Working as a civil engineer in Brazil seems a far cry from distributing coffee in Brisbane. Tiago Cruz agrees, taking a chance not only at a whole new country, but at a whole new lifestyle.
OneHome Coffee is the brainchild of Brazilian-born Tiago and his brother Mateus, who both saw an opportunity to break into the home-delivered coffee scene in Australia. An opportunity that not even Covid-19 could stop.
How did this idea launch from dream pipe to reality in not only a brand new country, but at an unusual point in history?
Let’s find out.
OneHome Coffee is the brainchild of Brazilian-born Tiago and his brother Mateus, who both saw an opportunity to break into the home-delivered coffee scene in Australia. An opportunity that not even Covid-19 could stop.
How did this idea launch from dream pipe to reality in not only a brand new country, but at an unusual point in history?
Let’s find out.
| Inspiration struck Tiago Cruz as a project management student from Brazil looking to pivot his career direction and strike out with his own business. When a Brazilian friend called him to talk about some entrepreneurial ideas, Tiago had an epiphany. “I was literally sitting on the bench out at the front of my school watching people buying heaps of cups of coffee,” he said. “I made an instant call: ‘Yes, we do have something and its coffee.’” |  |
 | A few days later Tiago found himself negotiating his first shipment of 60 kilos of green coffee beans sourced from Minas Gerais in Brazil. “Brazilian coffee is stunning in terms of flavor and tasting notes, thanks to the rich soil and altitude,” Tiago said. To get up to speed with Australian values culture, coffee grading, importing and exporting rules, and all of the other things that most others would see as an insurmountable barrier to entry, Tiago found a local consultant who schooled him on what he needed to know. Before long, Tiago was getting good at selling green beans to local roasters, and when his brother Mateus joined him Down Under, the pair decided to create their own brand of roasted beans, allowing everyday people like you and I to experience the Brazilian café experience in our own homes. OneHome Coffee was born. |
| It wasn’t all smooth sailing however, as the pair spent six months visiting over 70 coffee shops in Brisbane, to test the viability of their new product. Eventually, they struck up a deal to roast their beans with the similarly caffeinated passionates over at Simply Beans. OneHome sells fresh roasted beans for $40 per kilo, or $23 per 500g, which includes delivery to anywhere in Australia. Tiago is aware that as a roasted coffee bean start-up, he has entered a saturated market. He has ideas though for selling green beans to individuals to roast at home, using a pan, popcorn machine or nano roaster. “The current virus has changed how we look at doing things ourselves. Why not roast your own beans at home?” Tiago said. “You can roast your coffee in 20 minutes at night, go to sleep and wake up to the most fresh coffee the next day.” OneHome is already selling green beans to individuals for less than half the price of roasted beans. |  |
While a company without a website is almost unheard of these days, Tiago is a traditionalist, who prefers a smaller operation that embraces loyal customers and word-of-mouth recommendations. Given their recent sales levels, they are doing just fine without the help of Google.
"The product speaks for itself," Tiago said.
Orders for OneHome Coffee can be made by emailing Tiago and Mateus directly at: [email protected]. For the visual learners out there, you can also find out more over at Instagram: @onehomecoffee.
"The product speaks for itself," Tiago said.
Orders for OneHome Coffee can be made by emailing Tiago and Mateus directly at: [email protected]. For the visual learners out there, you can also find out more over at Instagram: @onehomecoffee.
