DIMATTINA Coffee.

56. GOLDEN BEAN MEET THE WINNERS.
DIMATTINA Coffee.
It just so happens that in the last issue of Café
Culture Magazine, Simon Dimattina gave us an
insight into the Dimattina empire ... from the
development by his father of Mocopan in the
1950s into a large national coffee company,
through to the successful sale of the company
to Cerebos, and then on to the creation of
Dimattina Coffee with his cousin Paul.
For a company with this history and that has
made such a contribution to the Australian
coffee industry, it was a pleasure to announce
Dimattina as the CSR Golden Bean Roaster
Competition winners for 2011/12.
We now continue the Dimattina story, to find
out a little more about their actual roaster and
the daily routines for one with such an important
role within the company.
W
ho is the roaster for Dimattina
Coffee? Our roaster is Lino Bettiol.
Lino also grew up in the coffee
industry. He is a partner and founding member of
the Dimattina team. After 25 years in the industry,
he joined Dimattina, bringing across invaluable
experience and eager to develop his own blends
and create a roasting facility.
Even though the roasting process has become
more computerised and scientific, coffee roasting is
still an art, comprising the right purchase of green
coffees, blends and roasting profiles. This means
that even though the quality of coffee and roasting
equipment has improved greatly, there will always
be a human element. Taking this into consideration,
we hold Lino in extremely high regard with his
coffee knowledge and ability to manage all aspects
of the roasting process.
Who created the winning coffee/s? Lino first created the blend in 1998. It was
designed as our preferred blend for the cafés and
restaurants we supply, based on their feedback
and requests at the time. Lino first roasted it on a
reconditioned 30 kg Probat Roaster. He carefully
selected 4 origins and combined them to produce a
coffee we were proud to present to restaurants and
cafés as our ‘Prima Tazza’ or ‘First Cup’ blend.
57.
Winner 2011/12 CSR Golden Bean
With growth, the need arose to purchase a larger
roaster. We opted for another reconditioned roaster
– this time a 60 kg Petroncini. Lino transferred his
recipe and adapted his roast times over to the new
roaster. He also decided that the coffee could be
enhanced by adding a 5th origin to the blend –
once tasting his modified blend, we agreed.
Last year we made another significant growth
decision – this time purchasing a new 100 kg
Probat roaster. Our family have had a long
association with Probat, and we believed, along
with Lino, that it produced the most consistently
roasted coffee of the roasters we’d worked with.
Once again, Lino transferred his recipes over to a
new roaster, testing and tweaking until he could
produce another consistently top coffee.
Over the journey, we have entered Prima Tazza
in various shows and competitions in milk and
espresso categories. It has always been judged well
in these categories, picking up lots of silvers and
bronzes.
What changed this year?
Well, again Lino made some slight modifications
... not with the ratio mix, but by sourcing what we
believed were some better exponents of the origins
used and enhancing the blend. Probat roasters also
have a knack of just getting better the more they
roast – probably a large reason why reconditioned
roasters are in such a large demand amongst micro
roasters.
What is the process of developing your
coffees?
It’s a collaborative approach developed over
many years, involving blending, cupping and trial
and error. Our whole team contributes and provides
input. A lot is based on what the café market is
asking us for. Lino and our WA roaster, Joe, try to
match our requests. We’re continually striving to
create the elusive perfect espresso coffee blend
with the correct balance of sweetness, body, acidity
and flavour.
Do you travel to origin to research and buy
coffee?
Simon: “Yes, although it is something we want
to develop further. My father, Joe Dimattina, made
his first visit to a coffee plantation in Kenya in 1961
and travelled extensively through his coffee career,
setting up various direct links. My uncles, Anthony
and Dom, also made numerous trips to Papua New
Guinea. Lino spent a lot of his youth travelling and
has a great insight into the characteristics of the
various origins and bean varieties we use.”
We plan to spend more time with our producers
in the future and see it as an important part of our
quality control, staff development and also a way
we can positively assist with social initiatives.
Since 2008, we have been funding community
development projects in the coffee growing region
around Wau in the Morobe province of Papua New
Guinea. Coffee produced in this region forms an
important part of our Prima Tazza Blend, and we
look forward to visiting them soon and seeing some
of the initiatives which are taking place, such as the
Banisu Elementary School Project.
What type of coffee roasting equipment do
you use?
We have recently installed a new Probat
Neptune 500 roasting system. This has followed
a 60 kg Petroncini, and our original roaster was
a reconditioned 30 kg Probat from the ‘60s. As
the business has grown, we have invested a lot of
money in upgrading and improving our plant.
We also have a 5 kg Probat in South Melbourne
and a few sample roasters.
In Perth we have a 12 kg Probat roaster.
What’s missing now for roasters? What
information would you like to have at hand to
assist you?
We think there is a great crop of new exciting
and passionate roasters in Australia, which means
the industry is in good hands. The last few years
has seen a much improved level of information,
trade shows and training available to Australian
roasters, and continued development relies on this
continuing and increasing. The industry needs to
support each other and learn together.
With businesses in Perth and Melbourne, does
the same roaster roast for both?
Our new roaster in Reservoir predominantly
roasts our Prima Tazza blend.
In Perth, we concentrate on roasting more
specific West Australian blends, single origins and
specialised small batch roasting.
We also have a small batch roaster in South
Melbourne and are about to start small batch
roasting and sales from our administrative offices in
Kerr Street, Fitzroy.
Tell us about how you make both businesses
work together so well (Perth and Melbourne)?
Our company is run on the basis that each
business is small and autonomous, even though
we are one large family company. Each part of the
business is directed by a working partner, and we
are all very hands on. Lino handles production, Paul
and Robert Dimattina look after Melbourne and the
East Coast, and Simon manages WA.
This allows us to focus on what’s important
locally and hopefully provide consistently good
coffee and excellent customer service.
What differences do you find in the customers
on either side of Australia, and how do you
adjust for this?
Melbourne has had a strong coffee history,
introduced by the post war Italian immigrants
– which our fathers played a large part in. The
coffee industry there is well developed and very
competitive. Perth may have been a little behind
Melbourne, but it’s fair to say now that Perth’s
best can match it with anywhere in the world. I
think both markets appreciate quality, and both are
focused on supporting locally produced coffee.
Is WA still booming, and does this mean there
is more competition opening up against you?
WA is growing strongly, with a large number of
resource development projects. However, hospitality
and retail in Perth is not booming at the same rate.
Nevertheless, the competition in Perth is getting
stronger every year, which is great for everybody. It
forces us to continually improve our business and
means the customer keeps getting better quality
coffees and service.
How do you create a point of difference?
We listen to our customers. We’re flexible and
cater to what they require. We’re trying not to
be pigeonholed into a particular style of coffee
company or governed too much by trends –and
instead, keeping our focus purely on quality coffee
and customer service.
We have a strong and detailed espresso
background, and our experience has enabled us
to start with a good base, which over the history
of the company we have been able to improve
on – whether it be through sourcing better coffees,
improving our plant and equipment, or our own
personal training and development.
We value good service and have always nurtured
strong and supportive relationships with all our
partners. We also try to be socially aware and are
conscious of providing something back to the
coffee industry.
Do you have a favourite bean or blend you are
drinking at the moment?
We cup and taste lots of coffee and blends daily.
Simon: “I tend to drink a few different coffees
every day, but Prima Tazza is the staple. In Perth,
we keep a specialty reserve coffee blend running
continually, which I normally indulge myself with,
as well as whatever single origins we are roasting
during that week. At the moment we are enjoying
the 2011 Honduras Fernandez Cup of Excellence
Lot 15, which we received a bronze medal for at
Golden Bean.”
Lino: “I’m a pretty devoted Prima Tazza drinker.
I’ll drink espresso coffee throughout the day, and
I also have a ritual of every morning drinking the
previous day’s Prima Tazza roast as a stove top
espresso. It’s a style of coffee I grew up on – and
one which allows me to monitor a lot of the
nuances of the blend.”
Paul: “I spend a lot of time on the road at cafés
in Melbourne and around Australia. I’m drinking
espresso coffee all day, and I enjoy regularly
sampling other coffee brands. I always enjoy Prima
Tazza; I think it holds up well against the other
leading Australian roasts.”
Robert: “We have a variation of our Prima Tazza
blend, which we specially roast for one client and
includes an Ethiopian Sidamo. This creates a little
softer and sweeter coffee, which I really enjoy.”
What are your plans for the next 12 months
and beyond?
Our family has been involved in the coffee
industry in Australia for over 50 years. We are very
proud to have won the Golden Bean award, as
we see it as recognition of a lot of hard work from
many people involved in our business, over three
generations. Our focus has always been pretty
simple – that is getting the basics right – great
coffee, good customer service and long-term
relationships.