City Beat: Brisbane coffee baron Phillip Di Bella is ready to party

Coffee king Phillip Di Bella plans to host a lavish party with about 200 guests at Portside’s Moda event space in Hamilton this Friday.

Phillip Di Bella is getting ready to party with those who helped him build his coffee empire. Picture: Alex Coppel.

DECAFFEINATED

Three years after offloading his well-caffeinated empire in a $47 million deal, Brisbane coffee baron Phillip Di Bella is finally ready to party with the people who helped make it happen.

He’ll be hosting a lavish affair expected to draw a crowd of 200 to Portside’s Moda event space in Hamilton on Friday night.

Di Bella only officially exited the business on June 30, after a staged acquisition by Retail Food Group, Australia’s biggest multibrand franchisor.

RFG forked out an initial $30 million in cash and stock in late 2014, with the remaining $17 million subject to performance targets.

Di Bella told City Beat yesterday that he had cleared those hurdles and wanted to celebrate with the people who had been part of his 15-year journey.

Starting off in a garage with just $5000 in 2002, Di Bella grew his baby to become one of the country’s largest coffee roasters.

Phillip Di Bella illustration by Tony Bela.

Some of his first staff and suppliers will be there on Friday, along with plenty of local bizoids and pollies.

Former Premier Campbell Newman is on the guest list, as is BDO top gun Steve Sorbello, Hopgood Ganim partner Michele Muscillo and Ord Minnett broker Greg Zappala.

Partygoers will be treated to cocktails, dinner and dancing, along with a bit of entertainment from operatic tenor Rosario La Spina.

“It’s going to be a pretty big shindig. It’s a fitting celebration to say thank you,’’ Di Bella said.

“I’m very proud of what I’ve achieved. I’ve had amazing people around me.’’

Di Bella plans to stay on as a consultant to RFG but has plenty of other irons in the fire, including property investment.

No surprise, either, that the hot black stuff is still central to his thinking.

Di Bella has a coffee roasting start-up entity in New York known as Abbotsford Road, named after the street in Bowen Hills where his headquarters is based.

Joining him in that venture are Buzz Café’s Logan Kedwell and Brisbane property player Karl Jameson.

NEW AIG BOSS

Three months after losing their Queensland top gun, the Australian Industry Group has finally tapped someone to fill the job.

The peak employer group announced yesterday that Shane Rodgers had taken on the role vacated by the late Jemina Dunn.

Rodgers has a long and detailed CV, filled with roles across business, government and media. His most recent job saw him spend two years as GM of the Goodstart Early Learning childcare group.

Before that, Rodgers toiled in print media, serving in senior roles at Queensland Newspapers (publisher of The Courier Mail), The Australian and APN. He has also been COO of Brisbane Marketing.

“I think the new role seemed like the perfect combination of everything I’ve done in the past,’’ Rodgers said.

Dunn left the AIG in July to become CEO at the South Bank Corporation but died suddenly earlier this month.