Three Wheels Coffee, based in Norwood in Adelaide's inner east, roasts and supplies coffee to 42 wholesale accounts across South Australia and one, unusually, in Broken Hill. Its founder, Marta Kwiecinska, started the business in 2022 with a used ten-kilo roaster in a converted garage.
The growth pattern
The wholesale account list grew steadily but slowly for the first eighteen months. The inflection came, Kwiecinska says, when she stopped chasing accounts and started chasing recipe consistency. The cafes she wanted to sell to were, in most cases, more interested in a reliable partner than a novel coffee.
The first hire
The first hire, made at the end of year one, was a delivery driver who also handled invoicing. Kwiecinska's own time freed up by that hire, more than any other decision, was what allowed her to expand the customer base.
The next step
The current bottleneck is roasting capacity. A larger roaster costs roughly $85,000. Financing options are being reviewed. The decision is likely to be made this year.
