Lawyer quit to roast in his mother's garage, now World's Best Coffee Shop 2025.
Toby Smith was a lawyer who quit in 1997 to travel the world learning coffee production, eventually living among farming communities. He started roasting in his mother's garage in Sydney, building what became Australia's pioneering specialty coffee brand.
The brand won the number one spot in the World's 100 Best Coffee Shops 2025 at Coffee Fest Madrid (for the Chippendale Sydney flagship). UCC Group acquired the business in 2022. Seventy-three locations now span Australia, Singapore, Indonesia, the Philippines, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the UAE, where the Dubai flagship occupies a standalone mansion at Jumeirah Beach.
