurate constructive criticism. Previously, this has been covered as part of judge’s calibration, however we’ve recognised that in order to improve Australian judging talent and encourage newcomers to try their hand as a judge, a dedicated workshop is required to address some of these factors. This way, when you arrive at calibration, it’s just a quick refresh of the
rules and any changes that may have occurred since the last competition. We want our judges to also be at the forefront of the coffee industry, globally. We know that the talent here in Australia is almost limitless and it’s important to ASCA that we nurture and develop that talent wherever possible. ASCA judges’ workshops will be compulsory for all members looking to judge at the 2020 Regional Championships, to be held in the second half of the 2019 calendar year. Sign up for our FREE newsletter at www.australianspecialtycoffee. com.au
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NZSCA
Emma McDougall is the Communications and Administration Co-ordinator of the NZSCA.
Bigger and better One big weekend in May saw the NZSCA crown new Cup Tasters and Latte Art Champions in maxed-out competitions.
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Photo: Yuki Zhang @jjang.yongjii
t felt like only five minutes ago the New Zealand Specialty Coffee Association hosted the Meadow Fresh NZ Barista Championship, and it was already time to start the next leg of the competition season. First up was the NZ Cup Tasters Championship on 3 May. Ozone Coffee Roasters in Auckland hosted a full field of 32 coffee cuppers, all aiming to accurately and quickly slurp their way through the tasty coffee. The competition was tense, and with multiple perfect scores on the leader board, timing was crucial. With a score of 8/8 in 2.07 minutes, Alan Bruce of Flight Coffee was announced the NZ Cup Tasters Champion, with runner-up going to Anne-Lise MornardStott of Ripe Coffee Roasters in Petone. Ewan Kim of L’affare and Takahito Koyanagi of Toasted Espresso placing third and fourth respectively. Thanks to our amazing sponsors Fetco via the Appliance Maintenance Company (AMC), Cafetto, AMC Roastery Supply NZ, Acme & Co, and Castaway, and
Alan Bruce of Flight Coffee is the 2019 New Zealand Cup Tasters Champion.
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Ozone Coffee Roasters for hosting. Alan says he “would like to thank the NZSCA, his family, and Flight Coffee team – especially Luise Metelka who made him train every other day”. When asked if he had any tips, he mentioned he kept [his] food really bland in the lead up, including no pesto for lunch and his “secret weapon”, his favourite orange spit cup. Alan is looking forward to representing NZ at the World Coffee Championships in Berlin in June. Only two days later, it was time to determine which latte artist would be joining Alan in Germany. La Marzocco let Auckland know it was host of the Meadow Fresh New Zealand Latte Art Championship with a large cow statue greeting guests to its Parnell headquarters. The sold-out event of 17 artists from Invercargill to Auckland pushed the level of competition to new levels. Animals were popular, as was inspiration from under the sea. Between the preliminary and final rounds, sponsors kept the crowds
Hoony Chae of Mojo Coffee is the 2019 New Zealand Latte Art Champion.
entertained, educated, and pampered. Meadow Fresh held interactive pouring competitions at its Pour like a Pro stand. Meadow Fresh also sponsored two competitors and arranged for NZ Breakers basketballer Tom Abercrombie to present the awards. Receiving the championship trophy was Hoony Chae of Mojo Coffee in Auckland. Leo Li of Newbie Café in Auckland was runner-up, and John HoJun Sung of Grey Street Kitchen in Hamilton placed third. Hoony thanks his coach Eddie Chae and his team from Mojo for their support. “I am looking forward to Berlin and will try my absolute best,” he says. A special thanks to the volunteers at both events for helping, especially those who donated their entire weekend to make these events run smoothly. Thanks to our amazing sponsors Meadow Fresh, La Marzocco New Zealand, Cafetto, AMC Roastery Supply NZ, Acme & Co, Castaway, and Monin. The NZSCA wishes Hoony and Alan good luck in June. For more information on the New Zealand Specialty Coffee Association, or to join, visit www.nzsca.org
TEA SCENE
Bradley Cahill and Mafalda Moutinho are Co-founders of Casa De Cha and Consultants to the Australian Tea Growers Cooperative.
The elephant in the coffee house Bradley Cahill and Mafalda Moutinho of Casa De Cha invite the Australian coffee industry to work together with tea professionals to change the service and standards of specialty tea across the country.
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magine an industry where tea aficionados were given the same level of quality and care as coffee drinkers. For us at Casa De Cha – new kids on the block and true tea ambassadors – the inconsistencies in how tea is offered and brewed is the elephant in the coffee house, and we’re committed to changing that. Our goal is to elevate the coffee industry’s understanding of specialty tea preparation and service, and help develop a new Australian tea culture. We do this not only for our own sake, but that of consumer’s – tea lovers who refuse to buy a pot of tea at many cafés or restaurants because they know it won’t be brewed correctly of decent quality, or served with little or no care. We know that the specialty coffee community is focused on flavour, traceability, sustainability, and quality, as are we. Australia is the world leader in coffee service. Our baristas are some of the finest in the world, but, the truth is, they are responsible for more than just coffee. Their clients, increasingly, are insisting on it. Specialty teas are pure leaf teas. Much like coffee and wine, they are seen as a true representation of origin – that moment, place, and time. From the picking season, terroir, picking method, tea cultivar, altitude, processing method, and roasting – these influence the final taste, which will mature and vary from year to year, season to season. If we think back, the specialty coffee market passed through an evolutionary phase around 20 to 30 years ago when
Bradley Cahill and Mafalda Moutinho want to see Australia lead specialty tea service.
there were few professionals and seemingly no market. However, coffee came out the other side as a powerful economic force. It’s safe to then assume, going off current market trends, tea will go through a similar evolution. Some European fine-dining establishments and other businesses are now providing complete tea-and-food paired menus as a sophisticated alternative to wine. In Asia, tea appreciation and culture runs deep. Some teas are more expensive than gold. Perceptions of tea must change if we are to ride the wave that is coming. We must innovate and allow ourselves to be creative with tea and the variety of forms it can be served in. Adopting new service,
preparation, and presentation ideas is one of the best ways to change perceptions. For instance, we can pair teas with food, with coffee, use it as a palate cleanser, a cooking ingredient, serve tea in decanters, wine glasses, or as a cocktail ingredient. Like wine, teas’ flavour profiles change drastically with the seasons. Why not offer a rotating, seasonal reserve selection of teas to entice explorative foodies into this new and complex world? Adopting a seasonal approach gives authenticity to a menu, and caters to the diverse tastes of customers, which could be your competitive advantage. With waste an ongoing area of focus in the industry, also consider the reduced environmental footprint of tea. Tea has profit margin of 90 per cent with minimum to zero per cent wastage. The leaves can be used again for cold brew or even in cooking. Some cafés have recorded a waste percentage of 20 per cent. Specialty coffee professionals are in a unique position to find new and exciting ways to showcase this often misunderstood but incredible and versatile product. We invite you to support the rise of specialty tea. You are in a privileged position to raise the standards of tea service and quality in this country. By becoming more educated and working together with tea professionals, we can build that bridge and create mutually beneficial relationships that put an end to the dichotomy between tea and coffee. Let’s work together to help Australia become the world leader in specialty service.
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E-SCENE
Every edition we highlight BeanScene’s digital coffee community, hearing from Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram followers. For more information, visit www.beanscenemag.com.au ‘Like’ us on Facebook/BeanSceneCoffeeMag
DAMON SCHMETZER Coffee has always been an intriguing and mysterious thing for me. Growing up, my first recollection of coffee was with my mum when she’d have friends over and they’d catch up over a cup. I always saw it as a social thing. Working at a local café here in Wagga Wagga, I saw a different side of coffee. Every second person that walked through the café doors would say to me, “I definitely need this to wake me up today.” So, the idea of coffee being used as a motivator was pushed into me. This made me want to delve into the coffee industry and learn more about it. I thoroughly enjoy educating people on new and exciting coffees and trends hitting the market and trying to bring that bit of happiness to people’s routines in the morning. I’m excited by how much this industry has grown in such a short period of time and I’m looking forward to learning more and growing as a barista.
IGOR RAVASINI
I am a passionate barista and business owner of Bumblebean Coffee in Wanneroo, Perth. I created my mobile coffee van business from the ground up in October 2016 and have shared my love for coffee ever since. At the age of 30, I moved from Parma, Italy to follow my dream of starting an Australian business. On National Barista Day (1 March), my dream was validated when I was nominated for Barista of Choice and shortlisted as one of the top 10 in Australia. I think my warm Italian hospitality and drive to create a unique coffee experience sets me apart. Bumblebean Coffee launched “selfieccinos” in February, the first in Perth to do so. It’s a chance for customers to print any photo or decoration on their coffee. It’s been hugely popular and is another way I can personalise my customers’ coffee experience. I began roasting my coffee in April and the response has been phenomenal. This year I am eager to start competing in regional barista competitions.
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NELLA SPENCER
Sitting in a café on a Sunday morning is one of my favourite things to do. So, a little about my coffee preference. I like it strong while still being pleasant on the palate as I don’t take sugar. I like keeping it real. I would normally order a skinny flat white or, at times, I have an espresso. My coffee has to be an organic experience, so it’s never out of a jar. The coffee at one of my local cafés is a good strength blend for my liking. I don’t drink my coffee fast, as I like to enjoy the experience and relax with a book, chat with a friend, or listen to a blog. No one amazing coffee moment stands out to me because I have had so many. For now, my favourite café is Caffe Cherry Beans, as they don’t keep coffee beans more than 21 days old.
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WE WANT YOU!
Have a coffee passion you’re dying to share? We’d love to see it. Email a 150-word bio about your love of coffee, your favourite coffee moment, and a little about yourself with a high-resolution image (1MB or greater) to BeanScene Editor Sarah Baker: sarah.baker@primecreative.com.au