The director of a long-standing cafe business is continuing to focus on growing the venture and pursuing its social enterprise goals. That’s despite being forced to close one of its venues in a high-profile shopping centre.
Katie Johnston, from Eats, which was established in Eumundi in 1989, says the business is focused on helping others out of generational poverty, and its first restaurant outside Australia is under construction in South America.
“I’ve currently got my chief operations officer over in Peru working on the project at the moment,” Ms Johnston said.
SUBSCRIBE here now for our FREE news feed, direct to your inbox daily.
Aside from the Eats cafe in Eumundi, which is continuing to operate, the business expanded to Brisbane three months ago, opening in the Westfield Carindale Shopping Centre.
“We got that location off the back of being a Queensland-bred social enterprise business,” Ms Johnston said.
The business also includes a small Eats cafe in Vitality Village at Birtinya that mostly does corporate catering.
“I actually gifted that business to a lady only two weeks ago,” Ms Johnston said this week.
“I wanted to do something good, now we have a business operator who really is passionate to make it the best it can be.
“The business needed someone who had time to give to the catering side of things.”
Ms Johnston, who took over Eats in 2018, said her chief operating officer Gustavo Rojas had recently been delivering school packs to children in Peru who could not afford stationery.
She said that area of Peru was a “forgotten place because the environment there is minus-20 and no one wants to go”.
“Gustavo is from Peru, he knows the landscape and culture, and is doing a feasibility study to create self-sustainable communities where, despite the freezing temperatures, communities will be able to grow their own food and stay warm,” she said.
“Many children are dying from simply freezing to death. It’s horrifying what an easy fix it can be with the right logistics and resources.
“We have already invested in getting indoor fireplaces and wall and ceiling insulation, which they haven’t even heard of.
“It’s an 11-hour journey to the closest city, so it’s quite a mission but a worthy one when you see the gratitude in their eyes.”
Above: Gustavo Rojas after handing out stationery to children in Peru.
Eats also had a cafe in Sunshine Plaza that opened in 2019, but Ms Johnston said it closed in March this year because it was unable to meet rental payments.
“We’re a social enterprise and any money that’s leaking out needs to be fixed, because that money goes towards people who are dying of starvation and homeless in Peru,” she said.
“So it was financially necessary but not for my own benefit: it was for our social enterprises in Peru.”
She said the rental problem for the Plaza cafe, which was located on the second level near David Jones, had been exacerbated in the aftermath of COVID, after a rental abatement ended and deferred payments kicked in.
In response, Sunshine Plaza centre manager Michael Manwaring said individual rental agreements were determined on a case-by-case basis.
“While we can’t discuss details of individual rental agreements, we value each retailer and always welcome the opportunity to discuss arrangements,” he said.
“We’re always looking for opportunities to evolve the centre to ensure we continually meet the changing needs of our customers and the community.”
Like stories about Sunshine Coast people doing great things? Help us deliver more by registering for our FREE daily news feed. All it requires is your name and email at the bottom of this article.
