I sat down with Young, one of the co-founders of Bobby Stop Stealing Our Camping Chairs, one of Melbourne's most talked about espresso bars. I came with one question: how does a $3 coffee survive?
I also asked what he would say to café operators charging $6 or $7 a cup. His answer was a grin and "Go get it, Tiger."
Here is what I took away, and why it matters if you care about how coffee is priced and served.
The name, and the chairs
Before the physical site, Young and his co-founder Michael ran pop-ups around the city with Bunnings stacking chairs out the front. A local called Bobby kept taking them. The chairs are now branded "Stolen by Bobby."
It is a good reminder that a name with a story gives people something to repeat, and that is half of how a new place gets talked about.
Why $3 is not a loss leader
Young was clear that the price is meant to work. The bar serves $3 espressos and $3 iced long blacks. He doesn't know why cafés charge extra for ice, so they don't.
The coffee is St Ali on an Eversys machine, which Young says took a lot of time to tune so the espresso tastes exactly how they like it. I noted it is an expensive machine that was bought outright, and it delivers consistent quality cup after cup.
His line on the economics: "We had to make sure the numbers make sense, because we need to eat." What's On Melbourne lists $3 long blacks and $4 milk coffees at the Spencer Street site, though menu pricing can change.
How that sits against Melbourne prices
Datasets differ, so treat these as context rather than a direct comparison. The Hey You and Westpac DataX Australian Daily Brew report, as covered by Beanscene Magazine, put the average Australian coffee at $4.63 for June 2024 to June 2025, with Victoria at $4.55. Square payments data, reported by CFOtech, had the national average café coffee at $5.83 in 2025, with Victoria at $6.11.
Costs are real for everyone. AAP News reports that Arabica and Robusta prices almost doubled between 2023 and 2025, and that café prices also reflect wages, rent and energy. The Australian Restaurant and Café Association has reportedly said café margins fell from about 3.5% to below 2.5%. That is an industry figure, not a Melbourne-specific one.
So a $3 espresso is a deliberate choice about where the margin comes from.
Volume and ambition
Young explained that the model only works with quantity. The second store opens within a month, and another is planned for next year. More sites means more negotiating power with the people they buy from, which lets the margin hold at $3.
They are not building one café. Young said the goal is a recognised Australian brand.
Community first, specialty second
The baseline is traditional coffee done to a high standard. There is no specialty theatre, and that is why regulars trust it. If specialty arrives later, it is an extra rather than the identity.
Young put the philosophy this way: the energy and the space should wake you up as much as the espresso does.
What this means for your event
The same thinking applies when you plan coffee for a team day or launch. Decide what the baseline cup must be, so every guest gets something dependable, then add extras where they suit the moment. If you are planning one in the city, our coffee cart hire Melbourne page covers how we approach it.
