John Ayoub, the founder of The Coffee Emporium, still remembers his first espresso coffee in East Sydney 25 years ago, and it was this experience that spurred him on throughout his career in coffee-first as a barista and then as a barista/trainer at a major coffee company where he became head of Barista Training and finally as a roaster and founder of The Coffee Emporium.

John has always wanted to launch his own brand of espresso and to open his own coffeehouse with this blend.

He spent almost two years experimenting with different blends and roasts. He finally settled on a blend which he called “Nonno” (grandfather in Italian) which has become the Coffee Emporium House Blend and is the basic blend used in Coffee Emporium stores. It is a rich smooth blend from selection of quality coffee beans from Latin America, Africa and Asia.

In 2002 John bought a coffee shop at Bankstown known as The Coffee Emporium. The original store had opened in 1991. When John bought the business it was a little “run down”. The first thing he did was to introduce the Coffee Emporium House Blend. It was hard going at first for an unknown brand name operating out of a tiny shop in Bankstown-John worked 7 days a week for the first 6 months-but he slowly built a very loyal group of enthusiasts who loved the coffee and they in turn told their friends and so the business grew and grew.

The success was due to one thing - an outstanding reputation for quality.

The Coffee Emporium store at Bankstown soon developed a very strong reputation for outstanding coffee-both as a coffee drink and as coffee beans to take home.

The Coffee Emporium also attracted the attention of the critics and began winning various awards for the quality of its coffee.

John's cousin, Sam Ayoub had seen the growth of the business at Bankstown. Sam had experience in franchising and they decided to become partners in 2005 and to develop the business. The Coffee Emporium was refined to reflect the look and feel of a traditional European coffee house.

The first franchised coffee shop was opened in March 2006 and since then the growth has been phenomenal-3 new franchised coffee shops in 2006 and 5 new franchised coffee shops in 2008.

The Coffee Emporium's outstanding quality of our coffee is due to a number of factors:

• The coffee beans which are blended and roasted in Sydney ensuring high quality and freshness-The Coffee Emporium House Blend
• The coffee machine which is imported from Italy
• The Barista Training Program which provides the tools and skills required to consistently make great coffee drinks.

And the critics like us too!
The Coffee Emporium has been highly commended in reviews in publications including:

• The Coffee Guide
• The Good Food Guide
• Crèma Magazine
• The Foodies Guide to Sydney
• Good Living
• Café Culture