How Coffee Lids Saved The Coop

Bronte Beach is home to The Coop, one of most beloved cafes in the area. On any given morning, a large crowd of locals awaits their coffee. Whether it’s post-run, post-swim, or post-lazy-sun-baking-on-the-beach, The Coop buzzes with a sense of community. The constant stream of people make it easy to forget the early days, but like so many hospo venues, they were fraught with uncertainty.

"The first year was tough, financially tough," says Fern, owner of the Coop. "And then we had [COVID] lockdown within the first six months of being open. I was like, we're going to be so quiet, this isn't going to work."

So, she tried something small to delight her customers. Between coffees Fern and her staff started writing little messages on the lids. Cute, sweet, flirty notes: “You’re bringing sexy back” or “From your #1 fan” or simply “Happy Sunday!”

"I stole the idea from someone, I don't think I came up with it," she laughs. 

"But it was definitely something we developed."Over a short period of time, what started as a few scribbles on shift turned into a full production line. Soon the staff were writing on 400 lids a night for the next day - so many they couldn't do them in the moment anymore.

"My staff would take sleeves of lids home. You'd have to have three colour textures on each lid. We had sheets: four pages of lyrics, coffee slogans, everything."

Quickly, something started to shift. 

"People started coming in, you'd give them the coffee, and they'd look straight down. They weren't looking at their friend. Everyone was looking at the lid, going, oh wow, what is this?"

"Everyone was posting whatever they could, because no one had anything to post during COVID. And from there, the cafe took off."

Once COVID restrictions lifted, business picked up even further, and the lids, unfortunately, had to stop. 

The memory, however, has lingered. "To this day people will say, oh my god, I love Coop from when you did the lids. And I'm like, wow…that was five years ago!"

It's a good reminder that the decisions that build a business aren’t always big or expensive…and that the human touch, which can seem so small, is often the very thing that makes a venue unforgettable.