A cafe owner needs two things working well. The machine and the staff. A supplier needs to fix the machine quickly or the cafe makes no money, and the staff need to be trained quickly and easily because of high-turnover, or the coffee doesn’t taste as good.

A customer usually believes fresh is best, but to a maestro, some blends are like a fine wine—they peak at about 20 days, so supply is held back. A maestro’s coffee has the tighter sweet spot so the barista needs to be trained well and they’ll hit that spot every time. Or you could buy the competition, who’s ‘sweet’ spot is much wider, so a beginner can make it taste ok, but it will never taste as grand. Loyal, but off tune.

A rock star can hit all the right notes, and they should act like it, easy when it’s true to your heritage, Atomic having originally found fame as an iconic Ponsonby Cafe hosting gigs.

Story. Identity. Culture. Brand.