How Paradox Coffee Roasters’ holistic outlook is helping its café partners build their businesses.
When The Naked Barista Founder Adrian Duquilla was searching for a coffee roaster to supply his newly launched café in Rooty Hill, New South Wales, he wasn’t just looking for a roaster that supplied great beans but one that could also offer the support he needed to get his business off the ground.
“The roaster I chose to partner with when we first opened didn’t work out and that made me realise I needed a local roaster, one that was on the ground and could provide the support I needed,” he says.
Adrian kicked off his barista career in the pandemic by posting brewing videos on Instagram. When he opened his first café, he wanted to offer his customers hands-on and interactive experiences to continue his tradition of knowledge sharing.
“I wanted my customers to be able to experience things that are usually reserved for people in the industry, such as cuppings. The team at Paradox were more than willing to help me host and run the events, which have been really successful,” he says.
It’s this enthusiasm to go above and beyond that many of Paradox’s café partners highlight as the element that makes the Sydney roaster stand out from the crowd. Celeste Renee, Manager of Picnic Café in West End, Queensland, credits Paradox’s high levels of service and ongoing training as the motivation to move suppliers.
“Since we switched to Paradox four years ago, we’ve trusted the team and grown our business alongside theirs, enjoying everything they have to offer,” says Celeste.
“The team have helped us grow by providing private training for our new baristas. Their training modules are tailored to different skill levels, whether it be barista basics, machine programming, mouthfeel, alternative brewing, or cold brewing courses. You name it and they’ll provide the training.”
Picnic is part of a small group of specialty cafés across Queensland, with Paradox supplying its Paper Moon blend as the house coffee for all three venues. According to Celeste, it stood out in Paradox’s collection as a crowd-pleaser that suits a vast range of coffee serves.
“We get incredible feedback from our customers and love hearing that we serve the best coffee in West End. The amount of repeat customers we see on a daily basis is evidence of how beautiful a cup of Paradox coffee is,” she says.
The team at Alimentary Eatery in Brighton, South Australia, also attest to the brilliant feedback they receive about Paradox’s coffee. Yet, for Founder Deeb Milky, it was the personal service he received from the team that confirmed he’d made the right choice when he switched coffee suppliers at the end of 2023.
“The biggest thing for me has been the relationship they’ve offered. The constant communication, touching base to ask if everything is going okay and if they can help is very reassuring,” he says.
“We get on well with the Paradox team and the service they provide is like being part of a big family. When we visited the roastery in Sydney, it was like being welcomed into their home.”
It’s this personal touch and holistic approach to partnerships that the team at Paradox strive for with each of their café partners. Drawing on their industry experience, they provide support beyond coffee roasting – from barista education and systematic training to creative branding and equipment solutions.
“We understand the challenges and opportunities in the coffee market to help our café partners grow and succeed,” says James Rodger, Paradox Coffee Roasters Sales Director.
“Cafés are looking for a holistic solution and not just a transaction on coffee. They want to believe in the brand they are buying from and they value the personalised support we provide.”
According to James, personalisation is key to forming long-lasting relationships with their café partners.
“We understand that cafés come to us with different levels of capability and knowledge in specialty coffee. Our team enjoy working with all types of cafés and have the expertise to guide them through the coffee process and uncover opportunities where our specialty coffee range can play an important role in growing their business,” he says.
“We are a brand ‘for the people’,” says Nicole Saleh, Paradox Coffee Roasters Marketing Director.
“From the growers we source from and our team who roasts and shares their knowledge, to our café partners and the baristas who serve our coffee and the customers who enjoy it, we respect the role each person provides on the journey to delivering a great coffee experience.”
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This article appears in the August/September 2024 edition of BeanScene. Subscribe HERE.