Coordinate’s role in Canberra’s coffee destination: ONA.

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Author: Coordinate

When local barista Sasa Sestic came to us with a dream back in 2015, Coordinate empowered him with the brand and strategy to compete on the global coffee stage.

“Coordinate gave us the confidence that we do have something very unique, we didn’t need to pretend to be someone else and we were really able to celebrate what we stand for,” Sasa says.

Today, if you’re a Canberran ONA Coffee Founder Sasa Sestic is no stranger. The local coffee visionary owns global distribution company ONA Coffee Wholesale and a range of cafes in the nation’s capital and has recently opened up shop in Marrickville, Sydney. Not to mention a growing wholesale client list that just reached triple figures and over 30 global coffee producers spanning Honduras, Rwanda, Ethiopia, Columbia, El Salvador, Panama Nicaragua and India.

Coordinate worked closely with the ONA team to develop a brand position that better communicated the ONA story. A story about their passion for coffee, quality and sustainability and for connecting a global community of coffee producers, brewers, baristas and drinkers.

From a strategy and brand positioning, new packaging, merchandising, retail and wholesale video content and an e-commerce website. Online sales increased tenfold and consumers were able to purchase ONA Coffee from anywhere in the world with the click of a button.

“I remember from the moment we changed the website, we had comments from a lot of our customers and also our online sales tripled overnight because it represents exactly who we are and what we want to be. Prior to meeting Coordinate we did not have the opportunity to be who we are in the way we are now,” Sasa says.

In 2015, Sasa Sestic was awarded the World Barista Champion and in 2016, ONA Head Barista Hugh Kelly won the Australian Barista Championships.

Coordinate’s Creative Director Logan Knight has played big role in the partnership from the very beginning with ONA, and says that new design work, packaging and website, allowed consumers to better understand the ONA story.

“You have an award-winning barista who loves coffee so much and knows the story behind every bean. ONA needed to develop and reposition their brand to better tell their amazing story. Every brand touchpoint was looked at, from the cafés to merchandising” Logan says.

Over the years, Coordinate has played a significant role in big projects under the ONA umbrella.

Including branding work for Project Origin– a green bean sourcing and trading company Sasa founded which is based on the principles of quality, sustainability and community. Project Origin works directly with coffee farmers in underprivileged countries, ensuring they have safe working conditions, are engaged in community projects and aims to lift the quality of coffee globally and train farmers to grow the best beans possible. Each leaf in the identity Coordinate created works in harmony with one another, reflecting the organisations approach to the communities they work in. 

For ONA Coffee’s latest venture, Highroad – a unique dining venue offering speciality coffee, a diverse wine list and a menu featuring native Australian ingredients – Coordinate was engaged to bring the team’s vision to life and delivered a bespoke brand identity. This was translated across a range of applications including the menu which features original artwork by local artist and illustrator Emilie Patteson and bespoke dyed paper from Australian flora.

For Creative Director Logan, it’s been one of his favourite ONA projects to date.

“High Road was great project to be involved in. From the beginning our design team worked closely with the interior designers so we could create a brand that felt right for the space and reflect the High Road teams vision,” Logan says.

To also working on ONA products like OCD: Ona Coffee Distributor – the barista’s ultimate coffee roasting tool and design work for Single Origin – specialised flavours from around the world released on a fortnightly basis, with artwork sleeve artwork created by Canberra artist John Vior.

Logan says Coordinate’s work with ONA over the past five years highlights how successful a long-term business partnership can be.

“By partnering with us, we were able to establish a sustainable business relationship, where we really understood everything about ONA Coffee. This ultimately led to better work and gave us the opportunity to really build their brand,” Logan says.

Coordinate is proud to have been on the journey with ONA Coffee since their humble beginnings – to now being forefront of coffee innovation, winning multiple awards, growing to four cafes in Canberra and one in Sydney, to being stocked and served in over 100 more and empowering communities all across the word.

“Jamie Wilson and the entire Coordinate team have been unbelievable. I think back in the early days they probably saw ONA values in how special we are, better than ourselves. The entire team dug deep to show Canberra and Australia what ONA is and what we stand for,” Sasa says.