The Coffee Club has opened its first Store in Warkworth, as North Auckland development continues to boom.

The new store will be part of The Grange Estate, a brand new retail centre and is the 59th Coffee Clubs store to open in New Zealand.

Newcomers to the area, Kevin Sung and John Song are the owners. They’re both looking forward to getting involved in the development and expansion of Warkworth, and becoming part of the local community

“The Grange is a significant development and it’s attracting a number of new businesses to the area. We saw great potential in being involved, and we’re really excited about the design of the store and seeing it come together,” said Sung.

“It’s our start in the café business, and we’re expecting it to be a successful venture for us. We’ve hired a fantastic team of people so far, although we’re still looking for one or two more to join. We’re really keen to get started and to meet more people in the community.”

The Coffee Club directors, Brad Jacobs and Andy Lucas, are pleased to see The Coffee Club expand it’s presence into new areas of the country.

“The development at The Grange is a really interesting concept with its mix of residential and retail,” says Andy Lucas, co-director and marketing manager of The Coffee Club New Zealand. “There are a lot of new restaurants and food outlets in the development. We think it’s going to have a brilliant vibe as a result, and we want to be a part of that.”

Cafés are no longer just for morning brunches and a coffee fix, said Lucas.

“What we’re seeing here in New Zealand, and overseas, is that customers are tailoring dining more to their own personal wants,” Lucas said.

“It has started with customers wanting to eat traditional breakfast meals at any time of the day. But it is also now evolving to a point where people are seeking more diverse cuisine and ingredients,” he said.

Lucas said coffee shops should now be able to provide a wide range of flavours from different countries as people are getting more adventurous with their dining and wanting to experience different tastes.

“But it has also got to be done right, the ingredients have to be up to scratch. Consumers are much more discerning than they were a few years ago,” he said.

The Coffee Club said customisation is another hot trend in New Zealand this year. This originated in the US, where a number of fast food outlets are allowing customers to “hack” the menu – ordering meals that aren’t publicly available, but available to those in the know.

“A similar trend is starting to develop in New Zealand,” Lucas said.

Lucas said it is going to be interesting to see how Kiwi tastes dictate how cafés develop their menus.