THE ROASTERY – VANGUARD SPECIALTY COFFEE CO
49 Vogel Street,
Dunedin, New Zealand 9016
Open Monday to Friday 7am – 4pm,
Saturday 8:30am – 3:30pm
To overcome the challenges presented by COVID, a business needs to remain flexible and innovative, and this is exactly what Vanguard Specialty Coffee Co has done, not only surviving, but thriving during the pandemic.
“We moved to our new space in the heritage precinct of Dunedin Central, just two blocks from our old venue after the first lockdown. We realised with our previous license and space limitations we wouldn’t be able to open for months at a time due to COVID,” says Jason Moore, Director of Vanguard Specialty Coffee Co.
“With this new venue, we’ve shifted to a different business model which has allowed us to operate in a much faster way that actually involves our clients and customers.”
What Jason is referring to, is the open L shape space which allows both roasting clients and retail customers to walk around, learn, and interact with the full roasting process.
“This creates a two-way interaction and really fosters a relationship between client and roaster,” says Jason. “We’re currently the only fully specialty coffee company to offer this.”
At Vanguard, each specialty coffee blend is sourced directly from farmers in Brazil and Colombia, and categorised by farm lots and farmer names during retail sale.
“Having this traceability and information about who the farmer is and how the coffee was grown is important in educating the end consumer,” says Jason.
“It’s also important for us to have this direct relationship with the producers, where we can find out how much they are actually being paid and
