When Andrew MacKay started Cofi-Com in 1987, he says the coffee industry looked completely different to how it does today.
“The market was smaller with fewer players operating in all states. Popular origins centred around Colombia, Brazil, Papua New Guinea, and India for low-quality Arabicas, with Robustas heavily sourced from Indonesia, Thailand, and Vietnam. Instant coffee was definitely the market leader with a 60 or 70 per cent share,” Andrew tells BeanScene.
“But the pure coffee segment, roast and ground, was burgeoning, and it was led by small to medium-sized roasters, predominately in New South Wales and Victoria. These family roasteries found an audience in their local Greek, Turkish, and Italian communities. Many had been around for decades but really flourished in the 1980s and 1990s.”
Andrew’s introduction to coffee came when he began working at large Australian tea
