The origins of coffee and rising importance of provenance

Our bakers work around the clock to bake enough fresh, delicious bread and pastries.

Not 4 a.m.

ALL night.

So, bakers want coffee.

Since 2016, Baker Bleu has quietly been serving its bakers and themselves coffee throughout the night.

Mia and Mike Russell were working late into the night when the first store in Elsternwick was gaining popularity, serving filtered coffee out the back. As the bakery grew and expanded, coffee naturally became part of the offering alongside pastries and bread, developed with our friends at Market Lane.

The partnership began with a need for great coffee but has become something much more, a shared belief that we should know where what we consume comes from. At Baker Bleu and Market Lane, it goes deeper than that—we value the stories of place, people, and process.

At the heart of that story lies coffee itself—its origins and the growing importance of provenance.

The coffee served in our venues originates from the equatorial “coffee belt,” where altitude, climate, and soil shape every bean. For decades, coffee was largely consumed as a commodity, blended, anonymised, and stripped of its origin. But in recent years, thankfully, a shift has taken place.

The ability to trace coffee back to a specific farm, region, or producer has become central to how we understand quality.

Since its founding in 2009, Market Lane Coffee has championed this approach, building long-term relationships with growers and roasting in a way that highlights seasonality and origin character. Their philosophy is that coffee should be traceable, transparent, and respectful of the people who produce it. That’s why Market Lane visits producers and farms around the world each year.

Image credit: Fazenda Progresso, with the Chapada Diamantina mountain range in the background.

This commitment to craft and integrity is what first connected Market Lane and Baker Bleu back in 2016. Both businesses are grounded in a deep respect for process—whether it’s slow fermentation in breadmaking or careful sourcing and roasting in coffee.

At Baker Bleu, every loaf reflects time, technique, and ingredient quality. At Market Lane, every coffee reflects relationships, transparency, and seasonality. Together, they create an experience where bread and coffee are not separate elements, but part of the same conversation about origin and care.

Image credit: Left: flowering coffee trees at Fazenda Progresso. Right: Fazenda Progresso.

Today’s coffee drinkers are more curious than ever.

Coffee is no longer just a beverage; it has become a connection to landscapes, communities, and livelihoods.

Market Lane’s commitment to provenance extends beyond sourcing. As a certified B Corporation, the company meets rigorous standards of social and environmental responsibility, embedding accountability into every part of its business. This certification signals a broader shift in the industry: quality is no longer defined by taste alone, but by ethics, transparency, and impact.

Baker Bleu is committed to high-quality produce and products that are grown and sourced responsibly. From Market Lane Coffee to certified sustainable flour from Wholegrain Milling Co., we know how our beans and grains are grown, harvested, and supplied through the chain to us—and ultimately into your hands.

Image credit: Fabiano Borré, who owns and runs Fazenda Progresso, with Market Lane co-founder Fleur Studd.

This philosophy is reflected in the Baker Bleu coffee served in our bakeries, a single origin offering from Brazil.

When sourced and roasted with care, Brazilian coffees can reveal notes of chocolate, almond, and gentle fruit, along with a natural balance and sweetness that make them particularly well suited to everyday drinking. Our coffee features notes of almond and green apple.

At its core, the collaboration between Market Lane and Baker Bleu is about alignment. It’s about two businesses asking the same questions: Where does this come from? Who made it? How can we do it better?