Coffee Mio History

In the days before 'café society' in Australia, Mario Berra had a simple idea. Take nature's raw product, the humble coffee bean, and transform it into something enticing, aromatic and inviting. Today we know this product as Coffee MIO, the epitome of coffee roasting and blending finesse. Back in the early 1960's however, with café society being little more than a ragged gathering of 'new arrivals' coming together over a game of cards and the occasional short black, Mario Berra, and later his brother Franco, took a gamble and using a second-hand coal-burning roaster set out to redefine the term 'coffee' in Australia.

Working from the back of a shed that was cramped with all the accoutrements of a fledgling cottage industry, the two brothers sold their product in hand-filled hessian sacks out of the back of a not too reliable van to sympathetic café owners. They managed to build a steady band of loyal clients looking for quality products. By the late 1960's Coffee MIO was established as a brand name in its own right, and now operates successfully out of Melbourne, Australia-wide.

Coffee MIO has built on that early foresight, having established ties with the world-renowned Gaggia company, as Australasia's sole importer and distributor of their uniquely stylish commercial coffee machines. Little wonder then that at Coffee MIO coffee is not just a product, it is our passion, born and bred of a desire to excel in providing you the client with the best possible product and service. Coffee MIO, being a boutique company as such, has the time and patience to listen to your needs. We pride ourselves on being large enough to cope with any substantial local, interstate or international order, but at the same time small enough to look after the needs of a small café who wants to give to give their customers great coffee.