Known as the ‘Land of One Thousand Hills,’ Rwanda is a lush, mountainous country with high elevations, rich volcanic soil, a temperate climate, and abundant sunshine – all of which make it an ideal region for growing coffee. In the aftermath of Rwanda’s devastating genocide, these perfect coffee-growing conditions were identified as a means to help rebuild Rwanda’s agricultural sector and played a significant role in aiding the country’s recovery and supporting its people. Today, after more...

We were delighted to have the wonderful Clare Scott from Bellroy join us at our first Leadership in Hospitality event, which was focused on the theme of team development and culture. Bellroy’s mission is to inspire better ways to carry, use business as a force for good, and help the world and their crew flourish. As the organisation’s Head of People and Culture, Clare (and her team) are responsible for ensuring that Bellroy attracts, retains and supports its 100-strong crew (working across 14...

In our second podcast following our inaugural Leadership in Hospitality event, Kai from our HR team sits down with Huw Murdoch from Wild Life Bakery to chat about team development and culture. Prior to founding Wild Life, Huw was the manager of Market Lane’s greatly missed Therry St shop, and he was instrumental in helping us establish a presence in the Queen Victoria Market. In 2016, Huw opened Wild Life Bakery on Albert Street in Brunswick East. The bakery quickly became an integral part of...

In September last year, we hosted our inaugural Leadership in Hospitality event at our roastery and HQ in Brunswick East. These events are an opportunity for us to bring our community together, and for industry leaders to share their experiences and expertise across a broad range of topics. For this first event, Kai from our HR team lead a panel discussion on Team Development and Culture. We quickly discovered that the questions we asked on the night of the event were just the tip of the...

In late 2022, in between opening our new Queen St and Sydney Rd shops, Market Lane co-owner Jason recorded a series of three podcast conversations to share some of his experiences and tips on things to consider when opening your own coffee shop. In Part 3 – the final episode in this series – Jason sits down with Einar, our retail training manager, to talk about menus, merchandise, and marketing and building a regular customer base, as well as important things to consider when hiring team...

In late 2022, in between opening our new Queen St and Sydney Rd shops, Market Lane co-owner Jason recorded a series of three podcast conversations to share some of his experiences and tips on things to consider when opening your own coffee shop. In Part 2, Jason sits down with Einar, our retail training manager, to discuss some of the ways to navigate council regulations and heritage listings, how to negotiate a commercial lease, and what to consider when establishing a timeline for the...

In late 2022, in between opening our new Queen St and Sydney Rd shops, Market Lane co-owner Jason caught up with Einar, our retail training manager, to record a series of three podcasts to share some of his experiences and tips on things to consider when opening your own coffee shop. In Part 1, Jason and Einar discuss the importance of establishing a purpose for your coffee shop, what to consider when choosing a location, why witty puns aren’t always the best choice when naming your...

“It’s important to run a business we can be proud of day to day. It’s a real privilege to own a business and choose the people you work with and how you work. And the thing that comes with that is a moral responsibility to do it in a way that’s right for our staff, our environment, and our communities” – Jason Scheltus, Market Lane Co-Founder As an organisation that seeks to use business for good, we're always trying to find ways to be and do better. The choice for Market Lane to work to...

This is the last podcast in our 7 part series where Christian and I have caught up with the coffee buying team from Market Lane and our sister company, Melbourne Coffee Merchants, to talk about each of the countries where we buy coffee.  In this podcast, Christian catches up with Fleur, the founder of Melbourne Coffee merchants and the co-founder of Market Lane Coffee, to talk about Bolivia. Bolivia is a landlocked country in South America surrounded by Brazil, Peru, Chile, Argentina, and...

In this episode, Tyson catches up with Jenni to talk about Rwanda. Jenni is one of Market Lane’s directors and has been purchasing coffee from Rwanda for years. Together they discuss Jenni’s memories of Rwanda, the meticulous work our partners put into producing coffee, and ultimately why she loves the people and the coffee there. Throughout this series, we talk about the countries of origin from where we source our coffees. Our goal in every country is to build long-standing and equitable...

Today we are talking about Kenya; A region known for producing some of the most vibrant, complex, highly prized, and highly-priced coffees.   In this episode, Christian catches up with Aislinn Cullen from Melbourne Coffee merchants (our sister company). Aislinn has been working in specialty coffee for ten years both here in Australia and the United States. Today Aislinn heads up coffee buying in Kenya and also manages Melbourne Coffee Merchant's relationships with coffee roasters throughout...

In this episode Tyson catches up with Toshi, to discuss Brazil, the world’s largest coffee producing country. Toshi works for both Market Lane as well as Melbourne Coffee Merchants. (in fact, this year marks Toshi's 11th year working with Market Lane!). He’s a renowned coffee roaster with an incredible depth of knowledge. He overseas quality control for both Market Lane and Melbourne Coffee Merchants, and of course, purchases coffee from Brazil. Together they discuss Toshi’s experiences, the...

Ethiopia is the birthplace of coffee and this has a deep cultural significance for its people. Ethiopian coffee is often recognised for its incredible fruit driven body and floral characteristics.  Throughout this series Christian and Tyson will be catching up with the coffee buying team from Market Lane and Melbourne Coffee Merchants to talk about all of the countries where we source our coffees. In this episode Tyson sits down with Jason, one of the founders and director of Market Lane...

Colombia produces a lot of coffee. In fact, as the worlds third-largest producer of coffee behind Vietnam and Brazil, it produces more coffee than Ethiopia, Guatemala, Kenya, Rwanda, and Bolivia combined. Unlike other coffee growing regions in which large scale coffee producers and co-operatives are responsible for most of the region's coffee production, most of Colombia's coffee is produced at a much smaller scale.  These are typically 1 - 3 hectare farms where a small family will take...

Our goal in every country we purchase coffee from is to build longstanding, equitable, transparent and sustainable supply relationships with dedicated coffee producers who share our values and obsession with quality. Together with our sister company, Melbourne Coffee Merchants, our coffee buying team play an integral part in establishing and maintaining these relationships. In today's episode, Tyson sits down with Fleur, the founder of Melbourne Coffee Merchants and one of the founders of...

This is the third and final podcast of our three-part series; Origin, Variety, Process.  Throughout this series, Christian and Tyson will catch up with Jason (Market Lane's co-founder) to discuss how a coffee's origin, its variety, and how it is processed will differ significantly from one region to another. Thus, impacting not only the flavour profile in your cup, but also how the coffee is produced and what this means for a producers cost of production. Part Three: Process Processing is...

This is the second podcast of our three-part series; Origin, Variety, Process.  Throughout this series, Christian and Tyson will catch up with Jason (Market Lane's co-founder) to discuss how a coffee's origin, its variety, and how it is processed will differ significantly from one region to another. Thus, impacting not only the flavour profile in your cup, but also how the coffee is produced and what this means for a producers cost of production. Part Two : Variety Yes, much like the apple...

This is the first podcast of our three-part series; Origin, Variety, Process.  Throughout this series, Christian and Tyson will catch up with Jason (Market Lane's co-founder) to discuss how a coffee's origin, its variety, and how it is processed will differ significantly from one region to another. Thus, impacting not only the flavour profile in your cup, but also how the coffee is produced and what this means for a producers cost of production. Part One : Origin Now you may have heard the...

As we roll out our first Colombian coffee of the season, Jason Scheltus (Market Lane's co-founder) chats with Léonardo Henao of Finca Los Palomos.

Tyson and Christian talk with Jason about coffee growing regions; Why it is essential to talk about where coffee comes from and what some of the contributing factors are which lend to different regions developing distinct flavour profiles. 01:00 - Why it is important to know where a coffee comes from 03:05 - Elevation and latitude 07:09 - Geography 08:40 - Regional climate and weather conditions 11:50 - Comparing Huehuetenango and Cobán in Guatemala 13:12 - Climate change 16:21 -...

Tyson speaks with Jason about Santa Clara, Ricardo Zeleya, Antiguan coffee and avocados.

Einar and Tyson talk about some of our new Guatemalan coffees and discuss what sets Guatemala apart from other coffee producing countries.