Known as the ‘Land of One Thousand Hills,’ Rwanda is a lush, mountainous country with high elevations, rich volcanic soil, a temperate climate, and abundant sunshine – all of which make it an ideal region for growing coffee. In the aftermath of Rwanda’s devastating genocide, these perfect coffee-growing conditions were identified as a means to help rebuild Rwanda’s agricultural sector and played a significant role in aiding the country’s recovery and supporting its people. Today, after more than two decades of investment, education, and hard work, Rwanda is internationally recognised for its u ..read more

We were delighted to have the wonderful Clare Scott from Bellroy join us at our first Leadership in Hospitality event, which was focused on the theme of team development and culture. Bellroy’s mission is to inspire better ways to carry, use business as a force for good, and help the world and their crew flourish. As the organisation’s Head of People and Culture, Clare (and her team) are responsible for ensuring that Bellroy attracts, retains and supports its 100-strong crew (working across 14 countries!), while creating a supportive, productive and inclusive culture that aligns with the organi ..read more

In late 2022, in between opening our new Queen St and Sydney Rd shops, Market Lane co-owner Jason caught up with Einar, our retail training manager, to record a series of three podcasts to share some of his experiences and tips on things to consider when opening your own coffee shop. In Part 1, Jason and Einar discuss the importance of establishing a purpose for your coffee shop, what to consider when choosing a location, why witty puns aren’t always the best choice when naming your business, and why it’s important to establish a realistic budget early ..read more

Bolivia produces a very small amount of coffee, but what it lacks in scale it makes up for in quality; education and innovation in both growing and processing coffee have lead to some of our most spectacular coffees come from this origin. In this episode, Christian sits down with Market Lane and MCM founder Fleur to learn about the what makes this origin so unique, and discuss the incredible role that the Rodriguez family have played in ensuring the future of the specialty coffee in Bolivia.  To find out more about our wholesale coffee partnerships, please visit us here ..read more

In our second podcast following our inaugural Leadership in Hospitality event, Kai from our HR team sits down with Huw Murdoch from Wild Life Bakery to chat about team development and culture. Prior to founding Wild Life, Huw was the manager of Market Lane’s greatly missed Therry St shop, and he was instrumental in helping us establish a presence in the Queen Victoria Market. In 2016, Huw opened Wild Life Bakery on Albert Street in Brunswick East. The bakery quickly became an integral part of the Brunswick East community, and a destination for people seeking out Melbourne’s best sourdough brea ..read more

In September last year, we hosted our inaugural Leadership in Hospitality event at our roastery and HQ in Brunswick East. These events are an opportunity for us to bring our community together, and for industry leaders to share their experiences and expertise across a broad range of topics. For this first event, Kai from our HR team lead a panel discussion on Team Development and Culture. We quickly discovered that the questions we asked on the night of the event were just the tip of the iceberg, and that our panelists had so much more to contribute to the conversation than the time allowed! S ..read more

Let's talk about Kenyan coffee! Kenya is a region known for producing some of the most vibrant, complex, highly prized, and highly priced coffees. In this episode, Christian catches up with Aislinn Cullen from Melbourne Coffee Merchants (our sister company and sourcing partners). Aislinn talks about her experiences visiting Kenya, how we buy coffee, and some of the challenges facing Kenya’s coffee industry as housing developments on the outskirts of Nairobi are pushing coffee production further to the west. To find out more about our wholesale coffee partnerships, please visit us here ..read more

In late 2022, in between opening our new Queen St and Sydney Rd shops, Market Lane co-owner Jason recorded a series of three podcast conversations to share some of his experiences and tips on things to consider when opening your own coffee shop. In Part 3 – the final episode in this series – Jason sits down with Einar, our retail training manager, to talk about menus, merchandise, and marketing and building a regular customer base, as well as important things to consider when hiring team members for a new business. Have some questions? You can get in touch with Christian and Tyson from our Wh ..read more

In late 2022, in between opening our new Queen St and Sydney Rd shops, Market Lane co-owner Jason recorded a series of three podcast conversations to share some of his experiences and tips on things to consider when opening your own coffee shop. In Part 2, Jason sits down with Einar, our retail training manager, to discuss some of the ways to navigate council regulations and heritage listings, how to negotiate a commercial lease, and what to consider when establishing a timeline for the fit-out of your new shop.  ..read more

Ethiopia is widely recognised as the birthplace of coffee and have some of the most elegant and nuanced coffees in the world. In this episode Tyson catches up with Jason, one of the founders of Market Lane, to learn about the significance that coffee plays in Ethiopia’s history and culture, how we source coffee there, and more about his recent travels to this very special origin. To find out more about our wholesale coffee partnerships, please visit us here ..read more