• About
  • Subscribe
  • Advertise
  • Contact
  • MICE
Saturday, July 12, 2025
Newsletter
SUBSCRIBE
  • Coffee News
  • Features
    • Industry issues
    • Interviews
    • Knowledge leader
  • Coffee community
    • Competitions
    • Events
    • Get to know
    • People
    • Sustainability
  • Industry insights
    • Café insights
    • Green bean
    • Manufacturers
    • Milk and alt milks
    • Roasters
  • Skills & education
    • Business advice
    • How to
    • Latte art
    • Recipes
    • Research
    • Tutorials
  • Equipment & tech
    • Automation
    • Coffee machines
    • Grinders
    • Milk steaming
    • Roasting technology
    • Technology
  • Café scene
    • Australian Capital Territory
    • New South Wales
    • Northern Territory
    • Queensland
    • South Australia
    • Tasmania
    • Victoria
    • Western Australia
    • New Zealand
No Results
View All Results
  • Coffee News
  • Features
    • Industry issues
    • Interviews
    • Knowledge leader
  • Coffee community
    • Competitions
    • Events
    • Get to know
    • People
    • Sustainability
  • Industry insights
    • Café insights
    • Green bean
    • Manufacturers
    • Milk and alt milks
    • Roasters
  • Skills & education
    • Business advice
    • How to
    • Latte art
    • Recipes
    • Research
    • Tutorials
  • Equipment & tech
    • Automation
    • Coffee machines
    • Grinders
    • Milk steaming
    • Roasting technology
    • Technology
  • Café scene
    • Australian Capital Territory
    • New South Wales
    • Northern Territory
    • Queensland
    • South Australia
    • Tasmania
    • Victoria
    • Western Australia
    • New Zealand
No Results
View All Results
Home

Vivace Espresso Café and Roastery

by Staff Writer
January 30, 2013
in Cafe Scene, New Zealand
Reading Time: 2 mins read
A A
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Bernard Smith has coffee in his blood. His grandparents were coffee roasters in the 1940s, followed by his parents, and now Bernard is following the family tradition with Vivace Espresso Café and Roastery.
The business first stared as a café in the Christchurch CBD in 1997, before progressing to a dedicated roasting facility in its current location in Tuam street.

“We’re aiming for the top-end of the market, with a quality focus on training, cupping and café business,” says Bernard.

The café itself caters for about 40 people, and customers have the good fortune to sample freshly roasted coffee from the back of the shop.
Vivace serves their award-winning house blend, Ultimate espresso, the recent winner of this year’s supreme award for New Zealand’s Best Coffee at the ninth Huhtamaki New Zealand Coffee awards.

This blend consists of high-grade Arabica beans from Brazil, Guatemala, Kenya, Papua New Guinea and Mexico.
“It’s really well-balanced, full- bodied with cocoa notes to finish,” says Bernard.

The café serves their award-winning Ultimate Espresso on their Synesso machine. A number of single origin coffees are also available for purchase, including the Guatemala Santa Clara.

It’s been a tough couple of years for Vivace and many Christchurch cafés since the 2011 Christchurch earthquake. Bernard says however, it’s onwards and upwards for the New Zealand coffee industry.

“When the earthquake struck we were lucky to escape with superficial damage. When we reopened our sales almost tripled because there weren’t many cafés left standing. People couldn’t go to work so they went to cafés instead,” says Bernard. “Cafés have gradually reestablished themselves and soon enough the market will be saturated with cafés again.”

Vivace sells machines and coffee equipment at its Christchurch location and has a dedicated training centre available. for those who can’t get enough of Vivace, Wellington has it’s own small Vivace Espresso Bar in the heart of the business district.

“This business is all about the people you meet,” says Bernard. “Coffee is always changing and it forces us to improve all the time.”

Related Posts

François has locations in Melbourne’s Fountain Gate and Eastland, with a flagship set to open in spring 2025 in Mambourin.

François Eastland

by Staff Writer
July 7, 2025

James Meunier has an impressive CV. After moving from Mauritius to Australia in 2006, he began his hospitality education at...

Pigeon Whole Bakers puts pastry first, coffee second.

Pigeon Whole Bakers

by Daniel Woods
June 30, 2025

Dipping into a café, you might pick up a pastry alongside a coffee, but Hobart’s Pigeon Whole Bakers is shifting...

Image: Laika Coffee.

Laika Coffee

by Staff Writer
June 23, 2025

Named after the first dog to go into space, Laika Coffee strives to be on the “frontier of the unknown”....

Please login to join discussion

Join our newsletter

View our privacy policy, collection notice and terms and conditions to understand how we use your personal information.

BeanScene Magazine is committed to promoting, enhancing and growing the coffee industry in Australia as it’s coffee news has captured the attention of coffee roasters, bean and machine importers, café owners, café chain owners and executives, and many of the auxiliary products and services that support the coffee industry in Australia and around the globe.

Subscribe to our newsletter

View our privacy policy, collection notice and terms and conditions to understand how we use your personal information.

About Beanscene

  • About
  • Contact
  • Advertise
  • Subscribe
  • Latest magazine
  • Terms & conditions
  • Privacy collection notice
  • Privacy policy

Popular Topics

  • Coffee news
  • Features
  • Coffee community
  • Industry insights
  • Skills & education
  • Equipment & tech
  • Cafe Scene

© 2025 All Rights Reserved. All content published on this site is the property of Prime Creative Media. Unauthorised reproduction is prohibited

No Results
View All Results
NEWSLETTER
SUBSCRIBE
  • Coffee News
  • Features
    • Industry issues
    • Interviews
    • Knowledge leader
  • Coffee community
    • Competitions
    • Events
    • Get to know
    • People
    • Sustainability
  • Industry insights
    • Café insights
    • Green bean
    • Manufacturers
    • Milk and alt milks
    • Roasters
  • Skills & education
    • Business advice
    • How to
    • Latte art
    • Recipes
    • Research
    • Tutorials
  • Equipment & tech
    • Automation
    • Coffee machines
    • Grinders
    • Milk steaming
    • Roasting technology
    • Technology
  • Café scene
    • Australian Capital Territory
    • New South Wales
    • Northern Territory
    • Queensland
    • South Australia
    • Tasmania
    • Victoria
    • Western Australia
    • New Zealand

© 2025 All Rights Reserved. All content published on this site is the property of Prime Creative Media. Unauthorised reproduction is prohibited