Photography courtesy of Urban Promotion

In 2015, Newcastle’s coffee game was significantly lifted when mates Trent and Adam launched their wholesale business – Darks Coffee Roasters.

Almost eight years later the Darks Coffee Roasters name continues to be a strong brand in the local coffee scene. With the arrival of their newest kiosk on Hunter Street, we figured it was time to catch up to see how things were travelling with this once-small operation.

Launching with wholesale at their roasting headquarters in Mayfield West back in 2015, Darks expanded 12 months later into their now very iconic shipping container space at McDonald Jones Stadium.

“We had the wholesale going and the opportunity came up for us to open the shipping container at the stadium. That was great because it gave the business a bit of a public face that we wouldn’t have had otherwise,” Trent said.

The past eight years have seen the brand grow its wholesale offering with venues across not only Newcastle, Hunter Valley, and the Central Coast but even one as far south as Tasmania!

“We’ve always aspired for growth in the wholesale side of things. With the coffee shops, we’ve only done them if the right opportunity came up.”

In 2022, the Darks Coffee Cart opened on the ground floor of the University of Newcastle’s Q building in Honeysuckle, now fuelling not only University staff and students but workers from surrounding Honeysuckle offices.

“Our kiosks focus on the coffee and a bit of food. We’re not trying to be a dine-in café. We’re not at the point where we want to offer that. Our focus is on the coffee and everything that goes around that. Having said that, we are doing a little bit more here around the food.”

In late 2023, we saw Darks Coffee Roasters round out their coffee kiosks to three with the launch of their Hunter Street space – right opposite the Newcastle Comedy Club.

“We originally started the conversation about leasing this space almost a year and a half ago. The fit wasn’t quite right at the time. So, I reached back out to them all this time later when I realised the space was still empty.”

Whilst still small in size, the newest addition packs a little more punch than the venues that came before it with a slightly expanded food and drinks range.

“We’ve expanded our toastie and wrap range. We’re doing some fresh salads and we’ve also added in a small cooked-to-order menu. A lot of it is still convenient grab-and-go style food.

“Just having that little bit of extra space in here means that we can offer a bit more. So, we’re also doing juices, milkshakes, and fresh fruit smoothies.”

Currently open Monday to Friday, Trent hopes to extend those hours to weekends later in 2024.

“At the end of the day, we’re still a kiosk so it’s all fairly simple stuff. Hunter Street is just an expansion on the offering of what we have at the stadium and at the University.”

Drop into Darks Coffee Roasters on Hunter Street, get a cup of their iconic blends, and sample their newly expanded range of food and drinks.