By Jessica Micallef
Josh Rodgers loves a good cup of coffee or two – so much so he has made a career out of it.
Mr Rodgers, 18, has started his own coffee roasting business in Newstead.
The coffee enthusiast left school when he was 14 years old to be homeschooled.
He began working at the local roastery –where he discovered his love for coffee roasting.
“I’m a very hands-on learner … and it [school] wasn’t working,” he said.
“I was working in Malmsbury in Moto Bean, they’re a coffee roastery out there and I learnt from there.”
After moving to the Social Foundry in Kyneton to work full-time, Mr Rodgers has spent the past year building his business from scratch.
He imports his coffee beans from small farmers across the globe.
“We buy them [coffee beans] from all over the world, depending what’s in season, so sometimes Kenya might be picked, or sometimes Brazil might be picked,” he said.
“I buy from micro-lots, which means it’s a very small batch of coffee that’s grown and the farmers really put a lot of effort in to that small amount of coffee, so that’s my big thing, just supporting small farmers so I can help them, and give feedback because they’re putting their product in my hands, which is a huge thing.”
Mr Rodgers’ business has been in operation for three months and he is now looking to the future.
“In the next year or so, I hope to get a shop in Castlemaine, so the roastery will move there and then I’ll also have a cafe attached to that,” he said.
“It’s been a big journey and we’ve come a long way.”
