The last couple of years have been tough on small businesses, but they’ve also given birth to new ones. Both stories are true for subscription service Drop Coffee. Sydney cafe owner Jake Burn (formerly of Harvest Specialty Coffee and Plenty Eatery) saw that some local roasters were in trouble after consecutive lockdowns, and looked for ways to help.
“I noticed a lot of cafes and roasters were struggling to pay the bills,” he tells Broadsheet. “I wanted to figure out a way to support Australian roasters, but also bring my coffee business online.”
And he’s done it with Drop, a subscription service that delivers coffee beans from some of the country’s top roasters straight to your door – or your office, or a friend.
It’s customisable, with options available to suit the occasional coffee drinker and someone with a three-a-day habit alike. Choose from an espresso roast or a filter roast, in sizes from 250 grams to six kilos, and the team can grind the beans for different machines and methods.
No consecutive drops are the same. The partner roasters are constantly rotated, so you get to try beans from a different roaster with each delivery – including established labels such as Mecca, Market Lane, Small Batch, Legend, Sample, Reuben Hills and more.
“We’re really picky about which roasters we work with,” says Burn. “They have to be fairtrade and environmentally and socially conscious to make sure everybody’s being taken care of – from the roaster to the people making the coffee.”
Drop’s core ethos revolves around sustainable practices and supporting local, with the company offsetting its shipping emissions and using recyclable and biodegradable bags. If you order a box for the office, it comes with a QR code for a site that shows exactly where the beans were sourced and under what conditions.
“We always pay the roasters general wholesale price instead of trying to negotiate,” adds Burn. “We’re all about featuring and supporting the coffee roaster and local Australian businesses.”
Deliveries can be made either fortnightly or every four weeks, with prices starting at $24.50 and free express post. New customers can get 25 per cent off their first two orders, for a limited time only.
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