A Short Conversation with Caleb Heinselman about Service and the Coffee Experience in Australia
I’ll Start with I do not work for the Australian Board of Tourism. Over the next few months you will see a lot of article about the service culture and coffee experience in Australia. I’ll be working our agent in hiding I Australia, Richard Muhl of Five Senses.
What drives this series is I’ve always been fascinated by the fact that every time I ask somebody where they had their best cup of coffee every. Those who travel almost always say the same thing. I was curious is the passion for excellence in coffee carried over to what we do, service.
- Speak to a short history of your company. How, why was it founded. What values do you feel define your organization?
(HISTORY)Five Senses was created by Dean Gallagher, in 1997 he was School principle in Kundiawa, Papua New Guinea. The School was surrounded by Rich coffee plantations and the Families running them. This is where Dean’s love for coffee began. In 2000 he decided to make a change and moved back to his hometown of Perth WA, but he did not come alone. He brought his passion for coffee with him. With small lots of green from the area he left behind in PNG and a 1kg roaster in tin shed, Five Senses was born. (VALUES) Five Senses and everyone working within it all have one goal. (Impacting people Positively). From how the coffee QC team frets over every roast, to how our techs create long lasting positive relationships with the cafes and their individual territories, and all between the two, each employee aims to make a professional, positive impact.
- How does regulation affect your industry when hiring and training techs?
Honestly their or no clear regulations focused on our profession in Australia. Technicians/employers find themselves in a fragile position when approaching some state Energy Safe Departments, simply for the fact that our skills are not recognized as a Trade. When applying for Restricted Electrical Licencing one needs to present competency certificates from a trade school as well has manufacturers training certificates along with the wording on their application in such a way that convinces them that the Technician will be performing Connect/disconnect work as a part of their daily job. Some technicians will do the classes as well as get certifications only to have their application denied remediably.
- Australia is well known for having a great café experience. Why do you think that is.
The Coffee culture here in AU is more of an actual “Hospitality” experience, not a fast food one. You feel it the minute you walk into your top end specialty coffee cafes. You feel, smell, taste quality. This quality is driven by a sincere desire to create a product you feel privileged to pay for. Everything from the quality of Bean to milk to machine even down to the cups used are meticulously Chosen to be better then the competition of the same mind set and standards down the street.
- What are your companies’ best practices? Five Senses is committed to Sustainability and prosperity to the partners we source our beans from. We support Trees for Kibira, this is a huge project to stabilise the Environment and soil health in the Kayanza Province Burundi. We have partnered with Long Mile Coffee Project in Reforestation. With this Reforestation it takes boots on the ground, so Five Senses provide all the Long Mile Coffee Scouts new boots to keep them comfortable and safe. These scouts are trained in basic agronomy and roam the Long Miles hills in search of the Antestia bug, as well teaching sustainable farming practices to the local families.
- Individually what made you pursue a career in coffee? What aspect of the coffee business do you like?
In 1997 I was living in Seattle, the job that brought me out from Montana was soon to end, so I reached out to some old family friends that owned a local Espresso Service company, they were willing to give me an opportunity and I took it. Haven’t looked back sense. (Aspects I like) For me the coffee industry holds so many unique and interesting ideas that do not stop evolving. From conceptualizing, designing, to proving the concept in that instance just pushed the industry forward one more small step, history still being made with a product 500+ years old.
- Any advice for a new tech or someone looking to enter
When it comes to advice for any new tech, I would say outside of Safety being paramount, I would say the real work is creating and developing the relationship with the customer that’s the most useful and important piece of advice I can give.