Australian dairy producer Riverina Fresh details the importance of cultivating strong relationships in the coffee sector and how the brand’s partnerships have contributed to its success.
For any community, nurturing and maintaining relationships is paramount. In the world of coffee, Australia’s rich café culture and essential supply chains are preserved through long-standing and symbiotic connections.
One company that understands this well is dairy producer Riverina Fresh. According to Sales Managers Lisa Mazzarella and Jeremy Hall, cultivating relationships with baristas and café owners has been essential to the company’s growth and product development.
“Our relationships within the coffee community are very important to us. Forming these connections and doing what we can to make the lives of our customers easier gives us great satisfaction,” says Lisa.
In any relationship, trust is key. According to the team at Riverina Fresh, it’s something they have earned over time with roasters and baristas thanks to their hands-on approach.
“We have the trust of many of our customers and from this we get to see a lot behind the scenes, such as the way they roast and where they source their beans. They tell us the art of their craft and what is important to them in the process, such as a quality milk,” says Jeremy.
“We often take our key customers to visit the dairy farmers who supply our milk and to our processing plant in Wagga. It shows them our product from its source and how we produce a premium, high-quality milk that is always consistent in how it performs in the café.”
For Lisa, the value of these working relationships is mutually beneficial. She believes it has allowed her to gain valuable insights on the speciality coffee sector while also reaping the rewards of looking after a passionate community. On a personal level, she says it’s fostered her own passion for coffee.
“I gain so much from the connections we have with the community. I don’t think there’s been a time when I’ve spoken to a barista or coffee roaster and not learnt something new about coffee. They’ve helped me and the entire Riverina Fresh team understand how the qualities in milk can bring out and complement the flavours in coffee,” she says.
Working so closely with baristas has also helped the Riverina Fresh team refine their product to pair well with a variety of styles of coffee.
“We’ve learnt that coffee is the hero, not milk. The milk is there to carry the coffee flavours. Our quality team work really hard to ensure we find the correct balance between the milk and the coffee,” she says.
Conversations with people in the industry have also guided several new innovations in the Riverina Fresh milk range. This includes the production of its Gold Milk, which was developed to pair with darker, stronger coffee roasts.
“Our Gold Milk was developed in conjunction with baristas. It’s a higher fat product that’s popular with many of our roaster and café customers. It was specially crafted to deliver a rich creamy mouthfeel that balances nicely with the darker coffees,” says Jeremy.
“The Gold Milk cuts through the bold flavour and allows the fruity and sweet notes of the coffee to stand out. We did a lot of tasting and testing to get this right and now it’s one of the best products in the market for stronger roasts.”
In serving a large and diverse coffee community, Lisa highlights the importance of being flexible to accommodate the needs of clients, regardless of their size.
“We work with large roasters, smaller niche roasters, barista champions, and cafés of all sizes. We are passionate about the coffee and barista community and want to work with anyone who shares our passion,” she says.
“Our objective is to not only work closely with everyone who is involved in coffee but to also create relationships that nurture the strong community spirit that exists in the sector.”
In terms of its commitment and dedication to the industry, Lisa and Jeremy highlight how Riverina Fresh plans to continue to play a pivotal part in the coffee and barista community.
“We’re continuing to deepen the connections and relationships we have with our baristas, roasters, and cafés. We are an active participant in all of the major coffee events each year and this will also continue,” says Lisa.
Jeremy highlights the company’s recent support of CafeSmart, an annual campaign that raises awareness of homelessness in Australia.
“We are really excited about supporting CafeSmart. The coffee community has done so much for us in terms of helping the evolution of our milk products, so it has been great to be involved alongside them in the act of giving back.”
For more information, visit riverinafresh.com.au
This article appears in the October/November 2024 edition of BeanScene. Subscribe HERE.
