“We’ve loved the opportunity to bring something fresh to Japan” – Single O CEO, Mike Brabant

Sydney-based Single O has been ed by CEO Mike Brabant (right) since January 2024 | Photo credit: Single O

Single O opened its first store in the Surry Hills suburb of Sydney in 2003 with a mission to showcase the best single origin coffees from around the world. The specialty coffee group now operates three sites in Australia alongside two in Japan and has been led by CEO Mike Brabant since January 2024.
 

How has Australian café culture developed over the last 20 years?
 

Aussie café culture has come leaps and bounds over the past 20 years. When Emma and Dion (Cohen) first opened the flagship Surry Hills café back in 2003, coffee came in shiny bags with a big logo on the front, a long expiry date and often roasted a lot darker. It was all cappuccinos and two sugars. Single origins, varietals, process and tasting notes like blueberries and jasmine were a long way from people’s minds. But that is what Emma and Dion got hooked on, so they founded Single O, then Single Origin Roasters. A few other specialty roasters started around the same time, such as Mecca Coffee, and collectively created the specialty coffee movement in Australia. That, along with some notable chefs, like the late Bill Granger, really created what Australian café culture is known for today. Now, Aussie café culture is up there with the best in the world and what continues to set us apart is the level of quality you can get anywhere in Australia.

Which trends are currently driving specialty coffee scene in Australia?

We’ve seen a huge uptick in black coffee and specialty beverages, while cold coffee seems to have exploded in Australia this year. Our Tapped Iced Latte is the best-selling beverage in our Newstead café, while we’re selling twice as many cold beverages across all cafés compared to last year.
 

Sustainability is another huge driver of innovation. We are proud to have initiated one of the industry’s earliest climate-change impact awareness campaigns, ‘No Death To Coffee’. As part of the programme, we were the first roaster to bring climate-resilient F1 variety coffees to Australian customers to support the important work being done by World Coffee Research.

Used coffee grounds are the big silent offender when it comes to coffee’s contribution to greenhouse gases. Our partnership with social enterprise Reground has helped divert 19,455kg of ground coffee from landfill, preventing more than 36,827kg of greenhouse gas emissions to date.

Single O’s Freepour Coffee On Tap system | Photo credits: Koji Shimamura/Single O

Tell us about your Freepour Coffee On Tap batch brew bar.

Our Freepour Coffee On Tap system is an innovation we’re extremely proud of. We co-created it with coffee on-tap maker Six Simple Machines, and introduced it via our Surry Hills café back in 2019 as the world’s first self-serve batch brew bar. It’s changed the game in terms of convenience – you can get your coffee in less than 15 seconds – a range of single-origin choices means you don’t have to compromise on quality and it’s incredibly easy to use. It’s also better for the environment than espresso, saving on coffee waste while consuming less power.
 

Based on its popularity, we launched a specialty self-serve café in Hamacho, Japan, and since then we’ve continued to see Freepour popping up all over Australia. It’s been great to see the broader positive impact it’s having on coffee culture through convenience and sustainability. Last year, we launched new digital batch tap heads at our Surry Hills café, which has given us an even better way to convey producer and coffee information to customers.

Tell us more about Single O’s coffee sourcing programme

Quality and sustainability are crucial for us – which is why we travel to origin and source most of our coffee directly. Being on the ground and building relationships with growers allows us to maintain quality assurance through witnessing first-hand the ripe coffee selection, clean washing stations, careful drying, sorting and storage that all add up to a superior final product. It also allows us to see working conditions and environmental dealmakers such as water and waste management practices.

We’re a carbon neutral business and recently applied for B Corp accreditation, so our commitment to working with like-minded, sustainable producers can’t be overstated. In saying this, we obviously can’t get everywhere so we’re stoked to see the rise of progressive and entrepreneurial exporters, as well as great green bean import businesses. This gives more deserving producers access to the specialty market, while also giving us more choices to supplement our direct sourcing programme.
 

“Japan’s coffee scene at the high-end of specialty coffee is about as good as it gets anywhere in the world”

What have been the key learnings since launching in Japan in 2014?
 

We had a connection to and love of Japan for many years, but I don’t think any of us could have expected the incredible reception we’d get. Over the past decade, we’ve expanded from a roastery and tasting bar to setting our sights on a fourth venue while also roasting for over 100 wholesale partners. It’s been a steep learning curve, to say the least, but one we’ve embraced wholeheartedly.

We’ve also been lucky enough to have our General Manager Yu Yamamoto spearhead our expansion in Japan. Yama has been an integral part of the team for 15 years, first joining us on exchange from Japan as a dishwasher, before working his way up the ranks to become a Roaster, Q Grader, Cup Of Excellence judge and Brewers Cup place winner – accomplishments that make him the perfect person to lead the charge and guide us through any challenges.

Single O’s Ryogoku Roastworks roastery-café in Tokyo, Japan | Photo credits: Koji Shimamura/Single O

How does the specialty coffee scene in Tokyo compare to Sydney? 

Tokyo was recently listed as the second-best city for coffee globally by Food & Wine magazine, behind Copenhagen, Denmark, and ahead of Sydney, Australia, in third place. There is a shared appreciation of craftsmanship for sure. Japan’s coffee scene at the high-end of specialty coffee is about as good as it gets anywhere in the world. Few markets appreciate convenience more, so in addition to our Ryogoku roastery, we’ve loved the opportunity to bring something fresh to Japan with our first specialty self-serve café in Hamacho.
 

What next for Single O?

We’re looking forward to launching another café in Japan, Single O Shibuya, in July 2024 followed by a larger format store towards the end of the year. More broadly, we’re always looking at ways to develop a fully circular business model from origin through to end use and continuing to nudge sustainability within the industry. We continue to push wherever we can, starting more conversations around sustainability in the industry from the grassroots through to government level. 
 

This article was first published in Issue 20 of 5THWAVE magazine.

Subscribe to 5THWAVE to receive each edition in print and digitally or sign up to our newsletter and be the first to read the latest articles and updates on World Coffee Portal research.