Small Batch

Andrew Kelly didn't start his journey with a business plan. It was all about chasing that perfect cup of coffee.

”I have always loved food and while at uni I dreamed of operating a food business. After many years of study and travel, I needed a job, and my girlfriend Gen (now my wife) asked me whether I could help out as a barista at her employer.
“I didn’t have any formal training, but I’d always worked in hospitality part time during my studies. After a few shifts, the manager role at that company became available - and I took the job to operate coffee carts at Melbourne Convention Centre. Eventually I bought the business.”

After seven years, Andrew decided he wanted to roast his own coffee and serve it at his own venue. That led to him opening the iconic North Melbourne cafe Auction Rooms in 2009, with Small Batch Roasting Co. coffee at its heart.

After stepping away from the cafe ownership in 2016, Andrew continued his journey solo to focus just on coffee.

“I felt like there was a lot of inherited knowledge but little true transparency and understanding of how coffee was grown. So I started travelling to Central America to investigate and learn.
“I wanted to buy green coffee beans in the best possible way from small scale producers, and have an impact in the way we source beans.
“So I started a coffee export business in Colombia in 2016 and now work closely with individual farmers in Colombia, Guatemala and Ethiopia. We even put the farmer’s name on each bag of coffee.
“We roast the coffee in our roastery in North Melbourne, then supply wholesale to cafes in Melbourne and interstate, as well as selling it direct to customers through our ‘cellar door’ here.”

The current roastery has been in a North Melbourne laneway since 2013. Andrew opened the roastery to customers in June 2020, starting with selling and serving the full range of Small Batch beans.

At Small Batch, the air resonates with the comforting hum of coffee grinders, and bags of beans from exotic locations line the shelves. The roastery also makes its own chocolate from small scale cacao and offers bread, pastries and sandwiches sourced from the production kitchen of Andrew’s new, yet-to-be-opened city site.

“After saying that I would never own a hospitality business again, my next project is to open a full-service Small Batch cafe in Little Lonsdale Street,” he laughs.
“My continuing vision is that as well as producing exceptional coffee, at every opportunity we’re buying beans from small scale farmers and making sure that they’re paid well. We want to make a positive social impact and support sustainable conditions of production.
“I want Small Batch to be a beacon for the coffee industry and to influence everyone to support small-scale agriculture and food sovereignty.”

Words by Joyce Watts & Photography by Anna Encio