The Maclennan family was fascinated by the idea of having a career in coffee roasting, as it involved being a chef while also being a scientist. In 2017, Finlay Maclennan bought the Cambridge-based Red Cherry Cafe. His father, Bruce, trained him and his sister, Bailey, in all aspects of coffee roasting.
Red Cherry Roasters is rooted in the simplicity of the blends they provide, with more focus on the consistency of each roast, with customers expecting and looking forward to the same flavour of coffee repeatedly. However, this can be challenging due to limited control of the beans supplied, with some having slight variations.
Despite being beautiful and simple to roast, Red Cherry Roasters only use a limited amount of Java Robusta in their coffee blends, their favourite being the Indian Tiger Mountain Arabic Bean. Their wholesaler customers include the Bite Cafe in Thames, Kerbside Coffee Cart, Gordonton, Hamilton's Long Black Coffee and much more recently, Maketu Beachside Cafe and Restaurant in Bay of Plenty and Auckland-based Neverland Playground Cafe.
The Maclannans believe that a great roast's defining feature is customer satisfaction with their favourite blend. This only comes about by sourcing the best delicate organic fair trade beans, roasting them to their full potential and having an experienced barista extract the flavour from the roasted beans.
The family has also been involved in sponsorships for things like soccer tournaments and Matariki celebrations. Gaining customer loyalty has been the most rewarding part of owning a coffee business.
The future of Red Cherry Roasters looks exciting as they wish to expand the supply of roasted coffee beans to commercial coffee machines, small niche cafes and retail sales.
