ST. ALi is a privately owned group of cafes, retailers and specialty coffee roaster founded and based in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

, Australia in 2005. As of October 2009 ST. ALi had cafes in Melbourne, and was credited with being a contributor to the

third wave of coffee Third-wave coffee is a term primarily in the United States coffee industry emphasizing higher quality, single-origin farms and light roast to bring out distinctive flavors. Though the term was coined in 1999, the approach originated in the 1970 ...

movement in Melbourne.

History

ST. ALi's South Melbourne cafe was founded in 2005 by Mark Dundon. It was bought by Salvatore Malatesta in 2008. A second cafe opened in December 2012. From January - September 2014 ST. ALi operated a pop-up location on

Collins Street, Melbourne Collins Street is a major street in the Melbourne central business district, central business district of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It was laid out in the first survey of Melbourne, the original 1837 Hoddle Grid, and soon became the most ...

alongside other restaurants. In February 2014, ST. ALi set up a pop up cafe and coffee masterclasses at Coffee Workers in

Seoul Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...

, Korea. Also that year, ST. ALi ran a pop up cafe at the London Coffee Festival. This was followed by a cafe installation in Milan at the design festival

Ventura Lambrate Ventura Lambrate is an international design show, held annually in April in Milan, Italy. Its sister shows, Ventura Interieur, is held biennial in October, in Courtray, Belgium, during Courtray Design Biennale Interieur and Ventura Berlin took pl ...

as part of an Australian design contingent called ‘The Other Hemisphere'. ST. ALi established a pop up cafe in

Jakarta Jakarta (; , Betawi language, Betawi: ''Jakartè''), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta (; ''DKI Jakarta'') and formerly known as Batavia, Dutch East Indies, Batavia until 1949, is the capital and largest city of Indonesia and ...

, Indonesia in September 2014. A permanent Jakarta location was opened in 2015. In November 2016 ST. ALi purchased

North Melbourne North Melbourne is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, north-west of Melbourne's Melbourne central business district, Central Business District, located within the City of Melbourne Local government ar ...

cafe auction rooms from its founder Andrew Kelly. In January 2022 ST. ALi offered two free

rapid antigen test A rapid antigen test (RAT), sometimes called a rapid antigen detection test (RADT), antigen rapid test (ART), or wikt:Appendix:Glossary#loosely, loosely just a rapid test, is a rapid diagnostic test suitable for point-of-care testing that directl ...

s for

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

with orders over $159.99 as part of a promotional offer during shortages of the tests in Melbourne. The company apologised after backlash.

Philosophy and sourcing

ST. ALi coffee beans are sourced through direct trade with the coffee growers themselves. ST. ALi's coffee beans are all purchased green, and small batch roasted in Melbourne using Brambati roasters. As well as engaging in direct trade coffee sourcing, ST. ALi is a supporter of local and community initiatives, including a barista challenge run in conjunction with

Melbourne City Mission Melbourne City Mission (MCM), known as the Community Welfare Foundation during the 1970s, is a charitable organisation in Melbourne, Australia. History Melbourne City Mission is the city's oldest charity, having been founded in 1854. In 1850, th ...

, to teach disadvantaged youth work experience and barista training.

Recognition

ST. ALi has been nationally and internationally recognised for the quality of its coffee and locally for its food. ST. ALi South was awarded "Best Food Cafe" in Melbourne in 2013 by The Age Good Cafe Guide. ST. ALi's head of coffee, Matthew Perger, won first place at the 2012

World Brewers Cup The World Brewers Cup (WBC or WBrC) is an annual international coffee brewing competition organized by World Coffee Events, an organization founded by the Specialty Coffee Association. The stated goal of the competition is to showcase the craft and ...

, and has won two Australasian Specialty Coffee Association (AASCA) Detpak Australian Barista Championship titles, and also placed third at the 2011

World Barista Championship The World Barista Championship (WBC) is an annual barista competition operated by World Coffee Events for the title of World Barista Champion. The competition is composed of the winners of the national barista championships, which are operated by ...

that took place in Colombia and the second place in 2013

References

{{Reflist, colwidth=30em Companies based in Melbourne