The vision of Market Lane Coffee is to deliver good coffee that is good for everyone – from producers to the planet – says founder and co-owner Fleur Studd.
From day dot, Fleur and the Market Lane team have been committed to quality, transparency, sustainability and doing good through their business. These are values that easily align with our own at Schulz, and we’re proud to have supplied Market Lane – now a Certified B Corp – with our organic milk since 2009.
Over a decade later, we use Market Lane Coffee every day at the Schulz Organic Creamery and Cafe. While we can safely say nothing makes a better flat white, Market Lane’s continued dedication to ethical and sustainable sourcing, reducing their environmental impact and building a thriving community is why we admire this Victorian roastery so much.
We sat down with Fleur this month for the latest edition of Kindred Spirits, talking ‘aha moments’, working with like-minded businesses and why building relationships is such an important part of Market Lane’s DNA.
Market Lane Coffee owners Jason, Jenni and Fleur. Image: Abigail Varney
What are some of the most fulfilling aspects of running Market Lane?
Building a business that is purpose-led, and, because we are independent and owner-operated, making decisions that are informed by our values. Not compromising. Striving to use business as a force for good. Creating a workplace that is healthy, supportive and safe, where our team can grow and thrive. Working with dedicated, and quality focused producers (including Schulz!). Serving an awesome and engaged community of customers in each of our shops, and online. Drinking delicious coffee and doing what we love, every single day.
What do you love most about coffee and the coffee industry?
Well firstly, there is nothing better than a carefully harvested, roasted and brewed coffee, that preserves its taste of place and is clean, balanced and delicious.
I remember my first coffee ‘aha moments’, when I started to understand coffee as a differentiated beverage; one that’s flavour is influenced by things like the plant variety, the region it’s grown in and the way it was processed. A great joy of working in coffee is sharing or facilitating ‘aha moments’ that help get people excited about quality, provenance and flavour. We strive to communicate what makes a coffee special, and why we chose to share it, and celebrate the stories of the people who produced it. My favourite moments in the shops is when a customer asks for a specific coffee by name and, if it’s out of season, asks when it might be back. This makes me feel like we’ve done our job well.
Secondly, I love the relationships in specialty coffee. Whether it’s a producer we’ve partnered with for over a decade, a long-time Market Lane barista who goes on to open their own business, a local ceramicist who hand-makes unique coffee cups just for us, or an enthusiastic customer whose kids we’ve seen grow taller behind the counter in our shops – these relationships and our community are so important to us and bring true meaning to what we do. They’re what get us out of bed every morning.
Building lasting relationships at Market Lane’s Faraday St. location. Image: Abigail Varney
Tell us a little bit about your relationship with Simon Schulz and Schulz Organic Dairy.
When we opened Market Lane in 2009, our goal was to serve the highest quality coffee we could. To do this, we needed to ensure we had the very best drink ingredients: great coffee, and great milk. At that time, the quality and provenance of milk wasn’t a particular area of focus for Australian cafés. We wanted to change this, and use the best milk we could find; knowing this would make an enormous difference to the quality of our milk-based drinks.
We did a lot of tasting of different milks and we fell in love with Simon’s milk because it was organic, unhomogenised, sweet and creamy, and it tasted absolutely delicious with our coffee! Back then, Simon’s milk was only available at farmers markets, so we approached him and asked if he would consider supplying our cafés. We were thrilled when he said yes. He then scaled his business to be able to support ours, and now many other retailers and cafés across Victoria. To help our customers understand how special Schulz Organic Milk is, we created postcards explaining where the milk comes from and why it’s unique. We also visited Simon’s farm with our team to learn about how the milk is produced and how the animals are cared for.
It’s been amazing to work with Simon for so long, and to see his business evolve alongside ours. We’re grateful for this relationship, and we’re proud to serve this delicious and ethically produced milk. We have plans underway to install an Udder Way keg dispenser in our new Sydney Rd shop for Schulz Organic Milk, so we can have fresh milk on tap, reduce packaging waste, and give customers the opportunity to refill their own bottles. And we’re thrilled that Schulz Organic is now serving Market Lane coffee in their own café!
Market Lane has become B Corp certified which is a great achievement. Can you tell us what was involved in the certification process and what were your main drivers to seek this certification?
Yes! This was our biggest achievement in 2022, and we’re really proud of it. Becoming a certified B Corporation requires an organisation to look at every single aspect of their operation, with full transparency and accountability, benchmarking every detail against the most ethical, responsible and sustainable businesses in the world.
Since we opened, we’ve endeavoured to make all our decisions in accordance with our vision to deliver good coffee that is good for everyone – our producing partners, our customers, our team and our planet. We always felt and believed that we were doing the right things, but the B Corp certification process gave us a verifiable framework through which to measure our positive impact, and make sure we’re doing everything as ethically and sustainably as possible.
Market Lane Coffee meets Schulz Organic Dairy Milk. Image: Abigail Varney
Did your relationship or use of Schulz Organic Dairy Milk play a part in the B Corp certification process?
It did! As part of the B Corp certification process, we had to audit supply partners and provide information on their ethical and sustainability practices. The fact that Schulz milk is certified organic contributed very favourably to our assessment, as did the fact that the milk is available in glass bottles (which we use in several of our shops, where storage allows).
What are your favourite Market Lane beans, and how do you have your coffee?
I drink filter coffee at home. I love it because it’s easy to brew this way, and because filter brew methods really highlight the more delicate and nuanced flavours in a coffee. On weekdays, I grind my coffee fresh using a Fellow Ode grinder, and typically brew using a Moccamaster, which is a fast and convenient method. On the weekend, I like to brew coffee using a pour over cone. I love the pour over method. There’s something quite meditative and special about the ritual of pouring water over coffee and taking the time to do it carefully and consciously. If my kids are happily occupied, I get to drink the coffee carefully and consciously, too! It’s a special way to enjoy it.
You can visit Market Lane at their roastery or eight locations around Melbourne, purchase their specialty small-batch coffee beans online, or if you’re travelling through Timboon, drop by and get your hands on a freshly brewed cup in our Cafe.
If you enjoyed this read, take a look at our Kindred Spirits conversation with Miranda Sharp from the Melbourne Farmers Markets.