A STRONG BLENDZARRAFFA’S COFFEE

What started as a love affair with coffee over two decades ago, has evolved into one of Australia’s most successful coffee franchise chains for Zarraffa’s Coffee.

Zarraffa’s Coffee, established in 1996, was originally a roasting house operating from the backstreets of Southport on the Gold Coast. Back then, customers would come in for their daily coffee and enjoy a fresh brew perched on a hessian bag full of green coffee beans yet to be roasted by founder and Managing Director, Kenton Campbell.

Kenton’s dream was for Zarraffa’s Coffee to become Australia’s premium coffee provider, knocking the competition out of the water with an exceptional product and service guarantee.

A Perfect Cup of Coffee, Every Time

After much research into the Australian coffee market, American ex-pat Kenton singled out the Gold Coast as the perfect base of operations, where he met his wife, started a family and, in true Aussie style, ‘gave it a go’.

From one store, Kenton has grown the privately-owned company into a franchise operation that is synonymous with quality coffee and in late 2012, took the brand bicoastal to the coffee-loving region of Western Australia.

‘An individual perfect cup of coffee - every time’ is the company’s mantra, mission and customer expectation and the business is built on a strong franchise system and foundation of franchise and barista training.

Impressive Growth

Entering its second decade of retailing this year, in one of the world’s most competitive industries, Zarraffa’s has led the way in the introduction of hand-crafted, specialty coffee and is a pioneer of drive thru beverages in Australia. “It’s been an incredible journey to date,” said Mr Campbell. “And nothing has impressed me more than Australia’s love of coffee. It’s a very exciting time to be in this industry and Zarraffa’s is poised to continue its steady growth of stores with the right franchisee partners.”

The company’s first major expansion outside of Queensland was over 6 years ago, when Zarraffa’s acquired five locations in suburban Perth and Kalgoorlie in Western Australia, and today has close to 90 stores across Queensland, northern NSW and WA.

The predominantly franchised stores are made up of traditional sites located in shopping centres and strip mall locations as well as many covenient drive-thru store locations.

“Our key markets include the Gold Coast, Brisbane, Western Australia and regional Queensland including Toowoomba, Bundaberg, Sunshine Coast, Hervey Bay, Rockhampton, Townsville and Cairns. And we’re ready for more.”

NEW HORIZONS

In another bold expansion move by the company, Zarraffa’s Coffee signed its firstever, landmark Area Developer deal for the state of New South Wales in late 2017.

The brand had long been assessing plans for nationwide expansion in Australia and introduced a pathway forward that is delivering on the business’s core brand strengths and promise to consumers, while allowing the company to expand more rapidly than ever before.

“We have been trading in Queensland since 1996, growing steadily over time and always looking at ways that we could grow responsibly and concertedly in southern markets, delivering new franchise opportunities to meet demand.” Mr Campbell said the Area Developer concept is not a Master Franchisor but rather acts as an extension of head office and primarily identifies new sites, recruits, trains and provides ongoing support to new franchisees.

The perfect Area Developer candidates presented themselves from within the company, in the form of multi-franchise owners and veteran retailers – Ben Old and Dion Scholz.

Co-owners of three Zarraffa’s stores on the Gold Coast, Mr Old and Mr Scholz have over thirty years of combined franchising experience, having run over forty of their own locations, across four different franchise systems. “Having both opened and operated the fastpaced drive thru store model we know this kind of crucial, hard-won frontline experience is invaluable and essential for new franchisees when setting up Zarraffa’s stores,” said Mr Campbell.

JOIN THE HERD

Zarraffa’s has fostered many multi-store franchisee operators, who are looking to continually reinvest in the brand.

“That has probably been the best indication of how we are faring in the competitive franchise landscape; the fact that so many of our franchisees are long term and who are now employing their kids in the business, with a number taking on two, three or more stores.”

The company offers a full start-up training program at its new national base of operations – a 5.4-hectare site, located midway between the Gold Coast and Brisbane that also houses the award-winning roastery.

“We often refer to ourselves as a training business,” explains Mr Campbell. “We cover practical training, marketing, management and accounting and the business provides comprehensive operations manuals, as well as full support from the franchise management team.”

“We ensure you have the tools of the trade and know-how to effectively run your business.”

For more information on a Zarraffa’s Coffee franchise and available opportunities head to the website www.zarraffas.com

Zarraffa’s Coffee Founder and Managing Director, Kenton Campbell

“The predominantly franchised stores are made up of traditional sites located in shopping centres and strip mall locations as well as many covenient drive-thru store locations.”