BeanScene Magazine

The Social Roasting Company doesn’t come off as your average Melbourne inner-suburb café.

As its name implies, the company is in fact more than just a great source of beans, but a social initiative aimed at helping the disadvantaged enter the workforce. Formed two years ago, the Social Roasting Company was a merger of three Octane Espresso outlets and the not-for-profit Fair Business organisation.

The initiative aims to provide jobs and training for people struggling to find employment, which can be anyone from migrants to refugees, people with mental illnesses or drug addictions, and the long-term unemployed.

Alex Forsyth and Matt Hampton oversee the daily operation of all three Social Roasting Company cafés.

Alex explains that the company aims to help disadvantaged people in giving them workplace experience and rotations at the café and roastery to increase their employment potential, in the hopes of giving them a facet to get their lives back on track.

“It’s so much easier to get a job when you already have one or have industry experience,” Alex says. “Even if [the employees] work with us for six weeks, then at least they’re working and we can give them a good reference to work somewhere else in the industry.”

Alex says that there are many unemployed people with fantastic qualifications who struggle to find employment. The hardest step to get back into the workforce, is most often the first one.

“Thankfully, in this industry there’s a lot of these positions available and positions that can be created to help people get back on track,” he says. “Through working, they pick up new skills every week. They mostly just want an opportunity to work, which is fantastic.”

Social Roasting Company employs 15 – 20 people throughout their three locations in Flemington, Melbourne and Prahran. Alex notes that there are a few challenges to overcome as employers in dealing with high turnover. Furthermore, most employees have no hospitality background, and for many English is their second or third language, and this could be their first time working in an English-speaking environment.

“Trying to overcome the communication issue is a challenge. But it’s also more than just the actual language, it’s about how you talk to people and treat them,” Alex says. “It’s funny the preconceptions of the people who come in here. In fact, everyone here is understanding, they come in here knowing there might be some people who are a bit slow with certain jobs or have trouble translating things. Some of the dockets that come to the kitchen can be quite interesting for the chefs to deal with, and sometimes a coffee order goes astray.”

Nevertheless, Alex has found the experience of working at a café with a social mandate rewarding.

“It’s a little more difficult to manage, it’s hard to deal with new staff coming through all the time and constantly retraining them, but generally it’s great, I love a challenge,” he says.

Alex notes that his work isn’t just about supporting disadvantaged people – it’s about learning and education, and that goes both ways.

“I love teaching people and when someone learns something from you and you see it click, it’s like a light bulb going on and you feel great that you’ve helped someone,” Alex says. “A new guy who started roasting asked me a question the other day that I’d never thought of, so I’m always learning as well and looking for the right answers. It’s really rejuvenating.”

The primary requirement Alex looks for in new staff is that they possess a little confidence and an eagerness to work. “A lot of it is trial and error because people are so different, you can’t put everyone under groups and categories, you have to take judgment calls and take a punt,” he says. “There’s no one we’ve said no to, in fact, there are people who have said no to us.”

Alex says he takes an egalitarian approach to his staff, and he hopes this is a strategy employees will adopt. “It’s always been my opinion that you don’t treat anyone different. It doesn’t matter who they are, you have to give everyone a fair opportunity,” he says.

Regardless of whether his employees want a career as a barista or roaster, Alex says the experience has consistently proven helpful.

“At the end of staff rotations, half say ‘it’s not for me,’ but that’s fine. You’ve got to give them the chance to work out that something is not for them,” he says. “A lot of the people we employ are loving the experience and the intensity that’s involved. It’s great to see people realise there is more to [coffee] than just a wake up in the morning.”

Social Roasting Company works with the Prahran Mission, as well as a private complex training academy in Geelong, and StrEAT, that provides employees throughout the three sites. Eleven full-time and seven part-time workers are currently employed at the Flemington location, and training sessions take place every fortnight. Alex says the project is all about balancing a social initiative while providing great coffee.

Social Roasting Company has a strong association with organic coffee and direct trade and aims to be accountable from the green beans up to who they serve their product to.

Companies including Social Studios, Truffula Seed and the Doutta Gala Pub all stock the Social Roasting Company’s beans. In stocking their beans, these outlets are supporting a company that is producing more than just good quality products, but a new chance for many to find employment.

With three sites already in operation, Alex hopes there will be more opportunities to expand the business with new cafés and even a separate roastery that would help employ more people and allow them to get involved in roasting, bagging and packing the coffee.

With so many nationalities represented in the Flemington suburb, such as Sudanese, Somalian and Indian, Alex says the initiative also provides a great platform for these cultures to interact.

“It doesn’t matter where you come from, it’s about establishing communities where you live now,” he says. “Our local community is a big part of our lives, and we’re doing our best to help support it, help it grow and give everyone the same opportunities we’ve had.”