Successful business owners Bryn and Carley Lloyd say family and lifestyle drew them back to their Nelson hometown. One year on from purchasing Rabbit Island Coffee Co. the couple talk to Nelson Magazine about their journey thus far, being based at Māpua Wharf, and their visions for the future.
Bryn, can you share a little about your journey to purchasing the coffee business? Our story certainly doesn’t begin with coffee roasting, but it’s fast taking over our lives as we grow our new business and live and breathe it daily. Moving back from Wellington, the decision to settle in Māpua was non-negotiable. We’ve always loved it and wanted the kids to grow up in the village. After spending 15 years in tourism and Carley recently launching her own interior design business, Colourbolt, we were ready to take on another challenge. Changing careers is not something that people take lightly, but for us, it was a no-brainer. What made it easier was the loyal following and quality product that the previous owners of Rabbit Island Coffee Co. had established, so we knew the bones of the business were good. Carley manages the artisan pantry side of the business and I the coffee. The roastery is a short walk from our house, so I tend to roast at 5 a.m. when no one else is around. It’s certainly idyllic being right on the water with the sun streaming straight into the roastery and extra rewarding drinking coffee that I’ve roasted!
Carley, what continues to drive your passion? Being part of the community is important to us. Having the opportunity to offer locals and visitors a specialty product that we love, and an experience when visiting the roastery is really fulfilling. The opportunity to create more balance in our lives has meant we can live and breathe our values both at home and atwork. Our gorgeous brick-and-mortar store is the heart of the business. We are fortunate to be considered a destination for locals and tourists visiting the region. We’re trying to create a multi-sensory experience through the aesthetics of the store, great music, beautiful aromas, friendly and helpful customer service and of course our specialty coffee beans! We have always known that a cup of coffee is more than just coffee. In the past year we have met so many interesting people and love hearing their diverse experiences with it.
What range of services do you provide? We offer several single-origin beans, two signature blends, a fabulous decaf, cold brew, and our plant-based ‘Island Float’ featuring cold brew and coconut ice cream in an edible cup. We provide coffee to several cafes/restaurants within the region, send online subscriptions across the country each day, and our beans are available to sample and buy in-store at the roastery seven days a week. We love sourcing new products for the pantry side of the business. We decided early on that we would offer 50% local products and 50% from around Aotearoa. We saw an opportunity to provide locals with a taste of what else is on offer around New Zealand, and for visitors a taste of our local artisan products. There are some talented and creative people out there that we feel honoured to support by providing their products. It’s an emporium of goods that we both love, including ceramics, candles, pantry items like oils, nuts, salts, so many amazing teas, Frank Green, delicious artisan chocolates, many plant-based and gluten-free options and art.
What is the process for selecting your specialty blends and beans? We’re forever listening to our customers on their taste preferences and tweaking our offering based on market demand. For a small roastery, we offer a wide selection of ethically sourced coffees. One of our core values is ‘uncompromising quality in all systems, processes and products’. We’ve certainly lifted the hood of the business and made a lot of changes in the first 12 months. It’s been a lot of work, but the positive feedback that we receive daily fuels us to constantly improve our product and service. When it comes to coffee, we roast light to medium which highlights sweetness, retains the perfect amount of acidity and showcases the terroir of beans. It also doesn’t give us any room for error when it comes to roasting, as there’s nowhere to hide when you roast light. This means we need to source the best of the best to ensure consistency in our flavour profiles.
Open 7 days, 10am-3pm
