30 beanscenemag.com.auINDUSTRY PROFILE
Craig says Black Bag Roasters applies
the skills and knowledge of a specialty
roastery to large volume contract roasting
and is one of the few in its field to offer
post-blending capabilities.
“Most contract roasters use a fairly
automated closed system, where green
beans go in one end and a bag comes out
the other,” he says. “The advantage of
Black Bag Roasters is that it’s still artisanal.
The guys stand at the roaster and watch
and track every batch.”
Despite sharing an appreciation for
the craft of specialty coffee, Craig feels it’s
important the two brands maintain separate
identities and value propositions.
“Veneziano roasts at a smaller scale. All
blends and microlots are strictly specialty
coffee and it provides value beyond the
bag, like barista training and operational
service,” he says.
“On the other hand, Black Bag Roasters
has the ability to scale to larger volumes
and build blends to suit the customer’s
need and budget.”
With Black Bag Roasters catering to
large-scale clients and Veneziano focusing
on cafés and restaurants, Craig felt there
was an opportunity for the group to go
direct to the consumer. Coffee Hit wasestablished for this purpose. While initially
an online business, Coffee Hit opened its
first physical store in Westfield Doncaster
more than a decade ago.
“Westfield approached us and asked if
we wanted to put a roaster in the middle
of the shopping centre. We thought it was
ridiculous at first, but it has worked really
well,” Craig says.
Coffee Hit follows a franchise model,
and roasts coffee instore at its 12 locations
in shopping centres across Australia.
“We train each store owner on how
to roast, and every time we introduce
a new coffee, a member of the Nomad
roasting team visits the store to set the
profiles,” Craig says. “Soon, we’ll be
able to dial in from our Richmond
headquarters and upload the profiles
direct to their systems.”
Craig believes while there is much talk
of oversaturation in the Australian market,
there is a growing demand from suburban
and rural areas for specialty coffee.
“Consumers understand if you go to
a specialty outlet, you get a much better
coffee experience. When they’re at work
in the city, they’ve got access to specialty,
then at home in their shopping centre, it’s
not there,” he says.“Even the landlords are challenging
franchises to step it up. They want their
retailers to be experience-based and
specialty, which is why independent
operators like Axil are thriving in
centres like Chadstone.”
While Craig is sure there is room
for growth in Australia, Nomad Coffee
is exploring overseas for further
investment.
“We have an ambitious growth
program and want to grow more outside
of Australia. Recently, we partnered with
a New Zealand business called Flight
Coffee,” Craig says.
“We were looking at how to expand
into other markets and have known
the Flight Coffee guys for some time,
so knew our values aligned. There
were clear synergies of both companies
pushing to achieve similar results.”
Flight Coffee rose to international
prominence in 2013, when co-founder
Nick Clark placed fifth in the World
Barista Championship (WBC). The team
at Flight are big supporters of the global
industry, Co-founder Richard Corney a
respected WBC judge and other team
members participating in groups such
as Coffee Quality Institute and Specialty
Coffee Association.
“We have a lot of respect for the
Flight Coffee team and think they’re one
of the leaders of specialty coffee in NZ,”
Craig says.
“We’ve grown a successful business
here and we are now sharing information
between Flight Coffee and our people.
We believe with our systems, processes,
and access to talent, we’re able to help
them soar.”
Nomad Coffee Group has plans to
extend its reach beyond the Southern
Hemisphere, as far as Europe and
North America.
“We’re currently looking at a
roastery in Asia and for potential
investments in the United Kingdom and
United States,” Craig says. “It’d be hard
to start Veneziano from scratch in a new
market. We’d rather invest in an existing
business and help it reach its next level.”
In the meantime, Craig says Nomad
Coffee Group’s Australian focus is to
increase the presence of its three brands,
particularly Veneziano.
“We have an office and training room
in every state, but now the goal is to
build a retail experience like we have
in Melbourne with Veneziano Coffee
Richmond,” he says. “We see a lot of
growth opportunities.”For more information, visit
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INDUSTRY PROFILE
Craig says Black Bag Roasters applies
the skills and knowledge of a specialty
roastery to large volume contract roasting
and is one of the few in its field to offer
post-blending capabilities.
“Most contract roasters use a fairly
automated closed system, where green
beans go in one end and a bag comes out
the other,” he says. “The advantage of
Black Bag Roasters is that it’s still artisanal.
The guys stand at the roaster and watch
and track every batch.”
Despite sharing an appreciation for
the craft of specialty coffee, Craig feels it’s
important the two brands maintain separate
identities and value propositions.
“Veneziano roasts at a smaller scale. All
blends and microlots are strictly specialty
coffee and it provides value beyond the
bag, like barista training and operational
service,” he says.
“On the other hand, Black Bag Roasters
has the ability to scale to larger volumes
and build blends to suit the customer’s
need and budget.”
With Black Bag Roasters catering to
large-scale clients and Veneziano focusing
on cafés and restaurants, Craig felt there
was an opportunity for the group to go
direct to the consumer. Coffee Hit was
established for this purpose. While initially
an online business, Coffee Hit opened its
first physical store in Westfield Doncaster
more than a decade ago.
“Westfield approached us and asked if
we wanted to put a roaster in the middle
of the shopping centre. We thought it was
ridiculous at first, but it has worked really
well,” Craig says.
Coffee Hit follows a franchise model,
and roasts coffee instore at its 12 locations
in shopping centres across Australia.
“We train each store owner on how
to roast, and every time we introduce
a new coffee, a member of the Nomad
roasting team visits the store to set the
profiles,” Craig says. “Soon, we’ll be
able to dial in from our Richmond
headquarters and upload the profiles
direct to their systems.”
Craig believes while there is much talk
of oversaturation in the Australian market,
there is a growing demand from suburban
and rural areas for specialty coffee.
“Consumers understand if you go to
a specialty outlet, you get a much better
coffee experience. When they’re at work
in the city, they’ve got access to specialty,
then at home in their shopping centre, it’s
not there,” he says.“Even the landlords are challenging
franchises to step it up. They want their
retailers to be experience-based and
specialty, which is why independent
operators like Axil are thriving in
centres like Chadstone.”
While Craig is sure there is room
for growth in Australia, Nomad Coffee
is exploring overseas for further
investment.
“We have an ambitious growth
program and want to grow more outside
of Australia. Recently, we partnered with
a New Zealand business called Flight
Coffee,” Craig says.
“We were looking at how to expand
into other markets and have known
the Flight Coffee guys for some time,
so knew our values aligned. There
were clear synergies of both companies
pushing to achieve similar results.”
Flight Coffee rose to international
prominence in 2013, when co-founder
Nick Clark placed fifth in the World
Barista Championship (WBC). The team
at Flight are big supporters of the global
industry, Co-founder Richard Corney a
respected WBC judge and other team
members participating in groups such
as Coffee Quality Institute and Specialty
Coffee Association.
“We have a lot of respect for the
Flight Coffee team and think they’re one
of the leaders of specialty coffee in NZ,”
Craig says.
“We’ve grown a successful business
here and we are now sharing information
between Flight Coffee and our people.
We believe with our systems, processes,
and access to talent, we’re able to help
them soar.”
Nomad Coffee Group has plans to
extend its reach beyond the Southern
Hemisphere, as far as Europe and
North America.
“We’re currently looking at a
roastery in Asia and for potential
investments in the United Kingdom and
United States,” Craig says. “It’d be hard
to start Veneziano from scratch in a new
market. We’d rather invest in an existing
business and help it reach its next level.”
In the meantime, Craig says Nomad
Coffee Group’s Australian focus is to
increase the presence of its three brands,
particularly Veneziano.
“We have an office and training room
in every state, but now the goal is to
build a retail experience like we have
in MelbournewithVenezianoCoffee
Richmond,”hesays.“Weseea lotof
growthopportunities.”For more information, visit
http://www.nomadcoffeegroup.com.aui DDDrrrr ttoo f n i
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