Melbourne Specialty Coffee Roaster St. Ali has announced its acquisition of Brisbane’s Dramanti Artisan Roasters.
Dragan Sestic and his wife Marija founded Dramanti in 2012. From the original roastery in the Bayside area of Brisbane to the current location in Morningside, Dragan and Marija grew the business while also running successful cafés in the CBD and Wynnum.
“After 10 years of growth and the quirks, character and understated excellence of Dramanti, we’re pleased it will continue to flourish under the stewardship of St. Ali Coffee,” says Sestic.
St. Ali’s CEO and Co-owner Lachlan Ward says the company had been looking to expand its physical presence in Queensland for some time.
“Now as we emerge from the worst of the pandemic, it’s perfect timing to finally achieve this goal and continue the growth of the business,” Lachlan says.
With 15 per cent of St Ali business already in Queensland, Lachlan says the addition of Dramanti to St Ali’s portfolio will expand the resources and ability to provide a greater level of support to current and future customers in this growing and important market.
“The future for our business is interstate,” say Lachlan. “There’s so many people that don’t really know who we are yet, so we’re excited to move interstate in a big way over the next 12 months. The best is yet to come.”
St. Ali COO Randall Lewis will base himself in Brisbane for a few months and working with the Dramanti team to integrate staff and customers into the St Ali business.
“This is an exciting time for both brands and is a great step for our business,” Randall says.
Dramanti’s existing staff will continue with the business and join Nerida Brink, St. Ali’s Sales and Account Manager in Queensland to support Dramanti’s next stage of growth and continue to provide customers with the same high-quality coffee roasted in Queensland.
“This acquisition brings some amazing new café partners to our family and will improve the support for existing St. Ali customers with local roasting and dedicated training facilities,” Nerida says.
St. Ali Coffee was established in 2005 in Melbourne and is one of the pioneers of specialty coffee roasting in Australia.
For more information, visit stali.com.au or dramanti.com
