‘They want a different experience; a quality experience'

Who is barefoot?

Third generation Manly local setting the benchmark of good coffee.

Coffee today is so embedded in our lives, our daily routine that starts with a visit to a favorite coffee house where they know your name – and more importantly know your order as soon as you walk through the door. It is a perfect combination of atmosphere, staff and their coffee. When all those things work you wouldn’t dare to go anywhere else.

When you see a team of baristas all sipping out of almost miniature cups, pointing to a tasting chart, swirling their cups and smelling the roast like wine sommeliers you know your at a place that is truly coffee mad! A perfect way to describe the Barefoot Coffee Traders team.

With humble beginnings selling coffee from a cart outside Manly’s Sea Life Sanctuary in 2002 the owner of Barefoot Coffee Traders Steve Eden, known to most as Squid has strived for one thing – to make great coffee. To match his customers demand for something that consistently tastes great! Squid said, “The concept was totally coffee focused! With only one food product being Belgium waffles, the team can concentrate on making their coffee the best it can be.” Squid is coffee obsessed and this has attracted a team of like minded ‘coffee traders’ who are producing something that is regarded as some of Manly’s best.

Competition is fierce with new cafes surfacing around the village constantly keeping Squid and his team on their toes.

He explained that you can always be paranoid about where people are going, where his business is going but he is always trying to do things better and that’s what business is, that’s what it’s about and that’s why you do it. “In my

“In my generation, our first experiences with coffee were maybe a Nescafé or an international roast and it’s that bitter stuff you have to put sugar in”. He said, “Now young people are coming into it at 17-18 and having coffee for the first time, they want filtered coffee they want a light roast, they want a different experience; a quality experience.’” He feels that the coffee culture in Australia is undoubtedly one of the best in the world and other countries can gain a lot of inspiration from what they are doing, especially in Sydney.

Barefoot changed suppliers of coffee halfway through 2016 which was a gamble with customers who are expecting a certain taste in their daily coffee. Squid did his research and found a roast that creates coffee leagues ahead of the previous provider being welcomed by nothing except positive feedback from his customers. He said that if you’re not adapting in today’s coffee market you’re naïve to think that customers wouldn’t notice. Cafes have to have more control within their coffee to maintain their quality, just like any industry everything has to be traceable. If there is an issue with the coffee the company fly’s down a specialist to assess the situation and create a solution. He says, “it’s exciting but it gets back to knowing where you are, to knowing where your business is going, it can be a confusing world if you’re not focused and you have to understand what you are because your business is an extension of yourself – so once you understand that, then it all flows.”

He said that if you’re not adapting in today’s coffee market you’re naïve to think that customers wouldn’t notice. Cafes have to have more control within their coffee to maintain their quality, just like any industry everything has to be traceable. If there is an issue with the coffee the company fly’s down a specialist to assess the situation and create a solution. He says, “it’s exciting but it gets back to knowing where you are, to knowing where your business is going, it can be a confusing world if you’re not focused and you have to understand what you are because your business is an extension of yourself – so once you understand that, then it all flows.”

Cafes have to have more control within their coffee to maintain their quality, just like any industry everything has to be traceable. If there is an issue with the coffee the company fly’s down a specialist to assess the situation and create a solution. He says, “it’s exciting but it gets back to knowing where you are, to knowing where your business is going, it can be a confusing world if you’re not focused and you have to understand what you are because your business is an extension of yourself – so once you understand that, then it all flows.”

‘We’re isolated down here, we have a desire to do things our way’. With Clarke & Humel it’s the same thing, they know exactly what they are, they know exactly where they are going and they know how they’re going to do it’. As a 3rd generation Manly local, his kids being 4th. When asked about further expansion Steve looked at me blankly and shook his head, “Manly is the best place on earth; absolute heaven!

With Clarke & Humel it’s the same thing, they know exactly what they are, they know exactly where they are going and they know how they’re going to do it’. As a 3rd generation Manly local, his kids being 4th. When asked about further expansion Steve looked at me blankly and shook his head, “Manly is the best place on earth; absolute heaven!

We think it’s safe to say Barefoot isn’t going anywhere soon, so....

Here’s to the next generation of Barefoot Coffee Traders.