THE article recently written regarding Oomph! Coffee Oomph! and out was written without full knowledge of the facts.
Firstly, Margaretta caught Nikki right in the middle of being swamped with work, and did not ask permission to do an interview until well after she had asked several loaded questions. That is not ethical.
Here are the facts: Sandra & Bruce Champion, along with their friend, John White , are appealing the decision of council regarding our being allowed to roast. The saga goes on …
Council also declared in their decision that we would not be allowed to use larger than a 10 kilo roaster. Our new roaster that is coming, is definitely larger than that, meaning we would not be able to roast here anyhow. On top of that, we have been receiving complaints from a friend of Margaretta who is down a few doors from us, a lovely lady, and her comfort concerns us.
We have a wholesale business that is suffering because we are in this shop 50 hours per week and cannot do our wholesale customers justice with the amount of attention to maintenance, training, education, etc.
There is a genuine shortage of highly skilled, competent staff in Tasmania, and that makes it even more difficult.
On top of that, we have just won 5 medals in Sydney recently, and have become Australia’s most awarded coffee roaster alongside one other. That means we have to be up to scratch.
Are we not allowed to grow?
We are looking at accepting thousands of dollars less for our shop
Is Margaretta saying that the Battery Point residents demand that we stay here and serve them, whilst mainland brands have their way with the rest of Tasmania?
Can we not support the Tasmanian economy by getting out there and do our bit to encourage growth of a Tasmanian product, and thereby work towards becoming good stewards of our business, rather than running haggard, and doing a less than excellent job.
We are looking at accepting thousands of dollars less for our shop than some are offering to make sure the right person, with the right background will come in and take care of our loyal customers in the manner that they deserve.
Surely a ‘best for the future’ or ‘sad to see you go, but go show ’em how good Tasmanian coffee is’ would have been a more appropriate comment, rather than the poor attempt at painting us with the down-the-nose ‘how dare you brush’.
I know that we are very sad to be going. We love this area, and love seeing our customers and freinds every day. Do you think it was an easy decision to let the shop go?
It was a decision that hurt. But if we sell, Nikki can do what she does best, I can concentrate on becoming better at my craft, our customers around the state can be trained to a higher standard, we can host the Tasmanian Barista championships, we can employ more Tasmanians, over time, we can buy our very first home, we can actually watch our son play rugby on Saturday, we can give Hudsons a run for their money, we can rid Tasmania of some of the scourge of stale mainland coffee, we can help build the skill levels of young Tasmanians seeking employment, we can spend some time getting healthier, and we don’t have to put up with the detrimental effects of Champion & White.
And with us gone, maybe, just maybe, their life might be a little easier too …
God Bless.
Carlos & Nikki Kindred. Oomph! Coffee, Tasmania.
