Coffee and cafes remain the biggest and most competitive category in Australia. Today, CIBO Espresso has a centralised kitchen where food products are made fresh daily, and delivered out to stores to ensure great freshness, quality and reduce on-site food preparation for franchise partners.

By the year 2000, CIBO Espresso stores had opened in quick succession – staying true to a premium look and feel by capturing the authenticity and heritage of a true Italian espresso bar.

At the time, cafes and chains in Australia were sitting in the middle masses and were not occupied by high-end, bespoke businesses says CIBO General Manager, Merissa Collins.“ CIBO started as a family business, all the founders came from hospitality and managed the supply chain. They did all of the food and roasted the coffee”.

Community Spirit

This attention to detail and craftsmanship has imbibed CIBO stores with a genuine local and community spirit.

Fast forward to 2016 and as a franchise business, Ms.Collins says CIBO prides itself on tailoring stores to the client. “We look for quirkier sites – we like heritage sites, house conversions, non-traditional sites – and focus on maintaining authenticity”.

Coffee franchise owners can spend a “third of their lives” in store and Ms. Collins says people need to come with a passion. “This is not a turn key operation. It is best run under management, it is all about the food and coffee; the most successful owners are in the stores everyday”.

Maintaining high-levels of food presentation and coffee craft have seen CIBO baristas scoop awards at national competitions in recent years. “They are some of the best baristas I’ve ever seen. Our coffee is better than anybody else and it is important for us to be market leader”.

Ms. Collins explains, by utilising the Retail Zoo (Boost, Salsa’s) platform, CIBO encourage their partner networks to drive innovation. With close connections to trends in Italy, CIBO continuously seek to offer products and food lines that no one has in Australia. “Café culture is a fierce category in Australia and everyone needs to see the owners in there, you have to feel like that store is a part of you”. 

CIBO are revolutionizing stores by continuously evolving and innovating each fit out. An old elevator shaft in Rundle Mall is now a tiny hole in-the-wall serving gelato and small spaces serve short order menus, including “our made-to-order well known range of breads, pastries, danishes and other delicacies”.

Now, as the brand is growing outside of South Australia CIBO are actively recruiting for new partners in existing stores for sale and greenfield sites. Ms. Collins adds, “our approach to franchising is we really do believe it is a partnership. This is not a case of you buy a franchise and you go off and run it. We understand what it takes and we are in the trenches with you”.

Types of CIBO Espresso stores

‘Hole in the Wall’ – smaller footprint with a heavy skew towards coffee sales, typically low investment sites in the city.

‘Shopping Centre site’ – kiosk inside mall or external strip site on the outside of the mall. This is a more traditional CIBO store, offering full coffee range and bread, pastries, danishes, sweet delights.

‘Larger Scale sites’ – short order made to order menu as well as renowned sandwiches.