2025 Wrap Up. Café Reality Check: Adjustment, Relentless Costs & What Comes Next, With Raihaan Esat

2025 was not a “business as usual” year for cafés. It was a year of adjustment.

In this final episode of Bean There, Done That for 2025, Phil Di Bella is joined by long-time collaborator and one of Australia’s top coffee minds, Raihaan Esat, General Manager of International Coffee Traders. Together, they unpack a relentless year for café owners: rising costs across the board, shifting consumer psychology, the comeback of instant coffee, and why knowing your numbers and your customers is now non-negotiable.

They dig into:

Why 40–50% of a menu price is wages

How automation helps (and where it ruins the café experience)

The move from “customers” to “guests”

Menu simplification, disposable income and ham & cheese croissants

Government and council support that actually moved the needle

Innovation from farm to cup and sustainable pricing for coffee farmers

Phil closes with a challenge: grab a pen and map out what December 2026 looks like for you, your café, your family and your community.

In this episode:

2025 in one word: “Adjustment”