Coffee roaster sells more in 24 hours than two years following bushfire campaign

Owner of a coffee roasting business in a NSW south coast town knew there would be ups and downs of a small business. Photo/ 123RF

When Mathew Hatcher started his own coffee roasting business in the NSW south coast town of Mossy Point two years ago he knew he would face the usual ups and downs of small business.

But Christmas, with the huge influx of tourists to the coastal cafes he supplied, could be relied on to give his business an important cash injection.

That was until this year when the region was devastated by bushfires and like many businesses in the fire-stricken area he was facing a bleak outlook.

He was sitting on $AU40,000 worth of beans at the time but had no one to sell them to after the region's cafes were forced to close.

Then suddenly all of Australia turned into customers thanks to the online campaign SpendWithThem, launched by burns survivor Turia Pitt.

Within 24 hours of being promoted on SpendWithThem's Instagram, Hatcher made more sales than in the previous two years of business.

View this post on Instagram

Honestly you guys are UNBELIEVABLE. Thank you, thank you, thank you for sharing @spendwiththem and for supporting the businesses we’re profiling. Grace and I are seriously blown away by the way you’re jumping on board to help these local business owners. I wanted to share some of these updates with you and let you know that the ripple effect this is having on communities goes far further than you know. I’m so grateful to you all. We’ll keep sharing businesses so keep browsing the page - and if you see something you like #spendwiththem. THANK YOU again. You legends. ❤️❤️❤️

A post shared by Turia (@turiapitt) on Jan 7, 2020 at 3:46pm PST

Hatcher opened up Guerrilla Roasters with business partner Lewis McKenize in 2018 and said the hours following the Instagram post was one of his most exciting as a business owner.

"We got two orders in two minutes, and then it just multiplied. Fast forward to five days later and we have had over 950 orders and creeping towards 1000," he said.

Hatcher told news.com.au that in the lead up to New Year's Eve, Guerrilla had eight times their usual orders from local cafes and around $AU40,000 worth of green beans to roast.

The stockpile of beans was to supply coffee to Guerrillas clients during the festive season when bean suppliers would be closed.

"We were sitting on these beans that we had to pay for, fortunately our suppliers were generous and gave us time but there were still overheads to pay for," he said.

The money from the SpendWithThem campaign means Guerrilla were able to repay their supplier and give the business enough income to give local cafes longer to pay for their order

"We have given all our accounts two months to pay us back for the stock that they order and we deliver. The cafes still can't operate but due to the campaign we've been able to enable ten other businesses to breathe and to know that we won't hound them," he said.

Organiq Australia, based on Kangaroo Island, also had a huge increase in sales thanks to the campaign.

The company told its Instagram followers the campaign helped them make a year's worth of sales in just 10 ours.

Pitt said she was blown away by all the Australians who were jumping on board to help local business owners.

"I'm so grateful to you all. We'll keep sharing businesses so keep browsing the page and if you see something you like spendwiththem," she said in a heartfelt Instagram post.

She said it had been a crazy time since launching the campaign but it couldn't have been done without Australia's support.

"We can't thank you enough for the way you've supported these businesses. Who knew that purchasing a bar of goat milk soap or a jar of honey could have such an impact? The ripple effect has been enormous."

Fitness for bush fires

Other businesses have been joining the cause in anyway they can.

Fitness studio BodyByBrando is hosting a 12-hour team event on Saturday to raise money for bush fire relief.

"We have decided on a 12-hour rowing event in teams of four, to mimic the endeavours of the brave firefighters and understand and appreciate how relentless our brave firefighters have been for those in need over the last few months," head coach and director Brandon Hasick said.

Hasick told News.com.au he had been in Ulladulla at Christmas and witnessed the damage done to the south coast.

"Growing up in the Hawkesbury area and hearing of friends who came close to losing their homes, made it super real," he said.

"I think we will be able to reach the $AU5k-10K mark, but at the end of the day, the idea of getting the community together and doing their part is going to be epic," he said.

Another fitness studio running events for bushfire relief is F45, which in certain locations is running a special Saturday event to raise funds.

The Fundraiser Heroes Hollywood session is being done in conjunction with LGBTI+ crossfit group WOD Out and invites people to a workout on Saturday morning.

The class costs users a $AU5 donation at the door which will then be matched by F45 with money going to the Australian Red Cross, WIRES and WWF.

Celebrity donations

The most famous of the bush fire relief funds are coming from celebrities worldwide.

The latest to pledge money was Bette Midler, who donated $500,000 while also blasting Prime Minister Scott Morrison.

She joins a host of other celebrities including Pink, Nicole Kidman and Chris Hemsworth.

However, despite all the donations, many bush fire communities are facing a humanitarian crisis, according to NSW Bega MP Andrew Constance.

The NSW Transport Minister said he was grateful for all the assistance from charities and welfare agencies but many families did not know where the money was.

"The one point I would make, politically, is agility is the key so don't make an announcement about money if you aren't going to put it in bank accounts that same day," he said.