Page 11 - foodservice magazine June 2019

Q&A
11
Above: The Grounds' head roaster Nick Ferguson.
Opposite page: Nick Ferguson in the Ground's current roastery.
ALEKSANDRA BLISZCZYK: What’s your coffee background? NICK FERGUSON: My first job was washing dishes in a cafe called Swiss Deli when I was 14. The owners gave me my first espresso and trained me how to make coffee. From that moment on,
I have been obsessed.
After living abroad in
my teens, I arrived back to Australia and started working in hospitality. I loved the
coffee culture in Sydney
and was fascinated by coffee craftsmanship. I started learning as much as I could about coffee, and soon met Jack Hanna (master barista now
at the Grounds, and former National Latte Art champion). When Jack told me about the project in Alexandria with Ramzey, I knew I had to be a part of it. I started as the head barista at the grand opening in April 2012.
Since then, I’ve been able
to hone my skills, not only
as a barista but also a roaster. Now as the head roaster, I am roasting and sourcing coffee and managing the roastery. Working with such amazing people has given me the flexibility and resources I've needed to push myself to be the best I can be.
How many kilos of coffee do the Grounds venues go through each week? How has that increased since 2012?
The Grounds venues (in Alexandria and the CBD) go through between 200 and 300 kilos per week, depending on the time of year. This is quite similar to our first year, as we quickly increased volumes as the word spread about our roasting efforts.
In terms of wholesale, we are slowly increasing volume as
we find the right cafe partners. Currently we are roasting 1.5 tonnes a week for wholesale.
The new venue comes with a bigger roasting facility, brew
bars and you’re even getting your own coffee “lab”. Tell me about what you’ll be able to do that you couldn’t before.
Coffee has always been a big part of the Grounds. We’ve always been heavily focused
on sourcing, roasting and serving the best coffees we can. This time it’s going to
be even more so, we’re taking it to another level. It’s really exciting. I can tell you it will be a state-of-the-art facility offering us amazing flexibility to do way more in terms of developing blends and roasting profiles, and increasing coffee production thanks to our
new specialised green bean storage facility.