Oikos Cafe Ipswich to open second location

Discounts will be offered to customers who say no to plastic lids

Oikos Cafe Ipswich co-owner Brett Briggs. Photo: Ebony Graveur

A DISCOUNT will soon be on offer for coffee drinkers who forgo a plastic lid at a popular Ipswich cafe.

Takeaway customers who say no to the plastic will feel a little richer - and the new perk is among several "green" changes the team at Oikos Cafe Ipswich is gearing up to introduce as the business grows.

Brett Briggs, who co-owns the cafe with his wife Christie, said the duo was in the process of opening a second location.

"We're not going to franchise but we're looking into coffee carts and trailers," Mr Briggs said.

"We're just in the process of building a coffee caravan - exciting things are on the way."

Oikos Cafe Ipswich co-owner Brett Briggs. Photo: Ebony Graveur

Sustainability influenced the Limestone St cafe's ethos from the outset, with produce sourced locally and leftovers donated to the homeless.

Mr and Mrs Briggs opened the cafe in 2018 and were barely a year into growing their business when they were forced to navigate Covid.

"We had to pivot constantly as a small business," Mr Briggs said.

As nearby businesses sent staff to work from home, customer numbers fell.

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"It was the right thing to do to do what the government has said and go home," Mr Briggs said.

"But as a small business we still had rent to pay - the three-day lockdown put us $10,000 behind."

Takeaway only became the norm at Oikos for six months and customers were able to order food in advance and collect it from the front window.

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"We were pretty transparent with people and said 'this is our strategy'," Mr Briggs said.

Having just welcomed their second child, and, with little government help available to new businesses, the couple were among many business owners caught between a rock and a hard place.

"I took on a second job - I would help with the coffee rush but then I would step out and was doing between 70 and 80-hour weeks," Mr Briggs said.

"We had an awesome team here so I said I would step out and let them run the show."

 

Read more news by Ebony Graveur.

Originally published as Oikos Cafe Ipswich to open second location