Woodford, QLD is a charming little town nestled between lush forests and rolling hills, famous for its friendly community and country vibe. Its where rural charm meets seriously good treats and of course specialty coffee. Wander down the main street and you’ll spot a quaint little container, but don’t be fooled by its size – Grind & Graze is packed with stunning treats and bangin’ brews (their treats are so good I have to mute their Instagram, or I get sad looking at it).🥲
Grind & Graze has become a true community hub, where locals gather for slow mornings, on-the-go brews, and plenty of catch-ups along the way. I had the privilege of meeting Kerri and Joe many years ago, and we instantly connected through their passion for giving back to their community in any way they can. Grind & Graze is a special one – and one we’re proud to be roasting for. Let’s get to know them! ☀️
Hi Kerri, introduce yourself and your go to choice of coffee?
Hi all! I’m a mum of 3, CrossFit & Pilates fanatic and a lover of coffee!. We moved to Woodford in 2016 where I worked at a local bakery as a barista for 3 years whilst building my cake decorating business. Once that all got too much working from 4am-11.30am at the bakery and then straight home to decorate cakes until around 6pm we decided we could open our own coffee shop and do it all together. We opened Grind & Graze in May 2022 and it has grown more than we could have imagined. I’m very happy with what we have built in our local community and we haven’t looked back.
My go to coffee is a small double shot latte. If I’m feeling like a treat, I absolutely love a sweet mocha! On the weekend my go to coffee is a cold brew iced vanilla latte – so good (after my double shot latte of course)! During the week, I only ever have 1 coffee a day and my rule is no coffee after 12pm other I won’t be sleeping that night. Weekends are an exception where I have 2 coffees a day.
What was the inspiration behind opening Grind & Graze?
We are a young family with 3 kids, and we wanted to create a business that allowed us to spend more time together instead of apart. It’s out of the ordinary for a café not to be opened on weekends but that is what we have chosen to do. We solely operate Monday to Friday and close weekends, so we have quality family time with our kids. When we first started, we thought that we (my husband & I) would be able to run it ourselves and be happy to knock out 100+ coffees a day. Fast forward 3 years and we now have 6 staff and pump out 300+ coffees a day! We still don’t and won’t open weekends even though we have been asked by regulars many times to because that doesn’t align with our values.
What is special about the Woodford region that some might not know about?
Woodford has a real country community spirit. There are so many local groups that have weekly activities on around town. A lot of them love to visit Grind & Graze as a group once they’re finished and interact with each other on repeat every week. We have the likes of the oldies yoga class, the same ladies have a walking group on another day, a drumming group, the running club, CrossFit Woodford, Adaptive Movement Pilates and mum groups just to name a few. If you love a sense of community, Woodford is where it’s at. I love it here!
When you’re not pulling brews or hustling in the kitchen quite simply the most delicious treats we have seen, how do you spend your spare time?
I spend my spare time at CrossFit or Pilates. I’ve grown to absolutely love these, and these two local businesses are straight across the road from the café which makes it easy to attend. We’ve built a real community between us all which is a real vibe! On weekends you’ll find us out boating, at motorcross or doing fun things together as a family.
Any special memories or stories about some of your regular customers?
All our memories with our customers are special. We have so many regulars who visit us daily and we’ve built some very special relatio
nships with so many of them. Being a lot of peoples first interaction for the day, we find it so important to engage and build a rapport with them. I truly believe that many of our customers come in daily more so for our chats as opposed to actual needing a coffee hahah. It never actually feels like work to us as we have so much fun with our customers. They mean the absolute world to us.
We are stoked to be partnered with you and your business! Why did you choose SCCR for your coffee needs?
As you know, it can be quite hard to come across a good coffee. No matter where we were before we opened Grind & Graze and we visited a café that used SCCR it was always sensational. This was the reason we chose SCCR. From the get-go though, you have been an absolute pleasure to work with and have helped us in any way we needed. The products are always top level, and our business always feels like a priority to you. We’re stoked to be partnered with you guys. 
What’s next for Grind & Graze?
As for what’s next for Grind & Graze, we don’t have any new plans as such except to just keep providing the community with epic coffee + toasties + sweet treats. We have just purchased a canning machine though to provide our customers with take home iced lattes to enjoy on the weekends when we’re not open. Genius if you ask me.