Aussie cafe favourite Jamaica Blue has a brand-new look that captures the brand’s vibrant and fun personality while celebrating its Jamaican coffee heritage.
The striking store refresh is the latest iteration in the cafe chain’s 30-year-old history. In this contemporary design, coffee takes centre stage. Bold signage and eye-catching graphics make it the true hero of the space.
Matthew Williams, chief development officer at Jamaica Blue’s parent company Foodco, says the design project was three years in the making.
“We wanted the design to reflect contemporary trends and worked with our internal design team to create a dynamic look that met our customer expectations,” he says.
A new colour palette blends refreshing tones with warm accents to create an inviting atmosphere. While the brand’s signature coastal vibe remains, the new look introduces richer tones to add warmth and depth.
New look matches style and function
Jamaica Blue’s new design strikes the perfect balance between style and functionality, ensuring a seamless experience for customers, even in busy locations like airports and hospitals. Perth’s International Airport was one of the first stores to sport the refreshed look.
Different seating and table options create specific zones. Soft furnishings and banquettes encourage customers to enjoy sit-down meals, stools and benches are ideal for a quick coffee. A dedicated pick-up zone ensures easy customer flow.
For added convenience, some locations will feature self-ordering kiosks and dual POS systems to streamline the takeaway experience, while still maintaining the personal touch of counter service.
Whether it’s a dine-in café, an espresso bar, or a quick-service kiosk, every store is designed to make the customer journey smooth and enjoyable.
Cost-effective and sustainable solution
Jamaica Blue has kept an eye on sustainability too, ensuring the new fit-out has longevity. Recycled materials feature wherever possible, and fixtures can be easily disassembled, repainted, or re-treated to extend their lifespan.
“It was very important to ensure the refurbishment of our existing cafes is cost-effective and franchisees are not required to undertake excessive refurbishments. The different finishes translate easily into existing stores so the transitioning to the new look is not cost prohibitive,” says Matthew.
About 18 existing stores will refurbish this year, in addition to the 12 new stores set to open in 2025.
The next exciting opening is at Chadstone, in the new $200 million development, Market Pavilion.
“This opens at the end of March. It’s a new food precinct in the biggest shopping centre of Australia. We’re really excited about the new look store,” Matthew says.
Coffee is the hero in Jamaica Blue’s new look
The new look that every new and refurbished store will showcase elevates the coffee heritage with imagery and positioning that shines a spotlight on the Jamaican Blue Mountains.
Customer surveys revealed that although coffee represents nearly 50 per cent of a cafe’s sales, customers were not familiar with all three roasts available: signature, origin and mountain blue.
In-store messaging also showcases the chain’s multi-award-winning coffee flavours.
The latest accolades were an impressive six wins at the 2024 Australasian Golden Bean Awards. The Jamaica Blue Signature Blend, which accounts for 85 per cent of the brand’s coffee sales, took out the top prize in the Large Chain/Franchise Milk Based category.
The blend also received three bronze awards, while two carefully-crafted Single Origins were awarded bronze status too.
“Over 450 roasters compete in these awards which have more than 50 judges across the categories,” says Matthew. “We were very pleased to have won six medals.”
Customer loyalty rewarded
Coffee has also been at the centre of the brand’s customer loyalty scheme. However a fresh loyalty program, Jamaica Blue Rewards, opens the rewards to a broader base.
“The new scheme is points based and customers can earn points for all purchases,” explains Matthew.
For every $100 a customer spends they receive a $10 rewards credit to spend on food or drinks. Customers can bank up the points and redeem them at any Jamaica Blue cafe.
“This means customers can still get a discount if they are not a coffee drinker,” Matthew says.
“We launched this in October 2024 and have had very positive feedback. Now the loyalty program is accessed via an app, not a plastic card, and we’ve exceeded our expectations – we currently have over 59,000 loyalty members.”