I started Coffee On Cue just over a year ago because I had a burning desire to get into the coffee industry and do my own thing.
Once upon a time, I was working for a large US multinational with a promising future (be it all mapped out for me). I found myself spending more time in cafes, finding new coffees to taste, ooh-ing and ahh-ing over coffee machines that I thought were awesome, talking to baristas that I’d never met. As time went on in my corporate career, it became more and more apparent that I needed to do something about this interest. Coffee was more than a drink that I liked and was curious about, it was what I wanted to be involved with and surrounded by everyday.
So around three years ago I threw the towel in, and switched to hospitality.
Well, when I say threw the towel in, the corporate term would be ‘transitioned to a different industry’. I teamed up with a mate and we bought a cafe in a corner store in Marrickville, NSW that had gone broke and we decided to start a pizza shop that would have coffee & wood fired pizza. Over the next twelve months we transformed a tiny corner store into a local favourite and Sydney destination for wood fired pizza. We had some pretty awesome times in there, and it was my first real experience in hospitality since I had worked in a pizza shop as a kid. I loved it. I started working with people who actually loved what they did and were happy to help.
For the first time in my life I was truly uncomfortable and challenged.
During the daytime, I got to know one of our neighbours in nearby Chapel Street, Marrickville: Michael Wilcock. Michael had a cafe and roastery in a large warehouse called Wholebean and a coffee cart company that operated from the rear of the warehouse.
From day one we got along really well. The cafe was kitch and had plenty of coffee toys in there that I wanted to learn how to use. Every Saturday for months I would show up at the cafe and beg Michael to teach me how to make coffee. Thankfully he did teach me, and it’s there that I learnt the basics that I now use everyday.
Because I had daytime off throughout the time that I had the pizza shop, I worked in a number of cafes throughout Sydney to earn some extra dollars and to get more experience as a barista. I worked in everything from a Ma and Pa style cafe with Lavazza coffee, to a high volume, large cafe doing 10 kgs a day (thats a lot!), to a high-end espresso bar with a spirit triplette (mega expensive) where we only served a coffee if it was a 10/10. I learnt so much and even got some decent latte art going!
On the days that I wasn’t working at one of the cafes I worked for Michael on his coffee carts at tradeshows and corporate events. I was so nervous the first time, I remember shaking for every coffee that I poured. With the bumping in and the bumping out, making banter with the clients and being in front of a different crowd everyday it was like being in a theatre production almost. There were also no two days the same. For about a year I learnt how to make and roast coffee, build and install coffee carts, and really how to run an events/hospitality company.
All the while, back in the pizza shop, I slowly learnt that coffee wasn’t going to be something that the locals wanted too much of at night time. Especially whilst they were waiting for their dinner at 8pm. Long term, the pizza shop wasn’t going to cut it for me because I knew I had to be around coffee everyday.
In July 2013 I made an exit from the pizza shop, selling my half to my original business partner and we parted ways. I took this as an opportunity to see the world, so I backpacked throughout Europe with my brother in a once in a lifetime opportunity.
When I returned from my trip I had a sit down with Michael and we formalised an agreement for me to start a coffee cart company in Melbourne like Cafe In A Box where we would share customers and grow my brand in Melbourne, Coffee On Cue.
That was over a year ago now. When I started I came down with a small van and one coffee cart. Over the last twelve months Coffee On Cue has grown to six coffee carts, two vans, and a team of five baristas down here in Melbourne. We’ve partnered with some great venues, got a great coffee roaster on board, set out workflow systems, determined what we’re good at, as well as what we need to work on. We’ve worked with some of Australia’s (and the world’s) biggest brands and even catered to over 2000 people at once.
Who would have thought, coffee in Melbourne?
I’m lucky to have surrounded myself with such great people to partner and work with because this year is going to be better than the last!
I’m going to focus this blog on some of the things that I think would help people who book a coffee cart here in Melbourne either regularly or for the first time. I think that there’s a lot to be gained from sharing what I’ve learned working on the ground at events.