Seven Seeds

Overview

Seven Seeds was founded in 2007 by Mark Dundon and Bridget Amor, who took the company's name from the seventeenth-century legend of Baba Budan smuggling seven coffee seeds out of Yemen. Dundon — credited as 'the godfather of Australian specialty coffee' for his earlier work at Brunswick's Ray and South Melbourne's St. Ali — sold St. Ali in 2008 and converted a Carlton warehouse into the Seven Seeds roastery and cafe, doubling down on filter, cold drip and lighter roasts at a time when Melbourne was dominated by dark espresso blends.

Known for

• Brother Baba Budan (2006) and Traveller Coffee CBD espresso bars under the same ownership
• 60kg Probat plus two smaller roasters at the Fairfield wholesale headquarters since 2017
• Saint Lucia coffee farm in Honduras — Dundon is a partner with the Miersch family
• Paramount House Hotel and Paramount Coffee Project in Sydney as side ventures with Russell Beard
• Golden Gate espresso blend as the signature retail line

Why it matters

Seven Seeds is the operational core of Mark Dundon's wider portfolio and one of the foundational Melbourne roasters whose move to lighter roasts and traceable single origins helped reset the city's specialty bar in the late 2000s. Many of Melbourne's senior roasters and cafe operators trained at Seven Seeds before opening their own businesses.

Production

destoning

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head roaster

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color sorting

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roaster machine

60kg Probat plus two smaller roasters

filter equipment

Pour-over, cold drip and siphon

cupping frequency

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roastery location

Fairfield, Melbourne (since 2017; previously Carlton)

espresso equipment

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annual volume tonnes

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Café

114 Berkeley Street, Carlton VIC 3053

Recognitions

• Mark Dundon — widely referred to as 'the godfather of Australian specialty coffee' across Australian trade press

Sources

• https://every.coffee/roaster/seven-seeds
• https://www.broadsheet.com.au/melbourne/carlton/cafes/seven-seeds
• https://squareup.com/au/en/the-bottom-line/case-studies/seven-seeds
• https://www.broadsheet.com.au/melbourne/food-and-drink/article/coffee-iconoclast
• https://filtertravelbycoffee.substack.com/p/melbourne-by-the-godfather-of-coffee