Australian coffee blend to be exported to Mrs. Fields Gourmet Cookies franchises around the world

The Australian arm of the global Mrs. Fields Gourmet Cookies brand will soon begin exporting its local coffee blend to the brand’s cafe franchises around the world.

The development caps off a dedicated two year drive by Mrs. Fields Australia to create a premium coffee offering to accompany the flagship range of Mrs. Fields cookies and food available at the company’s snack food franchises.

Created in conjunction with Victorian coffee roasters Daily Roast Coffee, the new blend will initially be exported for use in Mrs. Fields cafe franchises in China and Pakistan, with other countries including Indonesia, Russia and Vietnam expected to join soon.

Managing Director of Mrs. Fields Australia, Andrew Benefield, says that he could not be happier with the result.

“This is a massive achievement and a reflection of the popularity of our offering locally,” he notes. “Supplying to international markets is enormous validation of the emphasis we place on our coffee offering.”

The final frontier in terms of exporting, Mr Benefield says, is the US. He will travel with a team there in March to present the coffee to operators of local US Mrs. Fields cafe franchises at their national convention.

Mr Benefield states that the team will “will have a fully functioning coffee bar at the convention, so they can have the full experience.”

A key reason for the decision to align with Daily Roast Coffee to develop the unique Australian blend was the opportunity to work with World Barista Judge Justin Metcalf, according to Mr Benefield.

“His extensive knowledge brings quality control and training expertise. We find that Barista training is equal if not more important than the coffee itself, and Justin has done a great job of putting together a training program for us,” he says.

Justin also worked with a global coffee machine company to develop a proprietary coffee machine for use in Mrs. Fields cafe franchises. Mr Benefield explains that the machines allow operators to “still offer the theatre of a Barista making coffee, whilst knowing the milk tempering and coffee extraction is done by the machine.”