Located in one of the largest shopping centres in the Southern Hemisphere, Industry Beans Chadstone is attracting shoppers with their premium service across its retail, dining and specialty coffee experiences.
One of two new and exciting café spaces for the Industry Beans team (second to their new flagship space in Fitzroy, Melbourne), their Chadstone café sets itself apart from the neighbouring cafes due to their seasonally curated specialty coffee menu, exclusive use of Modbar equipment and detailed attention to design to tie these elements together.
To understand more about the new space and how café culture is evolving, we sat down and caught up with Head Barista of Industry Beans Chadstone, Ben Chen.
Since opening their first café roastery in Fitzroy eight years ago, the team at Industry Beans set out to embrace the third wave of coffee, creating unique spaces where high-quality coffee can be roasted in a curated dining environment to provide an elevated experience for coffee lovers and brunch-goers alike.
The opening of Industry Beans Chadstone has been no exception. Designed by March Studio (the architects behind St Kilda’s Jackalope Pavilion) Industry Beans Chadstone takes inspiration from a greenhouse. As visitors sit within a minimalist space flooded by natural light and surrounded by growing greenery, they are able to select from a seasonally curated all-day brunch menu, browse their retail space for beans or coffee equipment to take home, or simply enjoy a well-crafted coffee.
With specialty coffee at the core of the café’s expertise, Ben proudly leads his team of baristas to ensure that all visitors receive a unique and specialised coffee experience. Ben works alongside the broader team of trainers and baristas at Industry Beans to ensure that the method and approach behind each pour is in line with all other Industry Beans locations. In doing so, Ben explains that the taste, texture, and aroma behind a customer’s favourite cup of coffee can be enjoyed consistently at all of the Industry Beans’ locations, rather than just one.
“I really enjoy working with the team to ensure we are always pouring the best coffee.”
Steering clear of omni roasting (roasting one way for espresso and filter use), Industry Beans roasts each of their diverse varieties on site, from their light to medium roasted single origins specifically for filter, to their delicious range of espresso blends. While the roasting facility at Industry Beans Chadstone manages a fraction of the beans used and enjoyed by customers around Australia, the in-house roasting facility manages the coffee used and consumed within the café, adding to the theatre of the venue and allowing customers more insight into the bean to cup process.
“It’s great to see our customers approach the roaster in the cafe and ask questions about the variety of coffee they have just enjoyed.”
On display to the entire venue is the café bar, another hive of activity and energy to observe while enjoying brunch or daily coffee. Working collaboratively to craft beverages from Industry Beans’ extensive drinks list, the team make the most of their spacious bar footprint thanks to the four Modbar AVs and two Modbar steams installed on their counter.
Custom designed to seamlessly blend into Industry Beans’ signature white colour palate, each of the Modbar AVs are individually programmed to pour one of their various blends of coffee. Whether it be for their staple Fitzroy Street espresso blend, seasonal espresso blend or rotating Single Origins, the team finds comfort in knowing that each individual machine has been programmed to pour each blend at the exact yield and can be reprogrammed with ease if needed.
Accompanied by two Modbar steams, there is pure joy to be had in watching how the barista team craft their endless list of coffee orders without being blocked by the façade of a commercial machine.
“I really enjoy being able to look out to the café and speak to customers. Something which I wouldn’t be able to do with a traditional commercial machine.”
Having worked on various commercial coffee machines during his time as a barista in the specialty coffee scene, Ben shares that working on the Modbar is simple, streamlined and opens the possibility of conversations between customers and baristas due to its minimalist, open, and small footprint design.
Currently celebrating the opening and launch of the brand’s Fitzroy flagship, the team at Industry Beans are looking forward to introducing new Single Origins, and sharing their Summer Seasonal Espresso blend with their customers over the summer season in accompaniment to a freshly curated food menu.
To learn more about Industry Beans, follow them on Facebook, Instagram or visit their website.
