Roasters on the NSW Mid North Coast

ARC

I'm a newbie here, I'm not highly trained or informed as many of you on here (which is why I am here) but am involved in starting up a cafe at the moment and am looking for a reputable roaster on the mid north coast - I'm a little further north than Newcastle so am wondering if anyone knows of any good roasters nearby as I'd much rather use a local supplier....

Cheers,
ARC

beanflying

Not a recommendation as such but try www.baybeans.com.au or www.riverroast.com.au for a start. When looking for a blend to use commercially try a bunch in the gear you are going to use, look at freshness, reliability of supply and in particular consistency if you are using some of the smaller roasters. Focus on what will my customers like rather than what do I like best. Best of luck  

mycuppa

There are plenty of East Coast roasters - some local and others remote. These days with the internet and rapid logistics, distance is less of a concern and customers have more options beyond the local list. There are both pros and cons with leveraging local suppliers - I've seen many areas around Australia that are ridiculously saturated (North Eastern Vic comes to mind) with the same brand roaster (some streets having 4 or 5 of the same brand) - this obviously makes it more difficult for the cafe to develop a point of difference or competitive advantage. As an example, we have over 46 unique custom blends on record for cafes we supply in every corner of Australia. These have each been specifically designed (or are variations to an existing theme) to create a unique differentiation against the local competition and satisfy the cafe owners personal preferences. Each of these separate custom blends are managed to suit the throughput of the end customer - it's quite a significant exercise - managing the freshness and timing. It's the real side of specialty coffee.

RichardM

If it's not local (as in "oh crap, we ran out, let's duck over there in our car to get some") then you may as well open your options up. Shipping from Melbourne/Sydney/Brisbane is overnight (and Jeff (mycuppa) is probably one of the reputable ones to start with - talk to beanflying if you have doubts).

beanflying

All of these things above are true with a little planning.  As I am only doing coffee fairly seasonally on a cart the order to Jeff from me reads along the lines of event coming up on X date can you send me Suweet and a little Espresso and z of whatever S/O's you have that are good. Generally this means I get beans roasted and delivered at their prime for use using Jeffs knowledge of the beans. When you get a cafe going with regular known turnover bean rotation becomes key and ordering a week to two in advance is easier. DON'T forget to rotate stock as a few local cafes here do no excuse for stale beans :P

mycuppa

Yeah, it can work well in any situation and volume - we even stagger the roast dates to suit the cafe volume, e.g. a cafe we supply in Mildura doing over 52kg per week and they receive boxes each week with 4 different roast dates and this works perfect for them. Part of the whole arrangement with remote cafes is you need to provide a huge amount of support via the phone, email, education and by leveraging specialists in the local area for training or equipment. I have to say, the best part is when we visit them personally at least once a year, sometimes more - it's amazing these days how good a relationship can develop remotely and the fun you can have when you actually "catch up"'. Does distance make the heart grow "fonder" ??

piccolo

My honest opinion, do your homework, the roast you choose is important but there is so much more to running a cafe, obviously you will need good people to make it, more important in my opinion. Also be prepared to work very hard for little return. Its a great career for people who have a passion for the industry but it isn't the "sea change" that many people think it is. You gotta love it to succeed. 

ARC

Thanks for your thoughts, my only real thought towards wanting a local supplier was having a rep or even the roaster/owner themselves nearby to regularly talk to plus I'm very found of cultivating a 'local community' type of feel to my cafe, using local meats, local bakers, local produce, etc... as much as we can - obviously the person working the machine will be the main brokering point for the quality of the coffee we serve but neither can you make gold out of brass so a quality product to start with is important... I'm a little cautious that a large supplier might often be 'too busy' to take care of the little guy too, Jeff you seemed quite confident of your ability to keep your clients happy across country - what experiences have others had in this regard? -ARC

mycuppa

The local angle is a good one and works well - your customers will support it better. You are right in larger companies being more difficult to deal with - happens across all industries, not just coffee. It's worst in markets where consolidation has occurred and there are fewer suppliers, thus less competition. You may also find the larger the roaster, the less likely (or I should say it will be impossible) to have a direct relationship with the person who roasts your coffee - generally it will be some un-named person in the background who used to be a storeman or delivery driver and has progressed through to roasting as they can press buttons and follow instructions, being told to interest only in yield and efficiency, rather than adapting to the constant changes associated with varying green crops and roast environmental conditions. This is no slur on the people behind big company roasters - I do believe some of them who have progressed this way through their career are talented and extremely knowledgeable. I also note that big roasters can still produce a quality product, it's just that they are driven by different objectives such as maximizing the $ per kilo returns, etc. on their scale of business rather than flavor, innovation and adapting to constant changes roasting throws at you. Best advice is don't get suckered into the Free-On-Loan agreement - no supplier likes this arrangement and it's designed to lock-in customers on multi-year contracts for mediocre product supply.  It's an old-school marketing trick that even the original architects of FOL from 15+ years ago have admitted does nothing but damage a roaster's balance sheet and force actions that subtract from what's in the cup. FOL is a 2-way street, the supplier invests marketing apparel in return for purchase targets. Some new cafe customers think it's just way too attractive and just cannot see past FOL as being a must-have. A bean should be good enough to stand independent of other items - especially shirts and aprons, signs, etc...... I'll jump off the soapbox now........