DiMattina Coffee A modern day dynasty
Relying solely on word of mouth and strategic positioning, DiMattina Coffee has established itself as one of Australia’s leading purveyors of exclusive, specialty blends and roasts in the past decade.
The respected Melbourne Di Mattina family’s contribution to local coffee culture is undeniable. The founders of numerous prominent local coffee brands have worked with the DiMattinas’ at various points and that speaks for itself. What’s more, the DiMattina name has long been at the forefront of perfecting the art of coffee in what has, over the years, become quite a sophisticated market. It’s not surprising, then, that the brand has endeared itself to coffee purists around the country.
Where many speciality brands have come and gone over the past decade, DiMattina Coffee is steeped in tradition.
Shortly after launching the brand in 1998, Paul DiMattina was joined by cousins Robert and Simon, representing the third generation of the DiMattinas’ - and long-time family friend Lino Bettiol, whose mother also was a founding employee of the original company. The DiMattina coffee’s heritage was forged from a passion for producing exceptional coffee, the company’s staff share the same gusto. It’s a brand driven by quality people, comprising respected, fully qualified baristas (four of whom are level-four accredited), experienced sales staff and some of the best service technicians in the industry. In short: it’s a group of people who live and breathe coffee.
“Well it truly all began back in the day when Mocopan Pty Ltd was a smallgoods manufacturer and distributor. Frank Dimattina Snr, his business partner Charlie Pelegrino and Joe Dimattina, my father, purchased the business way back in 1954,” begins Simon. He is over from from Western Australia, where the company launched in 1999 to a market that has since become an integral part of their strategic positioning, already employing 12 staff. The company is now the market leader in Western Australia.
“If we go back far enough I’m sure we’ll find that everyone who is anyone in coffee today, was at one time or another a part of the Dimattina and Mocopan family.”
“My father, Joe was given the job to run the company and rather than sell smallgoods he focused on selling coffee, Mocopan Coffee,” continues Simon. “In 1958 he was joined by his brother Anthony (Paul’s Father) and around 1960 his cousin Dominic (Robert’s Father) joined them too. Lino’s mother (Tersilla Bettiol) was also an inaugural member of Mocopan Coffee, having worked with the Dimattina Family for over 40 years. In fact if you look back through the old photos, throughout the 1960’s, 1970’s, and 1980’s many of Melbourne’s coffee people started their careers with our family.”
“My God, that is so true,” interjects Paul, “names like Genovese, Crivelli, Beraldo and Giusti roll off the tongue, to name a few. If we go back far enough I’m sure we’ll find that everyone who is anyone in coffee today, was at one time or another a part of the Dimattina and Mocopan family. It was THE place to be in the 1950’s, 1960’s and 1970’s as far as Italian culture and quality coffee were concerned.”
“It was way back in 1962 that Joe DiMattina made the first of his many trips overseas, to origin in fact,” continues Simon. “Global travel was not as frequent, nor easy back in those days, but my father travelled to many different places, such as Papua New Guinea, Kenya & Brazil. He would travel for two months, meeting growers, attending trade fairs, trying to source new equipment and ideas for the Australian market. Dominic and Anthony also made trips to origin – spending time in Papua New Guinea building relationships with coffee growers and exporters.”
“It was different in those days,” remarks Robert, keen to set the record straight. “The coffee roasters of that day had a lot of respect for each other and were the true pioneers of the industry. They sourced the roasting equipment, developed the relationships with growers, invested in and modified the coffee equipment to the Australian market, setting the strong foundations for Australia’s coffee culture.They were all friends and colleagues, visionaries who were living united in a strange land, a new world, with coffee as the social glue that bound them together. There was also great support from the current equipment suppliers such as the Slade Family and the Del Zoppo family, and coffee brokers such as the Bennetts.”
“My family also had a long association with many of Melbourne’s iconic events and festivals – most notably the Moomba Festival, where starting from 1973 they served espresso coffee – in mobile coffee carts - on the banks of the Yarra. Definitely mobile coffee pioneers.”
Mocopan Coffee was sold in 1993. By that time the company was well established nationally and had managed to develop a rich espresso culture in Australia. It was considered one of the country’s leading wholesale coffee companies and had been instrumental in introducing many well known roasting blends, coffee equipment brands, as well as industry people to the Australian coffee market. Not too bad for a small family business!
“Dimattina Coffee for us has been the focus since then. It’s all about the brand and trying to develop it. Since then we have established ourselves in Adelaide in 2006, a move that has proven to be highly successful. It also maintains a strong presence in each of the other state capitals, as well as regional areas throughout the country,” continues Paul
Last year, DiMattina Coffee launched its new headquarters. At the gateway to South Melbourne, it is the jewel in the crown of vibrant and bustling Clarendon Street. It comprises the hub of the brand’s sales and marketing. It also features a stunning café and dedicated area for the company’s comprehensive training courses, as well as an in-house roaster that is always a topic of conversation.
“It’s fair to say that the Dimattina Coffee Company started humbly. We began our operations with a second-hand 30kg Probat Roaster and very little capital,” smiles Simon, obviously proud of what has been achieved in such a short period of time in such a very competitive industry. “We have always, and will continue to, source coffees from brokers and growers throughout the world. We regularly carry 30-50 different specialty origins, but our expertise sits in designing blends for café’s and restaurants, because that is what our customers not only demand but what every cafe owner deserves. A level of care and attention that is both unique as well as personal to make every client feel like they are a part of our business, a part of our extended family.”
“Our employees are hands-on people. We have all been living and breathing coffee for our entire lives. For example, Lino Bettiol has been roasting coffee for over 30 years. He knew the characteristic of an origin long before a lot of the modern day coffee gurus and this modern industry was born. Before you could Google “single origin”! He understands origin characteristics, effects of climate, how coffee is processed, what to blend together and has roasted on many different types of roasters for over 30 years. He has coffee life experience, he truly has coffee flowing in his veins.”
It’s clear that when it comes to coffee you can’t go past the name DiMattina, who have proven themselves again and again, from generation to generation. If it wasn’t for the passion and dedication of the DiMattina Dynasty, the world as we know it would be a very different place.
