Villa & Hut Blog

Villa & Hut takes off in Warrnambool !!

On June 9, 2010 Villa & Hut Warrnambool opened its doors!

The aroma of homemade pies and quiches coming from the oven, warm muffins out on baking trays lined the benches, the exclusive Van Leuvan hand made Villa & Hut bread displayed along the counters, putamayo music playing through the centre speakers made us all very excited! It wasn’t before long the locals had filled the leather seating lounges and were sipping chai lattes, children played in the kids play area, while the rest of Warrnambool lined up for a chance to taste the award winning Villa & Hut coffees.

Lunch time came and went as customers enjoyed some of our favorite dishes in the formal dining area – Marrakech salads, nasi goring and Cajun calamari…..

A big welcome to Warrnambool and our new franchisee – Bec & Emmy!!

By Tracey Trueman

How does a country of Australia’s wealth and aptitude allow over 100,000 people to go homeless every night?

How is it that more than 12,000 children are without a roof over their head, no mattress under their body and no doona to tuck them in?

On June 17, 2010 – 116 fellow CEO’s spent the evening discussing ways to tackle this issue, and then spent the night sleeping out on the steps of Etihad Stadium here in Melbourne – with over 650 CEO’s doing the same elsewhere around Australia.  With ideas & initiatives put to bed around midnight, it was time to bunker down, with nothing but some cardboard and a sleeping bag between us and the concrete concourse.

The most unanticipated part of this project, for me was the insight into the fear that must grip every homeless person as they struggle to mix sleep with a conscious awareness of being so exposed to your surroundings, the elements, and the dangers of being attacked or worse.

No one should ever have to face that fear.  That is why at Villa & Hut we have committed to working with St. Vinnie’s this year to help support, volunteer and raise funds and awareness for all those who need shelter.

What I took away from this experience is that it can happen to anyone of us -  it could be your sister, a coworker or a neighbour – so take the time and donate or volunteer.

Regards, Warmth & Shelter

Franz

How do you measure success?

Is it by the amount of digits in your bank account, the title on your business card, the number on your bathroom scale, the zip code you live in or how many friends you have on Facebook?

It’s different for everyone. I can only describe the Coffee Experience at the Good Food & Wine Show in Melbourne as a huge ginormous success. Steve Agi and the crew at BeanScene put together quite a show – I actually think it was THE BEST part of the entire Good Food & Wine Show. It was high energy, lots of coffee and not to mention foxy guests on the stage like Manu Fieldel. There was the Latte Smackdown – to find out who made the best latte art in Melbourne. Eugene from Southwharf represented Villa & Hut in the Latte Smackdown and although he was not the final winner, he did an amazing job. We are all so proud of him.

It was great to meet our loyal customers who understand our passion for great coffee and convert those who haven’t tried our exclusive How’ya Bean Blend.

Watch people’s face as the experience our Vanilla Chai Latte for the first time and understand why we are famous for our Chai!

With your help at the show we were able to raise over $2005 for Vinnie’s CEO Sleepout. There is still time to donate (click here),

It was soo cool to be a apart of the first Coffee Experience at the Good Food & Wine Show in Australia.

The success was immeasurable.

Special thanks to everyone who helped make it happen!

The winner is Chris Brereton!!!!!!!!!!!!

Introducing The Villa & Hut P.O.E.T.S. Society

Are you wondering what poetry and Villa & Hut have in common – not much?

We know how are hard it is to get through the work week. So we have created the P.O.E.T.S. Society (Piss Off Early Tomorrow is Saturday)- One lucky winner will receive a $50 Villa & Hut Kafe gift certificate.

This Friday take a long lunch, bring a friend it’s on us! We all need something to get us through the week. So stay tuned you could be next.

One lucky winner will be announced every 1st Thursday of the month. Must be an active blog subscriber by email to win. So tell your friends to subscribe to the Villa & Hut Blog.

The winner is Chris Brereton!!!!!!!!!!!!
The winner has been notified via email of their win and will be mailed their $50 gift certificate upon receipt of his address.

Just published Villa & Hut’s Vnews Winter 2010 edition

* Please note that the correct website address for GroundsZero “The Official Recycling Program for the Coffee Industry” is www.groundszero.com.au