Tin Can Bay cafe Flippers reinvented as cocktail bar, restaurant

Controversial plans to transform a Tin Can Bay coffee hot spot into something else altogether have been defended by its owners as crucial to keeping its doors open.

Paul Walton and his wife Jackie took ownership of the Flippers in the Bay, originally called Tin Can Coffee, about a year ago and sold coffee and sandwiches.

Plans to transform a popular Tin Can Bay cafe into an afternoon cocktail bar and restaurant have been defended by its owners as crucial to its future.

Flippers In The Bay owner Paul Walton said on Tuesday the harsh reality of the hospitality industry meant that selling primarily coffee was no longer a viable option.

Flippers is located on The Esplanade of Tin Can Bay looking out over the waters and mud flats of the beautiful bay.

Mr Walton and his wife Jackie took ownership of the cafe, originally called Tin Can Coffee, about a year ago and sold coffee and sandwiches.

But the profit margin in coffee just isn’t there.

The changes were revealed on Monday morning in a post on the Flippers’ Facebook page.

In it, the couple said they were moving away from selling coffee as “there are just too many options and people are too demanding for what effectively is a very low profit item- I’d argue non profit”.

Controversial plans to transform popular Tin Can Bay cafe Flippers in the Bay into an afternoon cocktail, ice cream and dining experience have been defended by its owners Paul and Jackie Walton as crucial to its future.

It would extend instead to “morphing into a more cocktail bar (or) restaurant type business, with ice creams, milk shakes for the tourists and locals alike”.

“It’s been a year since Jackie and I took over Tin Can Coffee and created Flippers in the Bay.

“It’s been a valuable learning curve and we’ve made some great friends along the way.

“As part of our learning we have come to the realisation that coffee is not the direction we want to head. Without going into it too much there are just too many options and people are too demanding for what effectively is a very low profit item - I’d argue non profit.”

Mr Walton said Flippers, which they’d rebranded to help capture Tin Can Bay’s iconic connection with the dolphins and their feeding at nearby Barnacles – which has itself been subject to questions over its future – had ultimately become untenable in its existing operations.

“We’ve been forced to change,” he said.

“It’s not about greed, it’s about surviving.”
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Flippers owner Paul Walton said running a small business was becoming harder in the face of continual price rises and cost of living increases.

He said GST legislation around coffee meant Flippers was forced to pay about $60,000 each year in the tax.

This was not the case with goods like ice cream.

“It’s just becoming too hard for small businesses,” Mr Walton said.

“Hospitality is a tough gig.”

The news was met with some backlash over concerns about the loss of a breakfast and coffee spot in the coastal town.

Mr Walton said the response to the post was “disappointing”.

He understood people would be upset with the change, but the reality was keeping the business running by selling $5 coffees, and a growing desire for specialism in what they contain and how hot they need to be, in a climate where prices for milk, ingredients, and electricity were rising across the board was no longer viable.

Suggestions they should simply “put prices up” did not take into account the financial realities of Tin Can Bay, Mr Walton said.

Travellers from the Sunshine Coast might be willing to pay up to $7 for a coffee but “80 to 90 per cent” of the cafe’s business “would just go elsewhere”.

The changeover would start Monday, September 2, with the business to switch its open hours to 11.30am-8pm.

“We’re quite excited,” Mr Walton said.