Coffee Man Story: Give up Australia's excellent life and fight back together

In 2015, IT system engineers, coffee shop owners, and international trade elites who studied, worked, started a family and even emigrated from Australia returned to Changsha from Australia to set up a "ink concept" cafe, which quickly won many praise in the industry in a year. Even Wu Zun is a fan of them.

However, unlike traditional cafes, the idea of "ink concept" is ahead of the Changsha market, and even conflicts with most current coffee management strategies, but Marvin, Mao Jia, HAO and Joe still adhere to the unique "ink concept" and insist on bringing a different coffee culture to everyone.

April 2, 2017, the "ink concept" start-up coffee shop officially settled in the quark warehouse, welcome to experience!

If you have any research on coffee, you must know Melbourne. Melbourne's coffee culture is very deep, whether in the world's top ten coffee cities or eight coffee cities, Melbourne is on the list, and many local coffee shops even open their own Roaster "roasting coffee bean factory" to ensure the quality of coffee beans and roasting.

Various cafes in Melbourne

In 2008, Australia's fastidiousness about coffee forced coffee mogul Starbucks to close its stores in Australia's 2UP3, which can now be seen only in the tourist area of Melbourne. Why are there still tourist areas? Because there are foreigners--

Various cafes in Melbourne

"there is no doubt that Starbucks is successful in business, but the local coffee culture and culture in Australia makes Starbucks not recognized locally because it runs counter to the nature of coffee." Marvin, one of the founders of the "ink concept", expressed his views.

"I think the quality of coffee depends on four factors-coffee beans, milk, coffee machines, baristas, who complement and integrate with each other to get a complete cup of coffee, but Starbucks puts more emphasis on fast production. this is really a commercial demand-so the store uses coffee beans that never go wrong or surprise, and use an automatic coffee machine to make coffee. It is commercially correct, but while abandoning the most primitive and essential things of coffee, Starbucks itself has been shut out in Australia. "

Various cafes in Melbourne

"I have been drinking coffee in Australia for 14 years. Apart from the factors I just mentioned, what impressed me most was the communication between people. A cup of coffee is not just about materials and technology. If anyone who comes to a cup of coffee tastes exactly the same at any time, then this barista can only be said to be qualified, but he is not an artist. His coffee is more like an industrial product, and he is just a 'humanoid machine' for brewing coffee. "

Ink concept-Quark Shop

Ma Wen gave a simple example: "when I was working at Fujitsu, I was a regular customer of a coffee shop across the street. I went to buy several cups of coffee every day." The barista and I know each other very well and will say hello and chat. He knows my taste: unsweetened Flat White, but the Flat White made by the same barista is very subtly different every day. Sometimes it is strong and sometimes it will be burned. It is possible. "

Ink concept-Quark Shop

"for example, one morning, I am not very satisfied with today's coffee, I will say bluntly to him,'Oh, today's coffee is a little …... Are you too busy?' He will also reply "I'm sorry" apologetically. When I went again in the afternoon, there were not many people. Before I entered the store, I could see the barista smiling at me. I didn't need to say anything. He would make a cup of Flat White according to his mood at that time and his judgment and understanding of my mood and taste. The raw material is still the same, but it will really be different, and you will say, 'Wow, not bad, you really know what I want now'. "

The little ink cup takes you on a trip.

"this kind of communication is the most interesting: it is not fixed, it cannot be fixed, it cannot be industrialized, but it is not customized, it is communication. It's the communication between the barista and you, it's the communication between coffee and people. Whether the coffee is good or bad is no longer important, its own quality level is there, more is the interaction and feedback between people. "

The little ink cup takes you on a trip.

It was under this coffee culture that when they thought of returning home to start a business, HAO thought of bringing Melbourne Coffee back to China almost immediately. In 2015, Marvin, HAO and Mao Jia returned to Changsha and Joe to prepare their coffee business. In that year, they almost drank all the cafes in Changsha, large and small, and tirelessly communicated with store managers and baristas. Ma Wen said that his biggest feeling is that there is still a lot of room for development in China's freshly ground coffee market.

South Korea with strong coffee culture

"We spent more than half a year doing research in Europe, Japan, South Korea and other countries. I was surprised by South Korea, where the coffee culture is very strong and there are cafes everywhere. I even ran into four or five houses on the wrong road. In particular, lobby coffee, they serve more office people within 100 meters of the surrounding area, and there are four or five such cafes in an office building in South Korea. "

Ink concept-Quark Shop

"but by contrast, Changsha, or most cafes in China, actually sell space rather than coffee, so now the decoration of cafes is getting better and better, while coffee is mediocre. People are attracted by the brand and environment, and think this is a good place to take pictures, chat, and be in a daze. Okay! Then I'll just order a cup of coffee. This consumer psychology stems from the fact that coffee has not entered their way of life. Coffee itself is not a rigid demand, but a foreign culture that is not well understood. "

Various cafes in Melbourne

People labeled the cafe as a petty bourgeoisie, and Marvin thought it was time to rip off the label and give people a pure sense of the nature of coffee.

On December 16, 2015, the first "ink concept" in Changsha opened in the middle of Xiangyu in Yuanjialing. If you have been there, you will find it unique. Hidden in the lobby of a commercial building, half of the small space is owned by baristas, which is different from a store that wants to let baristas float in mid-air to make room for two more tables.

Ink concept-Xiangyu Central Store

"We know very clearly what the 'ink concept' should look like. it is a branch of coffee-lobby coffee. We upgrade the office building and become a supporting facility for it, providing services to nearby people and paying rent. This is what developers would like to see. At the same time, through our connection points like Hub, we can connect directly to coffee drinkers, imperceptibly influence non-coffee drinkers and make the relationship of the whole building more harmonious. "

Ink concept-Quark Shop

"and we don't make lampblack in the lobby. Every morning we step into this building and wait in line for the elevator. You will be surrounded by the mellow smell of coffee. This feeling is actually very good, young people like it very much, and we hope to see people really enjoy coffee. This will be a process of transformation, and we firmly believe that it is right. "

Why do you want to do such a large employee work area in a small store? Marvin gives this explanation:

"We have discussed this bar for a long time, and we hope that the barista can have a good working environment. If it is a long work area, it is difficult for three or four employees to turn around in it, and it is very easy to bump into it. So we made a space close to the square, and we hope that the working environment of the staff is comfortable enough so that they can fight. In addition, office workers may come down to eat and drink at any time, which will inevitably lead to misunderstandings or questions between their bosses and employees: Hey? Why aren't those two at work, drinking coffee and eating there? So we reduce the comfort zone for our customers, we are more like a service window, and people are not encouraged to stay here for too long. At the same time, give the staff more space, with our best ability to provide better coffee. "

Ink concept-Xiangyu Central Store

Wait, don't think of some fast food when it comes to the service window. Marvin is quite confident about the quality of coffee in the "ink concept".

Ink concept-Mao Jia

"although I am not professional in coffee knowledge, I have been drinking coffee for more than ten years, 2-3 cups a day. I can taste the coffee. Three of our four partners have been in Australia for many years, and Mao Jia has opened a coffee shop there for six years. Absolute coffee technical personnel are the "technical core" of our team. Moreover, the current items of "ink concept" have been polished and adjusted for at least eight months, and coffee beans are all roasted by special roasters in Guangzhou. Baristas are high-level talents who have been carefully selected and trained, and according to feedback, we may also improve dairy products. We want to do our best in all these factors. I hope you will feel like Melbourne when drinking coffee in the 'Melbourne concept'. "

The "ink concept" integrates a lot of the experiences and feelings of several founders in Australia, does not create too much space, and emphasizes the original taste of coffee itself and communication between people. Is the concept they advocate effective?

Ink concept-Quark Shop

Marvin answered our doubts: "now the operation of the 'ink concept' and its impact on the surrounding environment have greatly exceeded our expectations." In Xiangyu Central Store, a large number of customers have formed a habit and have established a relationship with our baristas when they come here frequently. If one day the familiar barista is not there, some customers will not want to drink-I don't know how that person is doing. This kind of very interesting trust and communication is a common coffee culture in Australia, but it is relatively rare in China. I deeply like coffee and this culture beyond coffee itself, so we want to bring it to the people in our hometown. But we are not feeling, we are all serious business, and to do a store is to stabilize a store, expansion and marketing is really important, but quality and dissemination of ideas are more important. "

Wu Zun is learning to make coffee.

Wu Zun in the Xiangyu Central Store of the concept of Mohism

Just like Starbucks' business choice, coffee is the carrier for the "ink concept", so they do not call themselves the "ink concept", they prefer to spread the idea to more people. Throughout the business process, they never stressed that they were "authentic Australian flavor", but word of mouth still spread quietly among the crowd. Wu Zun, who had studied in Australia, went to Changsha last year to study and make coffee. There are also a lot of foreigners who come here for the "taste of the past"-"this is exactly the same as what I drank in Australia!"

Joe, Wu Zun, HAO and Ma Wen

This is exactly what Marvin says and insists on, really doing things, quality and ideas will spread among the crowd, as for the good and bad will be left to the bearer to feel and judge carefully.

Ink concept-Quark Shop

On April 2, 2017, "Ink concept" joined hands with "Quark Warehouse" to bring you the purest Australian coffee in the most creative original design space.

It's time for you to play and feel and evaluate their coffee!

Small tidbits: Marvin said that by 2009, his daily salary had reached A $850, or nearly 5000 yuan. The figure made my sister afraid to ask him about his salary when he left in 2016. But Ma Wen, a former IT systems engineer who has been drinking coffee for more than a decade, Mao Jia, who has opened a coffee shop in Australia for six years, HAO, who insists on the potential of the domestic coffee market, and Joe, who has rich experience in business operation, all make people really look forward to this cup of coffee!

I mean you, after all, my little sister, I have already had a good drink ('▽-- ")