Peter Rowland Group (PRG) has purchased the retail operations of Melbourne specialty coffee brand Sensory Lab which was founded in 2009 by Salvatore Malatesta, owner of coffee house ST. ALi.
“It couldn’t have gone to a better home. I feel blessed that Sensory Lab has new and trusted ownership that can continue to steward the brand forward, and I can focus on my one true love, ST. ALi,” says Salvatore Malatesta, Founder of Sensory Lab and St. ALi.
The Sensory Lab aims to make specialty coffee accessible to a wider audience, initially beginning in the revamped luggage section of department store David Jones on Little Collins Street.
The brand quickly expanded to three other outlets within David Jones, including Melbourne’s Bourke Street women’s store and Elizabeth Street in Sydney.
ST. ALi will remain the coffee roaster of the wholesale brand and PRG will exclusively adopt the Sensory Lab’s retail across Australia.
“I’ve known Salvatore for over two decades and have loved watching the creative evolution of the Sensory Lab coffee offer from the start,” says Michelle Biddle, CEO of Peter Rowland Group.
“This relationship enables us to share the fabulous food PRG is renowned for, to complement and enhance this iconic coffee brand. We are excited to take the food, coffee and science fusion into a new era and already have some exciting expansion plans on the horizon.”
Cafes at 30 Collins St, Monash University and The Rialto in Melbourne will be relicensed as ST. ALi.
ST. ALi’s plans to continue expanding with a new café set to open in the redeveloped Monash Drive precinct at University of Melbourne in early 2022, and another café to opne in the domestic terminal of Melbourne Airport in mid 2022.
The brand also plans to open its first outlet in Bali in late 2022, at the new Further Diffused Hotel in Canggu. ST ALi has also been open in Jakarta since 2016.
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