Well where does one start with this roasting house which has literally grown from the ground up to now become a major player in the gourmet coffee scene in Western Australia.
Enter Justin Gardner, a humble pommie who’s ability to roast coffee beans to perfection is now instrumental in contributing to many of Perth’s café and coffee shops success stories.
Justin originally heralded from Devon, England, climbing the ranks to become a top line chef taking him to all parts of the UK, France, USA and eventually Australia. Seventeen years a chef and in his thirties, Justin decided enough was enough and he applied for a job at a coffee roasting house in Perth. He found to his surprise there were many similarities between that of a chef and that of a coffee roaster.
Fast forward many years after graduating to the position of head roaster and winning the prestigious Golden Bean Award for his employer, Justin with the support of his beloved wife Irene, decided it was time to take the plunge and develop their own coffee roastery. The date 31st October 2012 was the start of what has now come to be known in coffee roasting circles as the ‘Pound Coffee Roastery’.
The name and logo ‘Pound’ are cleverly conceived. Green coffee beans are still traded by the pound in commodity terms, combine that with Justin heritage, from the UK, where the currency is the English Pound, it was a no brainer to come up with ‘Pound’.
By 2021, Pound has now become a major player in Western Australia supplying dozens of café and coffee shops with their unique coffee blends, progressing to also supplying the broader community with coffee beans via their website. Justin and Irene vowed on creating their own brand that their mantra would not only be to produce a quality product, but the ethical and transparent sourcing of coffee beans would play a pivotal part in the future direction of Pound Coffee Roastery.
Up to ten loyal staff members later, this business is well and truly on its way to making a mark in the industry with long term plans to also roast cocoa beans. To be visionary and to expand is one thing, including producing a great product but what sets Pound aside from others is that they are also very much humble and genuine in the way they go about running their business albeit, passionately.