In less than five years, he and his wife Toni Neuhaus went from starting a coffee-roasting business in a spare bedroom to being a finalist in the 2017 NSW business awards.

While living in Sydney, the duo began Six8Coffee Roasters, a specialty coffee bar and roastery they describe as ‘fine coffee for justice’ and ‘ethically traded, working for justice’.

The venture in began in 2014 after they travelled around the world as members of the Youth With a Mission (YWAM), an non-profit Christian, missionary organisation.

Mr Neuhaus said witnessing exploitation in the coffee industry in developing nations – including Vanuatu, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia and Brazil – spurred him into taking action.

On a lot of their travels, Mr Neuhaus said they not only witnessed slavery in the industry, but other forms of exploitation, including child prostitution “…especially in Asia”.

“In Brazil, people choose the option perhaps because they didn’t see any other way. They’re often from poorer farming families and moved to the cities – it was the only means they thought could feed and educate their kids.”

The pair saw these issues as an opportunity to work differently to empower communities.

This includes making ethical purchasing choices.

“All of our coffee beans are sourced directly from farmers overseas, to have as few middlemen as possible,” Mr Neuhaus said.

He said conducting an ethical and sustainable business goes further than one area.

“It’s at the heart and core of what we do; it needs to be holistic.”

“This includes how we pay bills to treating staff and dealing with suppliers and customers – there’s no point in stopping exploitation overseas if our behaviour at home is different,” he said.

For Mrs Neuhaus, she works at the cafe three days a week and spends the rest of her time with their four young children.

She said the venture was always a concept they wanted to pursue.

“When we made the call to leave our missionary work, there was no question that it was going to be a whole-family approach,” she said.

“It’s not just a job, it’s a lifestyle. We work really well as team, balancing each other’s personalities and complementing each other's ideas.” 

After starting in the spare bedroom, they moved back to Yass in mid-2014 and the business became a mobile coffee–van service in March 2015, servicing Yass Valley and the Canberra region.

The storefront, in Trader and Co., in collaboration with Juicie Lucie’s founder Sophie Peer, began not long after.

The concept took about 12 months to piece together and was opened in August 2016.

The van was eventually sold in 2017 – a business decision Mr Neuhaus said was difficult.

Asked about why they chose Yass, he said it was the opportunity to continue working to address human rights issues, as well as carving out a new identity for the town.

“There wasn’t really any other coffee roasters here, so there was an opportunity in the market to offer high-quality coffee that also addresses social problems,” he said.

“Our support network is also here. It's home. Just seeing the directions Yass is headed, we want to be a part of that new movement.”

He said that part of the movement was “Canberra people visiting Yass to access our services”. 

“We're also sending our coffees across to Canberra to cafes there. It shows that we're not just a town of Canberra-based workforce,” he said.

The passion for ethical coffee has helped the pair secure a bronze medal in 2016 in the Australian International Coffee Awards.

This year has provided them with additional accolades, with the latest one being a 2017 state finalist in the Excellence in Social Enterprise award.

It comes after the venture won the 2017 Yass Valley Business Chamber award for Excellence in Social Enterprise in August.

Mrs Neuhaus said the awards and nominations were validation for their passion and hard work.

Similarly, Mr Neuhaus said it was very surprising to be a state finalist and they were honoured to receive the award from the Yass Valley Business Chamber.

When asked about how he would summarise their first five years, he said it has been a “fun, challenging and good learning experience”.

“We feel like we’ve succeeded in creating a community and being a part of that.

“We hope to grow in our capacity to make more of an impact and to be more strategic in how we are able to do that,” he said.