Pursuits
Australia Is Exporting Its $3.2 Billion Café Culture to the World
Students undergo training at a Barista Basics class in Sydney. Photographer: Jeremy Piper/Bloomberg
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Raj and Sharon Sidhu quit their steady public-service jobs in Singapore last year to open a cafe in the city-state, one of Asia’s most competitive coffee-selling markets. For an edge, they spent a month learning the trade in Sydney.
“That’s where our gurus are,” Raj said over the telephone from his “House of Commons” coffee bar in Singapore’s vibrant Little India neighborhood. “Everyone who’s got a cafe here is influenced by the coffee movement in Australia. Even our decorations -- clocks, scales, rugs, burlap coffee bags -- it’s all from Sydney.”