Small wins for Grind Espresso

Like many small business owners, the day the Australian Government imposed stage three restrictions to help reduce the spread of coronavirus sent Richard Calabro into a panic.

He didn’t know what position it would leave his business of 18 years, nor how he would manage without the revenue of dine-in patrons.

True to his Southern Italian heritage, Richard took a “never say die” approach to his café, Grind Espresso. He kept the coffee machine running, game face on, and made sure his business was ticking over thanks to takeaway sales and the generosity of loyal customers.

“The first two weeks was scary, but I wasn’t going to give in. Our customers have been loyal for so long. I was going to keep trading until we couldn’t any longer, or the landlord kicked me out, but thankfully he was very accommodating to the situation,” Richard says.

Thankfully that wasn’t the case, and customers kept coming back. Those that had been buying 250 grams of whole beans per week started buying 500 grams, and some even up to one kilogram.

“Our customers were buying so much that we ran out of coffee,” Richard says. “We couldn’t believe it. We got an extra 100 kilograms from our suppliers, Single O coffee roasters, and it’s what made us survive – the sale of whole beans.”

With Sydney’s CBD shutdown, forcing office workers to retreat to their homes, Richard says many still wanted to keep a regular coffee routine.

“Coffee breaks are an essential part of everyone’s day. More people are walking too, and the trip to their local coffee shop became habitual and their only form of entertainment, along with exercise,” Richard says.

Grind Espresso in the Sydney suburb of Cronulla serves customers a traditional medium to dark roasted blend thanks to Single O who has roasted its signature blend since 2007. It also provides Grind Espresso with up to 12 single origin coffees per week.

Lactalis Foodservice compliments the roast with its Café Crema milk, which Richard says is “rich in protein”. More recently, it has fallen in love with its Pauls Professional’s Farmhouse Gold Cream on Top, which Richard says is the closest thing he’s tasted to milk “like it used to taste 20 years ago”.

“You take the lid off and the cream sits on the top, it’s just beautiful,” Richard says. “The proteins bind with the coffee so well. It textures perfectly, glistens in the cup, and has a creamy, rich mouthfeel. It’s the best milk we’ve ever used.”

Richard has watched the coffee industry evolve since he started Grind Espresso in 2002 as a hole-in-the-wall venue, “no bigger than the size of your bedroom”.

Music was Richard’s full-time career, teaching guitar and performing, with the coffee shop opening just for the weekend. It gradually formed a cult following for beach goers and Richard integrated Grind Espresso into a seven-day business. It moved to a laneway position eight years ago, and Richard hasn’t looked back.

He has expanded the brand into a licensed store in Caringbah next to a Coles supermarket, and a whisky bar, currently closed with restrictions in place. He is most impressed however, in how the flagship Grind Espresso in Cronulla has stood the test of time: market shifts, competition, and one global pandemic.

“Wet sales are up again, dry sales have picked up, and the business is finding its rhythm again. We’re close to our usual demand in the most depressive era the industry has seen in 100 years. We’ve been very fortunate to hold that,” Richard says.

With socially distanced wine barrels the new coffee bar for gatherings of up to 10 patrons outside Grind Espresso’s shop front, and glass screens in place to protect staff and patrons, Richard is longing until the day mass crowds can congregate at his shop again. Until then, he’s grateful for the business he still has, and the support along the way.

“We’ve all had to learn something from this experience. We don’t know what the new norm will be, but let’s hope we’ve pulled through the worst of it,” Richard says.

“I love that our place has a community purpose. We have a loyal following and are still serving the same people I did 18 years ago. Only now, many have retired, some are married with kids, and some of those kids that were once in prams now work in our shop. You become part of your customer’s life, and that’s an amazing privilege.”