At Melbourne festival, multivendor cafe opens for 11 days

Hard on the heels of our coverage of the temporary stores launched by Podio and Playtype comes news of yet another pop-up venture. This time, though, it’s not a store but a cafe — one that was designed to showcase numerous Australian coffee vendors. The Melbourne Food & Wine Festival is an annual event that ran this year between March 2 and 21. Coinciding with the festivities this time around was The Broadsheet Cafe, a venue that was open to the public for just 11 days. Six local restaurant operators took turns running the cafe during that time, each showcasing its unique roasts, tastes and techniques. Drinks featured milk from a participating local provider, while the cafe’s design, furniture and magazines were supplied by yet others. “The idea is to build the ultimate Melbourne cafe with the city’s best coffee and baristas,” explained Broadsheet, the local publication after which the cafe was named. Similar in many ways to the brand-sponsored 5 for 5 Café in London and the Greenhouse by Joost a few years back in Melbourne, the Broadsheet Cafe surely also brought many of the same tryvertising benefits to its participating vendors. What better marketing is there, after all, than an easy way for consumers to test out your offerings for themselves? (Related: Collaborative pop-up store focuses on eco-friendly goods — Rice cracker brand’s cafés serve free drinks and snacks — Yellow Treehouse: pop-up restaurant, 10m up a tree.) Spotted by: Bec Kempster