Who owns Melbourne’s biggest cafe groups

They’ve capitalised on Melbourne’s coffee culture to launch their empires. These are the people behind the city’s top cafes and what they’re planning to do next.

Melbourne is famous for its coffee culture, but do you know the main players behind our city’s most popular cafes?

Here’s a look at the movers and shakers in Melbourne’s brunch scene.

THE MULBERRY GROUP

Nathan Toleman, Ben Clark and Diamond Rozakeas

The trio established the Mulberry Group back in 2011 and are best known for their popular Richmond cafe Top Paddock, which opened in 2013.

Soon after they opened South Melbourne’s “breakfast restaurant” The Kettle Black in 2016 and followed with Higher Ground on Spencer St opposite Southern Cross Station.

But two years later, the group sold their share in all three venues to The Darling Group, which already owns a number of well-known Melbourne venues.

The Kettle Black in South Melbourne.

After the 2018 sale of their founding three venues, The Mulberry Group opened another cafe, Liminal, in the T & G Building on Collins St in May 2019 and Great Ocean Road farm and cafe Common Ground Project.

Hazel; a restaurant and Dessous; an underground wine bar opened on Flinders Lane’s historic Richard Allen & Sons building in October 2019.

A restaurant and wine bar followed in October of that year, Hazel and Dessous

At the start of 2020, the group opened another two regional venues — La Cantina at the Common Ground Project and The Beach House Geelong.

Mulberry Group also owns coffee label Square One Coffee, which supplies to a number of cafes across town.

Toleman is also in business with Kate and Cameron Reid, of Lune Croissanterie.

DARLING GROUP

Darling Cafe, Dundas and Faussett, Bambu

Owned by father and son team Sam and Nicholas Seoud, Darling Group is best known for its cafes — South Yarra’s Darling Cafe and Albert Park’s Dundas & Faussett — and southeast Asian restaurant Bambu at the South Melbourne Market.

The duo acquired three established Melbourne cafes in 2018 from The Mulberry Group — Higher Ground, The Kettle Black and Top Paddock.

Julien Moussi, director, Only Hospitality Group. Picture: Supplied.

ONLY HOSPITALITY GROUP

Bentwood Fitzroy, MOB Camberwell, Clubhouse Malvern, Glovers Station Elsternwick, Nelson Box Hill, Winter Malvern, Stanley Mount Waverley, Juliette Coffee and Bread, Inglewood Coffee

Julien Moussi’s VFL career came to an abrupt end after an ACL injury.

But for the then-21 year old, it was only the start of his booming cafe career.

To pass time on the sidelines, Moussi started making coffees at games, which eventually evolved into managing a coffee cart at the footy matches.

Fig and mascarpone at Nelson Box Hill. Picture: Supplied.

What followed was a multimillion dollar cafe empire, totalling 16 venues including stand-alone cafes, a pub and Ingelwood Coffee Roasters.

Bentwood in Fitzroy, MOB in Camberwell, Clubhouse Malvern and Stanley in Mount Waverley are among the popular cafes.

Recently Moussi entered the bakery game, opening Juliette Coffee and Bread in five locations in metro Melbourne. He’s also just opened Buckley in Sorrento and will soon open Vermont General Store.

Hugh Hindle, Matt Vero, Steve Rowley, Cam Reid at Port Melbourne’s Station Street Trading Co.

STEVE ROWLEY AND MATT VERO

Left Field, Plain Sailing, Tall Timber, Touchwood, Nine Yards

Steve Rowley, Matt Vero and Hugh Hindle first appeared on Melbourne’s cafe scene almost one decade ago when they opened cafe Armadale’s Coin Laundry.

The trio had a stint at Port Melbourne’s Station Street Trading Company (also with Cam Reid of Lune Croissanterie fame) before opening Tall Timber in Prahran in 2013.

Vero was also working with publicans Will Benjamin and Callan Hitchens around that time to open Prahran’s Mount Erica Hotel.

Rowley also had other business ventures he was working on. With his partner Bree Johnson and three others, he launched Frank Body — a coffee scrub which became a global beauty brand.

Rowley and Vero have had several partnerships in cafes over the years, and most recently they opened Nine Yards in South Melbourne with Kerrie Townley, Kenny Oliver and Lydia Hean.

Kate Reid from Lune Croissant and Nathan Toleman from Hazel/Dessous. Picture: Jake Nowakowski.

KATE REID, CAMERON REID AND NATHAN TOLEMAN

Lune Croissainterie, Moon Cruller

Croissant dream team siblings Kate and Cameron Reid joined forces with cafe king Nathan Toleman to open their now famous Fitzroy HQ in 2015. Since then, Lune has grown to open another CBD store and in Brisbane, and new business Moon selling pastry/doughnut hybrid the cruller. Lune has developed a cult following for attracting long (now socially-distanced) lines outside of its stores.

St Ali owner Salvatore Malatesta. Picture: Nicki Connolly.

SALVATORE MALATESTA

St Ali, Sensory Lab, Clement, Auction Rooms

Lawyer turned coffee aficionado Salvatore Malatesta didn’t open St Ali back in 2005. It was Mark Dundon, a pioneer in the city’s coffee scene who sold the business in 2008 to work at Carlton’s Seven Seeds. Malatesta may not have coined St Ali but he certainly grew the business to become the city’s most identifiable coffee brand.

St Ali now owns several other coffee brands around town, including Sensory Lab, Clement and Auction Rooms cafes. There’s also a St Ali at Melbourne Airport and in Jakarta, Indonesia.

During Covid St Ali ‘pivoted’ again, turning five of its 13 venues into grocery stores and amping its online offering.