Features

 Origin

A model Costa Rican farm

October is Eduardo Gurdian’s favourite month of the year. It’s the start of crop season, when weather conditions are optimal for cherry picking, when staff receive a steady income, and the month he expects his first child to be born.

“October will be a good challenge for production volume and sleepless nights,” Eduardo says.

Eduardo is a sixth generation coffee professional. It’s too early to predict if his unborn son will join the family dynasty one day, but Eduardo is working hard to ensure he creates a sustainable legacy for the next generation of Costa Rican producers.  Read more

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 Industry profiles

Why café hot spots are driving property prices up

When real estate agents make their opening address on why a property is deserving of your hard earned dollars, they don’t just address the king-size kitchen, Olympic length pool and movie theatre, they mention the nearby coffee shops. 

According to Hockingstuart agent Daniel Atsis, café hot spots are driving property prices up and real estate agents aren’t afraid to use it as an attractive selling tool. 

“Buyers are looking for established suburbs that sell ‘lifestyle’ with all the trimmings, and sellers are using those lifestyle attractions such as cafés to add value to their properties,” Daniel says.  Read more

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 Knowledge Leader

CQI’s Mario Fernández on myth busting

Coffee Quality Institute’s Technical Director Mario Fernández is determined to bring coffee processing into the forefront of flavour control, but warns it comes with full responsibility.

Mario Fernández has a growing list of more than 50 problems, but his determination is not one. Rather, his spreadsheet of issues consist of common coffee processing myths he says are simply rumours that have circulated like a bad case of Chinese whispers.

For the past few years, that’s included the poor quality and mistrust of natural processed coffees, false claims about yeast fermentation and honey-processing methods, and one of Mario’s particular favourites – people preferring solar drying over mechanical drying just because it’s “more environmentally friendly”. Read more

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 Industry profiles

Veneziano Coffee Roasters opens new flagship café

Veneziano Coffee Roasters has opened the doors to its highly anticipated flagship café in Melbourne and invites the coffee community to become part of the specialty coffee experience.

It’s been four years since Veneziano Coffee Roasters closed the doors to its dedicated Bond Street Café in Melbourne. 

Since then, the brand has put its focus on growing and training its customers to embrace the Veneziano wings and flourish in their skills and businesses. Behind the scenes, however, the Melbourne-based roaster has been slowly progressing on the ultimate specialty coffee experience. Read more

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 Industry profiles

Toby’s Estate on its time to shift

Toby’s Estate on why its time to challenge perceptions, alter mindsets and recalibrate our tastebuds.

Early this year, Toby’s Estate launched the first volume of Shift, a limited edition series all about challenging perceptions and changing coffee experiences.

It is not the quick and habitual coffee drinking experience you might be accustomed to. Shift involves tasting curated coffees roasted to engage, push, and stretch the senses and what you thought you knew about coffee. Read more

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 Industry profiles

Square One Coffee Roasters thinks outside the box

Square One Coffee Roasters is committed to customer growth by delivering education that’s more visual than theoretical, and more personable than automated.

Square One Coffee Roaster’s Head Roaster Elika Rowell visits customers once a week – not just to ensure they’re upholding best coffee practices, but to create a common connection with baristas.

“We want to remove the idea that roasters sit on a pedestal, and only roast behind the scenes. We want to get out in front of our customers and be available to share our knowledge in a way that’s more direct and personable than a phone call or email,” Elika says. Read more

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 Industry profiles

Home grown Milkadamia

Milkadamia is created for consumers who want to support a sustainable approach to farming and a naturally grown product born just outside of Byron Bay. 

When it comes to designing the perfect dairy-alternative product for Australia’s discerning tastebuds, there’s two boxes that customers appreciate: Australian owned and Australian grown.

With those elements covered, Milkadamia Owner Morgan Roy says its time to introduce Australians to the product that saw him once approached for TV show Shark Tank USA. Read more

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 Industry profiles

Bodum on the importance of design and colour

Bodum has carved a reputation as being one of the industry’s greatest design influences. It discusses why product success is not just about style, but using sustainable products with strong functionality.

For the past 74 years, Bodum has developed a product range that is committed to craftsmanship and German architect Bauhaus’ famous ideology of “form followed by function”. Read more

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 Industry profiles

Almond Breeze launches Baristas for baristas

Almond Breeze is committed to growing Australia’s highly-regarded barista profession with a new brand and invitation to support baristas at every stage of their career.

When Almond Breeze discovered that the barista profession is the 10th fastest growing profession in Australia, according to data from the 2016 Census, it knew it had to develop a platform to support and nurture the approximately 3100 baristas that join the hospitality ranks in Australia each year.  Read more

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 Industry profiles

Dove Chen soars to great heights

With discipline and determination, Dove Chen made his dream a reality. He explains why competition is a learning curve and superstars exist in all facets of the industry.

Dove Chen was born to be a coffee lover despite growing up in a Chinese culture that praised tea over caffeinated beans. 

When Dove was just seven years old, he would steal his parent’s canned coffee when they weren’t home, and save all his pocket money to buy his own supply after school. Read more

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