Sune Farrimond, owner of The Village Roaster, at headquarters in Auckland. Photo / Ted Baghurst.
Sune Farrimond, owner of The Village Roaster, at headquarters in Auckland. Photo / Ted Baghurst.
A true coffee guru, Sune Farrimond is hell-bent on the freshest coffee possible.
Sune Farrimond developed a taste for the coffee business at a tender young age. Now, after over a decade working in the industry, he's applying his hard-won knowledge to the creation of his own boutique brew.
The Village Roaster is a culmination of all that experience, combined with an obsessive desire for the best quality cup. It's what Sune describes as; "A premium experience of organic coffee."
That's some achievement for a high school drop-out.
Born in Denmark, Sune lived in Sydney before moving to Auckland in his late teens. He left Western Springs College by what he wryly describes as "mutual agreement" at the age of 17 and went to work washing dishes in a cafe.
That was the start of a journey through the roles of coffee runner, to barista, to cafe manager, to coffee sales and company manager. "It's all I've ever known."
He's now satisfying New Zealand's growing desire for coffee blends from smaller, high-quality producers - an area which has seen explosive growth.
It starts with the raw ingredients, sourcing the perfect blend of beans and developing recipes that he can be proud of. "We roast organic coffee. It's the way the world is going."
The next crucial step is, of course, roasting. While 85% of New Zealand's coffee is drum roasted, Sune sourced a state-of-the-art machine that literally roasts the beans on a bed of hot air. "It gives more consistent, brighter coffee notes and removes the burnt, smokey flavours that can often be associated with drum roasting."
The Village Roaster operates from an old industrial building in Auckland, a far cry from its previous use as a marble and granite factory. Under a gantry crane, the huge roasting chamber is housed in an open-sided shipping container.
Unlike a lot of supermarket coffee which can often have up to a two-year shelf life, supplying direct online is a way for The Village Roaster to deliver fresh roasts for consumers, while keeping overheads (except for the cranes) low.
"Coffee is roasted to order weekly. We make fresh organic premium products and within days of being roasted it is in your pantry."
The Village Roaster has teamed up with ShopGreen to deliver on that promise of great tasting fresh coffee. "Fresh is always best," says Sune.
Visit shopgreen.co.nz where you can purchase organically sourced five 200gm bags of The Village Roaster coffee for $55.00 including delivery.
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Sune Farrimond, owner of The Village Roaster, at headquarters in Auckland. Photo / Ted Baghurst.
