A CUPPA WITH FRANCO

So Franco, what do you do with Black Market Roasters?

Mainly I run different types of coffee courses (Fundamentals, Latte art and Advance barista course) also here and then I visit shops helping them on the coffee side.

Take us through a typical day.

Depending on the course or how early or late I get to work, I start setting up the coffee area with what’s needed as filling up the grinder with coffee beans, getting sets of clothes for the steamer and bench, spoons, etc. Or sometimes i try to catch up on admin (like sending certificates, replying to my boss, ticking some things, etc) Then i wait fo the students to come with the biggest latin smile on my face (imagine that)

Tell us a bit about your background before joining Black Market.

I have been a barista and also involved in hospitality for the last 10 years so i was working in an extremely busy coffee shop in the city (before COVID) back in the day as a head Barista.

What is your favourite part (or parts) of your job?

I get to meet different people every day, with different backgrounds and careers, I can meet an Engineer, a Doctor, a university student, a high school student, a mum, a dad and the list goes on. Is really satisfying when the coffee course finishes and at the end you hear words like: “thank you so much i learned a lot” or “I would definitely recommend this course to many people”- It’s very meaningful.

Do you have any hobbies or passions besides coffee?  

I do! I really like working out and also brazilian jiu jitsu one of my other passions is Martial arts i find it really interesting.

If you could invent something, what would it be?

I would be create an app where it would help people connect with each other only to share knowledge and skills, for example in my case i would trade knowledge of coffee skills for Marketing skills (if someone that has Marketing skills would like to learn some coffee skills) if that make sense trying to connect that with some donations for a family in a third world country.

What’s something that you’ve learnt recently?

How to lift weights the proper way. I started doing crossfit and there’s so much technique involved…

What are you reading at the moment?

Crypto currency and 12 rules for life.

When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?

It would change pretty often i was a bit of a dreamer when i was a kid, I could watch a movie of martial arts then i was saying woww i wanna be a martial artist or I would hear my dad or mum talk about lawyers, engineers and doctor and I wanted to be those just mentioned but if i think about it deeply i think i would have liked to be an engineer out of those professions.

What’s the most memorable travel experience you’ve had?

Every travel experience is memorable… I would say the last one and longest i learnt the most was when i came to AUSTRAIAAAAAAAA LOL from Peru back in 2008.

What’s your favourite youtube video?

Woow that’s  a tough one as I’m a youtubeholic I temt to go for different channels like coffee (obviously) then Chess, Martial arts some computer stuff and a bit of History.

If you were casting for a movie based on your life, who would play you?

Antonio Banderas.

Know any good (or bad) jokes?

The best ones come naturally at the moment you caught me off guard!!