Meet the roaster

Specialty coffee, roasted fresh in Robe since 1999

I'm Mahalia. For more than twenty-five years I've been roasting coffee in small batches in Robe, on South Australia's Limestone Coast. What began in a café kitchen is now a family-run roastery supplying homes, cafés and businesses across Australia.

We keep things deliberately small. Each blend and single origin has its own roast profile, refined since those first batches in 1999, and we roast only what we expect to sell so every bag leaves us fresh.

Read our storyShop our coffee
  • Roasting since 1999Family run in Robe, SA
  • 55 medalsFrom Australia's top coffee and food shows
  • Small batchesRoasted to a profile, never stockpiled
  • Order by 3pmFor same day shipping, free Australia-wide
Our story

From a café kitchen to a Robe roastery

Mahalia Coffee grew slowly, one customer and one roast at a time. Here are the moments that shaped it.

1996

The Wild Mulberry

It started with a café, not a roastery. Paul and I opened the Wild Mulberry in Robe, and I ran the coffee machine. Between the morning rushes I became fascinated by coffee, not just the drink but the craft of getting it right, cup after cup.

Bread and butter pudding at the Wild Mulberry café in Robe, 1996
The Wild Mulberry café garden in Robe, with a stone fountain, doves and outdoor umbrellas in front of the café
1999

Roasting for our own café

In 1999 I began roasting our coffee here in Robe for the Wild Mulberry. Before long we were selling bags over the café counter and supplying a few small local outlets. Small batches, plenty of trial and error, and the start of the roast profiles we still build on today.

Coffee beans tumbling in the glass chamber of the 600g air roaster Mahalia roasted on in 1999
1999

A face for the coffee

The same year, our logo came to life. We had no advertising budget, so Paul suggested a pop-art portrait in the style of Roy Lichtenstein: me, holding a cup of coffee. My dearest friend Lisa Baker, a wonderful designer who happens to share my birthday, took that idea and made it real. She got it in one, and it is still our logo today.

Mahalia Coffee Logo
2003

Mahalia Coffee is born

We sold the café in 2002, and in 2003 we turned our roasting into a business of its own. We started a family and gave the roastery our full attention, with a simple aim: roast coffee we would be proud to serve, and get it to people while it is still fresh.

Mahalia with her first commercial coffee roaster, a 12kg Has Garanti, in Robe
2006

Growing as a family business

Jamie Anderson joined us in 2006, bringing experience in technology and marketing. It helped us reach customers well beyond Robe while keeping the roasting, and the decisions, close to home.

Jamie, Paul, Mahalia, Byron and Edward beside the coffee roaster at Mahalia Coffee
Profile roasting

More than 25 years of refining the roast

Every coffee we sell has its own roast profile, developed and adjusted since those first batches in 1999. It is patient, unglamorous work, and it is the reason a blend tastes the same this month as it did last year.

Mahalia Coffee's 25kg Diedrich coffee roaster in blue
Awards

Recognised by the judges

Along the way we have been awarded 55 medals and trophies at Australia's leading coffee and food shows, including a CSR Golden Bean Event Champion title from around 1,000 entries and Trophy Champion Espresso at the Royal Adelaide Show. We compete less these days, but we still roast those same profiles.

Lineup of awards won Mahalia coffee
Today

Sourced with care, shared widely

We buy green coffee from farms around the world and choose every coffee for how it tastes in the cup. You'll find us in more than 40 independent grocers and delis across South Australia and Victoria, and in cafés we supply and train.

Taste the difference. Shop our range
Vilma Elizabeth Reyes among the coffee trees on her farm in Cubulco, Baja Verapaz

How we roast your coffee

  1. Sourced with care

    We buy green coffee from farms around the world, chosen for flavour. Each blend is built around how it tastes in the cup, whether you drink it black or with milk.

  2. Profile roasted in small batches

    Each coffee is roasted to its own profile in small batches here in Robe. Keeping batches small lets us stay consistent and adjust when a new harvest arrives.

  3. Packed and sent quickly

    We roast only what we expect to sell, so your coffee is never old stock. Order by 3pm and we'll pack and ship it the same day, free anywhere in Australia.

More than a bag of beans

Great beans only go so far, so we also train. We run on-site barista and espresso training for the cafés we supply, and many of our wholesale customers have been with us for years. If you're in Robe, you can try our Blend 4 at Robe Store café, made on their Eversys espresso machine.

Running a café, office or business? See our wholesale coffee.

Find a coffee to suit you

Not sure where to start? Our four-question Coffee Blend Finder will point you to a blend or single origin that suits how you brew and what you like to drink.

Try the Coffee Blend Finder