LIFE & TRAVEL LIFE & TRAVEL

ROTARYDOWNUNDER.ORG | 51 || 50 | ISSUE 583 MAY 2016

Have you ever wanted to work for a company where the main guys aren’t

just passionate about their products and services, but insist that being in business

has to be fun and adventurous?

Words by John Bishop

YAHAVAKOFFEEWORKS:

Adventure in a Cup

Let me te l l you a b o u t Ya h a v a KoffeeWorks, a coffee business in Pe r th that ’s expanding rapidly;

but first, think about this. There’s a bunch of bikers (not a bikie gang, but motorcycle-loving guys who won’t stop biking until they die) who decide to raise funds and awareness of the devastating effects of depression and suicide in their community.

That community is Perth, and the fundraising idea was to ride around Australia in just 32 days. That’s 15,000 kilometres through some of the hottest, most desolate country

that Australia can offer, and then finally a further 4000 kilometres to Uluru at the very centre of Australia.

Well, the Yahava boys spotted the main problem immediately: how would the riders get good coffee each day? There just weren’t many coffee shops along the way.

Solution – take the coffee machine with you. So they rigged up a full espresso machine in the sidecar of a 1000cc Italian monster motorbike. The bike, now called MotoKafe, with the coffee machine, coffee, water and other gear, had a load topping 500kg.

Yahava KoffeeWorks principal David Bassett joined the founding

partner, Alex Kok, and 70 others for the longest ride of his life.

“Our MotoKafe crew were up each morning at five to crank up the espresso machine so the riders could have a breakfast brew before they hit the road. Then our crew would

clean up and pack before we would start to hunt down the convoy already 20 minutes ahead and travelling at 130kph.”

In various States other bikers joined the ride, and in the end 500 Black Dog Riders raised $411,000 for Lifeline and Mental Health First Aid.

“This sort of epic adventure is the sort of madness we engage in. There is real value in these things. You challenge yourself to do good, to help others, and when you succeed, both

the cause and you come out the better for it.”

David is a recent migrant to Australia, after a 30-year-plus career in advert is ing and branding in Wellington, NZ. Now he lives by the sea in Busselton, south-west of Perth, swims in the warm ocean, and goes mountain biking almost daily.

He got involved in Yahava because a mate of his from Wellington was a partner, and David was initially engaged to help with branding.

“I love coffee, so we got stuck in. But these guys were a long way away from me in Wellington; they had no money and few resources to draw on for this kind of marketing work.

“Much of what I was suggesting just wasn’t happening, so in 2012 they said, would I come over and join them. They flew me over to have a chat, and after a stroll in the warm sea with my wife, Ngareta, we said, ‘Let’s do it, let’s have an adventure’.”

Yahava now has three KoffeeWorks in Margaret River, Swan Valley and Singapore. All three are deliberately in tourist areas.

“People on holiday are relaxed, kicking back having fun, with money and time to spend. There is no better place to introduce them to new ideas and new products.

This sort of epic adventure is the sort of madness we engage in. There is real value in these things. You challenge yourself to do good, to help others, and when you succeed, both the cause and you come out the better for it.”

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: Dave Bassett and Swan Valley KoffeeWorks barista Jeremy Jeans reach Ayers Rock and crank up a coffee to celebrate; Kiwi-born Australian Rolly Eggleson, owner of the Perth Airport Kiosk; A perfect brew.

LIFE & TRAVEL

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“Our mantra is ‘Adventure in a Cup’ and it reflects how we find and process our coffees, teas and other products. The business has a ‘fly by the seat of your pants’ look and feel, and we work very hard to build and maintain this brand reputation.”

The business founder is Alex Kok, known locally as “The Koffee Baron” for his brewing and roasting prowess. The other partner, John Batty, is from Lower Hutt.

Each year John and Alex have headed off on their motorbikes, mainly

through Asia, India and Sri Lanka. They have bikes, coffee and adventure coursing through their veins as they search out new sources of coffee, enjoy the adventure and have fun.

David says, “I have helped identify the creative platform of ‘Adventure’ as our defining point of difference, because it had such a great fit with the owners and how they do business.

“It was a risk coming over here at my age, but it really has been like a second childhood. I’ve lost a lot of

my sedentary ‘Wellington’ flab and never felt more alive.”

David’s life advice is: “Make sure you work with good people you really get along with. Make sure you are doing stuff that excites you, and stuff you love in a place that is a playground.”

John Bishop is a Wellington-based travel writer and a member of the Rotary Club of Port Nicholson. His work can be seen at www.eatdrinktravel.co.nz

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: John Batty (partner), Alex Kok (founder) and Dave Bassett (partner) present a cheque for $10,000 to Black Dog Ride founder Steve Andrews; The Brew Bar at the Swan Valley KoffeeWorks; Customers crowd on to the tasting benches; Alex Kok

(aka The Koffee Baron) with the MotoKafe; The Swan Valley KoffeWorks.