Name: Karen Gough from Sidekick Café
Location: Margaret River Central Shopping Centre, 116 Bussell Highway, Margaret River
How long have you been operating/in the business? Just about to celebrate our first birthday on 18th November
Tell us about your business: We are a third wave of coffee café that could easily sit in the heart of New York or Berlin. Arty, funky, conscious, hospitable. A “fish bowl” to sit and watch the whole town go by.
What is your unique point of difference? As a third wave of coffee cafe, we are conscious of everything we serve! The coffee we use is Dukes Coffee, roasted in Perth.
The third wave of coffee refers to a current movement to produce high-quality coffee, and consider coffee as an artisanal foodstuff, like wine, rather than a commodity. This involves improvements at all stages of production, from improving coffee plant growing, harvesting, and processing, to stronger relationships between coffee growers, traders, and roasters, to higher quality and fresh roasting, to skilled brewing. It aspires to the highest form of culinary appreciation of coffee, so that one may appreciate subtleties of flavour, varietal, and growing region – similar to other complex consumable plant-derived products such as wine, tea, and chocolate.) We also offer customers used coffee beans to take home to their gardens for compost.
Do you have any new updates to share – i.e. renovations, new services or products, etc?
A quick rundown on our products to get you familiar with that we serve.
BAKED GOODS: all baked in our own kitchen by our own staff, the kitchen manager is qualified pastry chef who specializes in dietary consciousness. We use no white flour or white sugar, or processed flours – we take great pride in utilising various flours eg buckwheat, almond meal, spelt, chia seeds to create dessert offering that are naturally gluten free etc. We have a book in the café that lists all our baked products with every ingredient so people know what they are eating.
BEVERAGES: all consciously sourced, organic, fairtrade. Local where possible, chocolate roasted by local who sources only sustainable fair trade.
LIGHT MEALS: Utilise quality, free/range, fresh local organic produce, soup made daily etc.
ETOS: we practice “CONSCIOUS CAPITALISM” ie we pay our staff the correct wages, we are a fair employer, we give back to the community with fundraising projects. We only use, biodegradable straws, recycle unbleached napkins, certified compostable takeaway cups and containers, compostable plastic carrier bags (if needed at all), biodegradable garbage bags etc. We use eco cleaning products. We are a “responsible café” where we give a 50 cent discount to customers bringing own container for takeaway coffee.
RENOVATIONS: we are extending our outdoor verandah area, where people can sit on the sunny side (Dog friendly). We’ve installed an outside standing bar, and are in the process of building planter beds which will utilize “water-wise” wicking system.
NEW SERVICES: we now bottle our own iced chocolate – just local mild, and local roasted Bahen chocolate – nothing else no preservatives, colouring etc.
Favourite part of the job – what keeps you going? The happy customers keep us going – people are so delighted to finally able to enjoy cakes and treats that are consciously made and be able to take beverages of very high quality. The compliments are abound.
Anything else you’d like other members to know about you and/or your business? We will be participating in the Margaret River Gourmet Escape holding a Fringe Event Dinner with Cloudburst Wines – organic / Bio-dynamic with food prepared by Clint Nolan (formerly of Harvest Fremantle and now chef own of Pleased to Meet You and La Cholita in Perth.
What do you love about Your Margaret River Region? The absolute diversity of the people you meet. Margaret River is a country town, but with the world coming to our doorstep. And we have so much to offer now.
