BeanScene Magazine

As the global coffee market continues to boom, more and more Australians are trying their luck overseas and saying G’day to the world beyond. From offering Australian branding, training, and clones of our cafés, homegrown companies are bringing their brands abroad, catering for an international demand for coffee from Down Under.

Di Bella Coffee is one roasting company that has gone and done just that. What started out as a small coffee roasting operation in 2002 has grown into one of Australia’s leading coffee wholesalers, with roasting warehouses in Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne – and now India and China.

Owner Phillip Di Bella says the opportunity to expand to Shanghai, China was an offer too good to refuse.  “We were approached by investors four years ago who were interested in expanding the company into the Chinese market, following the success of Starbucks,” he says. “The Chinese love the coffee market, the reason being because Australia’s considered number one in milk-based coffee. Eighty five per cent of our coffee in Australia is milk-based, so it was natural for the Chinese to look at the Australian market.”

The international leap into the expanding Asian coffee market is an exciting venture, but Phillip says there were three requirements he had to agree on before he took his business to Shanghai. “It had to be easy, it had to be low risk and it had to be in line with our core values,” he says. Officially launching in China this year, Chris Zavros and Tom Armstrong will manage the new Di Bella Coffee operation in China.

Not everything is plain sailing when you decide to take your business to another country, and as Phillip can attest, it’s all about adapting to a different lifestyle and culture. “Let’s face it – it is a different market,” he says. “You can’t go over there with arrogance, you’re dealing with a different culture, you’re dealing with a different language and people who drink their coffee differently. [The Chinese] see coffee as an emerging product, not a staple product. If the barrier of entry was so easy, everyone would be doing it.”

Along these lines, Phillip says it was necessary to do their research to get the right milk for the Chinese palette. “We did a full testing of milk and we found that actually a UHT (ultra high temperature) milk, a long life milk that’s not refrigerated, tasted the best with our coffee,” he says.

While Starbucks have dominated the coffee scene in China over the last five years, Phillip says the giant coffee chain has opened the door for the development of the specialty coffee industry. “It’s great because it pioneers the market,” he says. “You see customers in Starbucks sitting there with their laptops with one drink for hours.”

Craig Jackson, Managing Director of Danes Gourmet Coffee in Asia, has been living in Hong Kong for 14 years and agrees that Asia is accelerating as a coffee market. 

“Asia will be the centre of the world for the next two decades, particularly China,” Craig says. “If I was to look forward and say what it will be like in 10 years, I’d be brave enough to say that if you look at the Australian or New Zealand market today, that’s what Hong Kong will be like in a decade.”

Danes Gourmet Coffee has been established in Hong Kong, China since 2009. Craig says the interest in specialty coffee has strongly developed among this traditionally tea-drinking nation and now Danes has the ability to influence the Chinese community.

“Many Chinese people used to go to Australia to learn about coffee and then come back here and set up their cafés,” he says. “By establishing the barista training school here in Hong Kong, it helps people who can’t afford to go to university, so they work at a café. We’re basically creating a job, a career for people to come into the industry.”

Craig notes that Australians are generally well received overseas for their ease and friendly approach to living, and that this goes a long way in a foreign market. “Australians have quite a good reputation here as the Chinese believe we are direct speakers, very efficient and trustworthy,” he says. “I think the fact that we’ve come here and set up our training school and taken into account the local culture is essential to our success. Despite the language barriers, we’ve hired local staff which is a vital part of setting up a business in an Asian country, you have to localise it.”

Salvatore Malatesta, owner of St. Ali Roasters, says Australian cafés and roasters have a lot to offer the world, and it’s not just our personality. “We’re a country with good natural produce and a lot of people are just passionate about coffee,” he says.

With one café already established in Melbourne, the idea of expanding to the UK had been on the cards for two and a half years.

Apart from thriving market opportunities, Salvatore says his reasons for moving St. Ali to London was to compliment a lifestyle choice.

“Travelling abroad with a purpose was the genesis for St. Ali London,” he says. “London was the most sensible first choice because of a whole host of factors; it’s English speaking, it’s kind of similar in its structure to Melbourne and it’s a phenomenal city where specialty coffee was very much in its infancy stage and screaming out for more.” With a love for travel and new places, Salvatore already has his eyes firmly set on taking St. Ali to all corners of the Earth, one city at a time, citing New York, Paris and Berlin as potential sites.

London is a popular destination for international-born cafés and roasters, with names such as Square Mile, Flat White, Milk Bar, Caravan and All Press promoting the British coffee scene. In terms of specialty coffee, Salvatore says the market in London has already “tipped over” and will be mainstream in six months time.

Salvatore notes that a café’s potential is always dependent on one thing: “location”. In terms of finding the ideal spot to set up shop, Salvatore insists, “they’ve nailed it.” Located on Clerkenwell road, London, Salvatore says the new St. Ali café is in an area that is quickly becoming the epicurean of the coffee scene.

“Finding a site would have to be the biggest challenge we’ve faced,” he says. “The UK property market is really tight and closely monitored, you need covert strength over there, you can’t get a lease unless the real estate market know who you are.”

Salvatore says the new St. Ali London looks like a very close relative to the Melbourne café. “You might not say it’s a twin but it’s definitely a sibling,” he says. “It’s very much the same DNA... but its genius is very South Melbourne.” Salvatore’s approach seems to have worked, St. Ali London was featured in Time Out as one of London’s best restaurants and cafés for breakfast.

Salvatore says the key to any café or roaster taking the leap overseas is to remain true to their style and their philosophy. “We’re not trying to be what we’re not, we’re just trying to be what we are,” he says. “It’s about having good people around you, it’s about having the right customers and the right people internally.”