Do you think you have what it takes to be Australia's number 1 cafe?
Judges will visit nominated businesses as secret shoppers. Points will be awarded for each of the following categories with the highest point scorer being awarded the title of Sugar Australia Café of the Year.
Points will be awarded for:
Business image
Coffee presentation
Food Presentation
Customer service
Point of difference
Winner 2008 - Alen's Espresso QLD
State Winners
Zach's Kafe Kitchen NSW
Shp 1/ 29 Christie St
St Leonards
NSW, 2065
Australia
Organic Market & Cafe SA/NT
5 Druids Ave
Stirling
South Australia 5152
Villino Espresso TAS
30 Criterion St
Hobart 7000 TAS
Mailing Room VIC
Crn Maling & Canterbury Rd
Canterbury
Cafe Pronto WA
cnr Pinjarra Rd & Mandurah Tce
MANDURAH WA 6210
Thankyou to all the Cafés who entered this years Sugar Australia Cafe of The Year competition, we look forward to receiving your entries in 2009.
For further information please contact Justeen Single Ph: 02 6583 7163 or
Email: justeen@cafebiz.net
Latest News
Sugar Australia
Cafe of the Year 2008
Winner - Alen’s Espresso
Al was born in the city of Mostar in the former Yugoslavia, which is now Bosnia. His father was an Accountant with a great love of coffee and therefore Al was raised in a traditional coffee drinking European family. He made his first coffee at age 14. Being a good Bosnian boy, his mother did everything for him otherwise I am sure he would have started making coffee much younger!
Unfortunately, because of the tragic war his family of five brothers and sisters were torn apart and were sent as refugees to any country that would sponsor them. This was a sad phase of Alen’s life loosing many friends and family to this crazy war.
Alen was lucky enough to end up in Australia, sent to an Aunty living in Canberra. He arrived in 1995 at the age of 31 with 20 pounds in his pocket and could not speak a word of English. His sister Amara who was and still is living in London (and owns a fantastic Cafe that does the best Coffee in London) taught him enough English to get him to Australia when he visited her on his long journey. Alen knew he was stepping into a new life when he was confronted on the flight by only English speaking flight attendants and passengers.
He enrolled immediately in English classes and started working with his uncle as a Landscaper. A year and a half later he met the love of his life Judy and the rest is now history.
Judy grew up in the Hospitality Industry with her parents in hotels, and with Al's love of all things Coffee they soon bought a food outlet. During this first stint in the hospitality business within Australia Al could see the market growing in coffee so he quickly upgraded the espresso machine and bang, off went the coffee sales. That was in 1997 and still in Canberra, Judy and Alen married and had two beautiful baby girls. Soon after they headed north to Queensland for the warmer weather.
The hard working couple made the move to Brissy in 2004 and bought Cafe Modena. They worked very hard and created an Icon Café which I had the pleasure of consulting to at the time. The best thing about this couple was that they did everything I told them to, unlike many other businesses I have worked with. We turned an unprofitable catering food business into a funky profitable espresso bar. Café Modena, before its sale was doing well over 65kg of coffee per week Monday to Friday through the coffee machines. They started with one, two group machine and ended up with three, two group ECM machines and a production line of baristas. They aligned themselves with Di Bella Coffee and with Phil’s help created their own special blend which is named “The Modena Blend” which they still use today. The couple still have a lot of time for Phil who has been of great help to them. He has been an inspirational guide, assisting them enormously along the way in their espresso journey.
Now Alen's Espresso, ( it took Judy a lot of fast talking to get Al to let name the Cafe after him) in just 12 months, already has the reputation of what they have longed to achieve of a true espresso bar, matching great coffee with excellent customer service. Alen’s coffee volume is already sitting at 60kg per week Monday to Friday only. All the staff are fantastic and highly motivated and Al is slowly teaching all of them to become great baristas. At Alen's Espresso they wanted to create an environment of welcoming and warmth and they were very mindful of the design for customer focus right from the very beginning. What is obviously noticeable within both of Al and Judy’s businesses is that they were all surrounded by well known coffee chains but Alen’s espresso like Café Modena have great lines snaking out the door. Making excellent coffee was definitely the draw card for his cafes. Al is the true testament that quality of product and great service is the success to a good espresso based business.
Al and Judy already have their own girls, Ava and Ena turned into little coffee experts at age 9 and 6 and they both know how to use their A1 Veneziano at home. Maybe one day when Alen is off riding his cycle the girls can run his busy Café.
Congratulations to Alen and Judy on this achievement of winning the prestigious award of The Sugar Australia Café of The Year. This year we had hundreds of entries from all states and territories and our judges had the tedious job of visiting the nominated cafes nationally. We believe Alen’s Espresso was the true winner.
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