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Faces of Peppercorn Hill. Meet Peppercino Café’s Ven Kavuluru.
Faces of Peppercorn Hill. Meet Peppercino Café’s Ven Kavuluru.
April 2024 in Events & Local Area
We all know that Melburnians love their coffee!
Well, luckily for Peppercorn Hill residents in need of a little caffeine fix (or a mouth-watering sweet treat, or a delicious light meal), now they don't have to travel far to get it.
A favourite with the team at the Peppercorn Café Land Sales Office, Peppercino has quickly established itself our ‘go to’ café of choice for its perfectly blended house-roasted coffee, not to mention mouth-watering sweet treats and light meals – just the place for a pick me up, no matter what time of day.
So we thought we would take the opportunity to introduce you to Ven Kavuluru who owns and operates the café, along with his wife Shilpa.
Tell us a little bit about you (and your family)?
“Shilpa and I live just down the road from Peppercorn Hill in Kalkallo, where we are kept on our toes by beautiful 4 year old daughter, Shreya Charlotte! It’s great only having to travel 10 minutes to get to ‘the office’.”
How – and why – did you get started in the food and beverage industry?
“Well, for the past 18 years I have been working in the fuel and retail industry in various roles. For the past four of these I have actually owned and operated my own BP Servo on Melbourne’s busy urban fringe, while Shilpa, who is a qualified chartered accountant and CPA, has been working as Financial Manager for a flooring company.
“However, we’d always shared a passion for owning a café of our own, and so when the opportunity to open one at Peppercorn Hill came up, we jumped at it! We first saw an ad for the business in August last year. We quickly organised to meet with the broker, liked what we heard, then went through a pretty rigorous interview process with the Developers who wanted to make sure we were the right fit (luckily, we were), and the rest, as they say, is history!
“It's been a fantastic journey so far. We both wanted to operate a business in a vibrant and close knit community and Peppercino definitely scratches that itch! Peppercorn Hill is one of the most dynamic and exciting estates in Melbourne’s rapidly developing Melbourne’s northern fringe, with huge potential for further growth. Additionally, we knew from asking around and talking to people, both this estate and the neighbouring estates were clearly crying out for a locally based quality food/coffee experience.
“For us it was a great opportunity to step in and address that need by opening a business with a huge amount of future upside, but we also spent a lot of time seeking recommendations and suggestions from lots of people within the community at the outset to ensure we could deliver the best experience possible for everyone in the area.”
When did Café Peppercino open?
“We opened on 30 November last year and literally hit the ground running! It’s been great. We have been so well supported by the community from day one. And we have repeatedly received compliments from customers telling us that Peppercino offers some the best food and coffee they’ve ever tasted, and that our customer service is second to none, which has been such amazing feedback.”
How many employees do you have?
“Our team currently comprises three baristas, two kitchen hands, two chefs and two front facing staff, with me and Shilpa sharing management of the day to day operations between us in and around our other jobs.”
What do you love most about running Peppercino?
“I have always loved working with other people. So it would definitely have to be meeting new customers, enjoying early morning conversations with our growing band of regulars and the opportunity it’s given us to really engage with the local community. We also take real pride in knowing that we deliver great customer service – we were awarded more than ten 5-star reviews within the first three weeks of opening.
“Plus there’s a real sense of satisfaction that comes from ensuring that our food and beverage offering meets our customers’ expectations and that we’re delivering great value at a reasonable price point compared to our competitors, which means that we’re able to provide the best quality and service. Of course it helps having a great coffee supplier. Cortado Coffee is roasted right here in Melbourne. They’ve supported us from the get-go, and we love being able to serve such a quality local product .
What is the most unusual thing that has happened to you so far at Peppercino?
“So far, it has to be a local customer who loves our coffee and often pops in for a quick cuppa, but always buys a large bag of coffee beans at the same time! I am like, really? What is she doing with those beans? Why doesn't she just leave it to the experts? LOL!”
What is your ‘go to’ dishes on the Peppercino Café men?
“Easy! The Chicken Schnitzel Burger with sweet potato fries is my absolute favourite meal, closely followed by Chicken Tandoori Tortilla with sweet potato chips. Yes, I confess, I am a sucker for sweet potato!”
What are your 3 favourite things to do in and around Donnybrook?
“I absolutely love taking my daughter on the Jumping Balloon in the playground right next door to our café. Funfields water theme park in Whittlesea is also a great place for the whole family to spend an afternoon on a sunny summer’s day.”
Make sure you drop into Peppercino Café, introduce yourself to Ven and Shilpa, and try their coffee. We know you will fall in love with it!
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