Published on 23/10/2020 by Any Business.Com.Au

Cafe Industry Bodies

Top Café Industry Bodies in Australia You Need to Know About

Once you've bought your café and are running it, how do you keep up to date with the industry so you're not left behind? Industry bodies open the door to a whole range of valuable business resources. Through your industry body, you can find suppliers, connect with other businesses, make new contacts, and generate new business. Among other things, industry bodies:Provide key information and updates, from new regulations to the latest technologySupply training and education programsLobby on your behalfHost events, seminars, networking opportunities and competitions.Get ahead of the game by becoming a member of a relevant café industry body. Here are just a few out there that could be invaluable to you:

Restaurant & Catering Australia (R&CA)

Perhaps one of the biggest food service industry bodies in Australia, Restaurant & Catering Australia represents over 35,000 restaurants, cafés, and catering businesses across the country. High on its agenda is promoting profitability and sustainability across the industry, so it actively pursues relevant national issues and projects that will impact your business. The not-for-profit organisation promotes and advocates for your interests to encourage growth across the sector. It issues a monthly magazine, hosts awards for excellence, and even offers a Digital Business Kit to kick-start your business.Click here to find more details and become a member today.

FoodService Industry Australia (FIA)

FIA gathers together food and beverage industry bodies and organisations across Australia and collaborates with them to promote the industry through networking and information-sharing. It provides information and education opportunities and hosts business events so you can learn from the leaders in your industry. Vast sectors of the industry come together at FIA to share their knowledge and experience, including food manufacturers, equipment supplies, culinary education and training, and foodservice distributors.Access their website to find more details and become a member.

Café Owners & Baristas Association of Australia (COBAA)

COBAA is the newbie on the industry associations scene (it was launched in February 2014) but if there's one authority to join, this would be it. Why? COBAA specifically represents the interests of independent and franchised cafés throughout Australia. The industry body works with other associations, important café suppliers, distributors, franchise operators, café events, media and the financial services sector so you can get the most out of your business. COBAA provides café business owners and coffee professionals with up-to-date information on important industry changes and relevant trends and enhances cross-industry networking. It also advocates for café owners when important issues are raised. If you want to become a member or find out more, check out more on the COBAA website.

Australian Specialty Coffee Association (ASCA)

You probably deal with coffee a fair bit in your line of work. So the idea of joining a coffee association may be a good idea. ASCA is the coffee authority in Australia created to give the coffee industry a voice. Founded by enthusiastic coffee professionals, ASCA membership is open to anyone interested in specialty coffee. This industry body runs coffee competitions and holds events for members and non-members. It even has a Barista Guild which provides cupping sessions and other fun and friendly coffee-related events. Find out more by checking out their website here.

Australian Coffee Traders Associations Inc (ACTA)

ACTA has been around a long time and is, alongside ASCA, an important and influential authority in the café industry. Its mission is to improve coffee standards and provide a united voice for coffee industries across Australia. ACTA also liaises with the media and regulatory bodies to promote coffee. Among its achievements, ACTA lists the exclusion of coffee from GST, so you know they're serious about forwarding your interests.You'll find plenty of business contacts through ACTA. As a platform for networking, ACTA has connections with the Rainforest Alliance, the Fair Trade movement, and more. For more information, go to the ACTA website here.

Want to Know More?

To learn more about owning a café, check out the following articles:Handy Hints for Marketing Your CaféAustralian Café Licences and Permits You Can't Go Without*Keep 'Em Happy: Hiring and Managing Café Staff

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Mary is the founder of AnyBusiness.com.au. She has a degree in Business from Monash University and been helping showcase businesses for sale for over 10 years. In the course of running her own business and working daily with business owners and brokers she has developed a keen sense of the Australian market for businesses for sale and shares her knowledge on this blog and others such as female.com.au

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