Zarraffa’s Coffee to open new Toowoomba drive-through only outlet in Harristown

A popular Australian coffee chain is about to launch its latest Toowoomba store, just a short drive from its most recent location. Here’s what makes this cafe distinct:

Zarraffa's Coffee franchisee Damian Doyle is opening his second location, which will be drive-through only, on Anzac Avenue in Harristown.

One of Australia’s largest coffee chains has opened its first “drive-through only” cafe in Toowoomba, in a bid to capture the city’s fast-growing western suburbs.

Zarraffa’s Coffee, which currently has two stores in the Garden City, will launch its Harristown location on the corner of Anzac Ave and Alderley St on Friday morning.

The drive-through store is franchisee Damian Doyle’s second site and is less than 2km down the road from his other store, also on Anzac Ave in Harristown.

Despite the proximity, Mr Doyle said the location was perfect to capture the large industrial workforce in Harristown as well as outbound and east-west traffic.

“This particular site was chosen because it’s capturing outbound traffic, but also the east-west traffic on Alderley St,” he said.

“I hadn’t realised the amount of traffic flowing that way every day.

“There’s also a very big industrial area in Harristown, there would be 1200 people within a 1.5km radius of the store.

“The drive-through actually a bit wider than the last one, so we welcome all dual-cab LandCruisers.”

Zarraffa's Coffee franchisee Damian Doyle is opening his second location, which will be drive-through only, on Anzac Avenue in Harristown.

Operating from 4.30am to 8pm every day, the location will employ more than 20 new people.

“One of the most rewarding parts is being able to employ local juniors and support them as they grow into managerial roles or professionals in other industries, including to date, paramedics, lawyers, accountants, actors and directors,” Mr Doyle said.

“It’s also important to me that I build strong relationships with local schools.

“This allows us to help students enter the workforce – we have six new school-based trainees starting with us soon.”

Mr Doyle, who has run Zarraffa’s in Toowoomba since 2009, said the new store reflected changing market trends around coffee.

Zarraffa's Coffee franchisee Damian Doyle is opening his second location, which will be drive-through only, on Anzac Avenue in Harristown.

“Opening this drive-thru only store has been a long-term goal of mine and the concept is perfect for relieving the high demand on our existing Anzac Ave store, while offering a quick and easy coffee fix for our customers,” he said.

Mr Doyle said his son Mackenzie would join the team as a co-franchisee, which he said was a natural decision.

“Having Mackenzie on board makes this venture even more special — he has literally grown up around coffee most of his life, and together with our team we’re committed to providing top quality specialty coffee and excellent service to our community,” he said.

“He’s in the commercial finance sector and was looking for an investment and he’s been with the brand since he was 12.”

Zarraffa’s Coffee chief executive Marnie Sheldon said Harristown was one of just six drive-through across Australia.

“Our Harristown store represents the future of Zarraffa’s Coffee, one of many of our new store locations that will be built on smaller, non-traditional sites that are more convenient for our customers, and we’re excited to see the positive impact this new location will have on the Toowoomba community,” she said.