From a small café in Bendigo, to a national distribution network – Undercover Roasters have grown their business and are currently supplying homes and offices nationally across Australia.
Coffee Roaster and supplier
"We originally were known as Brew House Coffee and were roasting beans at the back of the café off a small 10kg roaster. The coffee was bagged as part of the retail offering, and over time we built a wholesale following. There was a point where the 10-kilo roaster was no longer large enough to support the volume of B2B business we had acquired, and we began to expand".
"A new factory was leased at a location in East Bendigo and we purchased a brand new 60-kilo Joper. We then moved our entire wholesale production roasting into this new factory and acquired another Probat roaster, and packaging machine which we financed through Flexikitch - and that really helped improve and speed up production".
They now have multiple brands under the one umbrella, Brewhouse, Undercover BLK, WHT and DRK, Tutto coffee and Tall Poppy which are their signature roasts (and available through their online store). "We wanted to create a different roast profile and a different blend that was more suitable for metro Melbourne and Sydney. It was a milder, floral and acidic blend with an emphasis on quality, ethically sourced sustainable and traceable green bean. That’s been adapted and changed over time since its first inception 6 years ago but it’s still a key part of what we do now".
Undercover HQ in Abbotsford
"We had previously managed multiple cafes under the Undercover Roasters brand, and in 2019 had decided to move away from retail. However, a location in metro Melbourne was required to house the team, and when an opportunity in Abbotsford opened up, we decided to take that chance".
"The wholesale division needed to have office space close to the CBD, I needed a space to do my work and look after the wholesale customers, but it’s also become a safe spot for the team to hang out and work together. We have the boardroom here that we're already starting to utilise on a weekly basis, we have multiple groups who are using this now as their facility to meet with their team, use the big screen, tech features, etc. HQ's given us that option – it’s a perfect mix of warehousing and allows us to operate a retail space, training facility, technicians bench, display suite. Our account managers can hold stock and use it as a base for distribution instead of travelling back and forth to Bendigo."
"When we found the location and completed the initial design, we found an abundance of space left over and that’s how the cafe was born. We opened in November 2020, and we sought support from Flexikitch again, mostly with the kitchen fit out and the front of house coffee bar. Our menu will change twice a year and we'll have a summer and winter menu on rotation. The Cheeseburger, Fritters, Waffles, and Smashed Avo - those are favourites that won’t change. I have a fondness for the "Big Easy" (cheesy potato hash with brisket, slaw and onion jam) because it’s a dish that I developed and really love, but the chefs will keep the rest of the menu on a cycle.
"The function space will have a large communal dining room where we can move tables comfortably. Outside of the normal use that the wholesale component of the business needs - the boardroom, the office space, the cupping/training room sit unused and we want to make sure it begins to generate a revenue stream for us".
"We originally were known as Brew House Coffee and were roasting beans at the back of the café off a small 10kg roaster. The coffee was bagged as part of the retail offering, and over time we built a wholesale following. There was a point where the 10-kilo roaster was no longer large enough to support the volume of B2B business we had acquired, and we began to expand".
"A new factory was leased at a location in East Bendigo and we purchased a brand new 60-kilo Joper. We then moved our entire wholesale production roasting into this new factory and acquired another Probat roaster, and packaging machine which we financed through Flexikitch - and that really helped improve and speed up production".
They now have multiple brands under the one umbrella, Brewhouse, Undercover BLK, WHT and DRK, Tutto coffee and Tall Poppy which are their signature roasts (and available through their online store). "We wanted to create a different roast profile and a different blend that was more suitable for metro Melbourne and Sydney. It was a milder, floral and acidic blend with an emphasis on quality, ethically sourced sustainable and traceable green bean. That’s been adapted and changed over time since its first inception 6 years ago but it’s still a key part of what we do now".
Undercover HQ in Abbotsford
"We had previously managed multiple cafes under the Undercover Roasters brand, and in 2019 had decided to move away from retail. However, a location in metro Melbourne was required to house the team, and when an opportunity in Abbotsford opened up, we decided to take that chance".
"The wholesale division needed to have office space close to the CBD, I needed a space to do my work and look after the wholesale customers, but it’s also become a safe spot for the team to hang out and work together. We have the boardroom here that we're already starting to utilise on a weekly basis, we have multiple groups who are using this now as their facility to meet with their team, use the big screen, tech features, etc. HQ's given us that option – it’s a perfect mix of warehousing and allows us to operate a retail space, training facility, technicians bench, display suite. Our account managers can hold stock and use it as a base for distribution instead of travelling back and forth to Bendigo."
"When we found the location and completed the initial design, we found an abundance of space left over and that’s how the cafe was born. We opened in November 2020, and we sought support from Flexikitch again, mostly with the kitchen fit out and the front of house coffee bar. Our menu will change twice a year and we'll have a summer and winter menu on rotation. The Cheeseburger, Fritters, Waffles, and Smashed Avo - those are favourites that won’t change. I have a fondness for the "Big Easy" (cheesy potato hash with brisket, slaw and onion jam) because it’s a dish that I developed and really love, but the chefs will keep the rest of the menu on a cycle.
"The function space will have a large communal dining room where we can move tables comfortably. Outside of the normal use that the wholesale component of the business needs - the boardroom, the office space, the cupping/training room sit unused and we want to make sure it begins to generate a revenue stream for us".
