It began, like so many businesses, with a belief that things could be done better.

 

After returning from overseas, Steve Gianoutsos got a job as a coffee sales rep.

 

“I’d be in and out of cafes all day and would think, I could do better than that,” says Steve.

 

And so the former Army cadet did, helping out at his father Lambros’ café and then opening Espresso Republic in the heart of Wellington’s CBD.

 

Unhappy with the quality of coffee he was being supplied, Steve imported a coffee roaster from Germany and taught himself the finer points of coffee roasting.

 

Not long after he sold his Featherston Street café, he found the perfect site for the first Mojo café and roastery - on the corner of Wakefield and Taranaki Streets – and so began the Mojo success story.

 

These days, more than 120 staff around the country look to Steve for their livelihood, and the Mojo logo can be seen on 15 cafes around the country: 12 in Wellington and one apiece in Christchurch, Auckland and Dunedin.

 

The father of three has complete ownership of only three of those cafes: the others are half-owned by his former staff, whereby he underwrites the venture and they run it as their own business.

 

“Working in cafes doesn’t finance you into your own business, but if you’re a good worker and you understand what we’re trying to do here, then there’s the opportunity to have your own business. Someone once gave me a chance, so why would I not extend that to others?”  

 

Steve sources coffee beans from all over the world, including Guatemala, Panama and El Salvador and his chief roaster, his father Lambros, roasts well over 300kg of beans a day.

 

The secret to his success, believes Steve, is to be a businessman first, and a coffee aficionado second.