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LAKE Albert residents no longer have to trek across Wagga to get their coffee and café fix.
A new café, Mock Orange, opened in the Lake Village Shopping Centre this week and it has already established itself as having the “best coffee in town”.
Owner Roslyn Mitchell has brought previous hospitality experience and a corporate background to her vision for the future of her new business.
After operating a café over 30 years ago with some success and sustaining a corporate career in Sydney, Mrs Mitchell moved into another stage of her life and came up with a comprehensive strategic plan for a chain of cafés.
“There had always been a longing to have a café again,” she said. “This time I’m setting out to not just have one, but to have a chain. I’m not aiming at being small!”
What sets Mock Orange apart from most is that it’s a true “locavore” experience - a term Mrs Mitchell herself has herself only recently become aware of.
“A locavore is someone who seriously likes to just eat local produce,” she said. “My aim is to be just that and I didn’t even know it.”
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There is a talented team in the kitchen producing fresh café fare from produce sourced within a 50km radius of Wagga. The menu also includes vegan, vegetarian and gluten-free options.
“The taste is what we are after,” Mrs Mitchell said.
“I strategically went out to get the best barista and chefs in town and I attracted really good guys.”
The only product that isn’t sourced locally is the coffee, which is from the Seven Mile micro-roastery in Canberra.
“I wanted to use a boutique roastery, but I couldn’t get the consistency,” Mrs Mitchell said. “I couldn’t get it from here, but Canberra is close.
“I think it’s the best coffee in Wagga and that’s the feedback I’m getting already.”
Lake Village has proven an inspirational choice of location.
“When I was looking I thought the lake was an untapped market and the shop was half fitted out, so it was a no-brainer for me,” Mrs Mitchell said.
“To see the lake in the shape it is in now, it is ready for tourists to make the most of.
“In Wagga we are fair smack in the middle of the Riverina food bowl and we need to make the most of it tourist-wise.”
Mock Orange is open from 6am to 5pm Monday to Friday, and 7am to 4pm Saturday and Sunday.
“I want to try and capture the tradies out here so early starts are good,” Mrs Mitchell said.
“I also wanted to open later to capture that ‘last-minute’ market.”
The name of the cafe comes from a mock orange shrub that Mrs Mitchell said was part of her family folklore.
While she was of the belief it was the name of a property her family owned, it actually referred to just one bush in the front yard of her grandparents house that her aunts used to talk about.
Strategy to give back
PART of the Mock Orange orange philosophy is to give back to the community.
“The unique part is 10 per cent of profit and 5.9 per cent of turnover will go back to community causes, and customers get to choose,” said owner Rosyln Mitchell.
“It’s not the everyday sort of stuff, we aim to make a real difference.
“We aim to help the lake develop. We have looked at finding whatever help we can and at this point it looks like it will be the fireworks for New Year’s.”
Mrs Mitchell will also use money raised to promote marriage equality - by helping fund advertising campaigns - and Indigenous pride, through funding Wiradjuri cultural classes.
There is also a policy in place that all chemotherapy patients will eat for free at Mock Orange.
“I’m not asking customers to give us money,” Mrs Mitchell said. “I’m just asking people to eat here.”