MANILA – What started as a joke ended up as the name of an Australian coffee company that has made its way to the Philippines.

It was around three years ago when Marcel Ruggieri and his friends traveled to Brazil to establish trade relations with coffee farmers. He wandered off, and his friends thought he was missing.

“They thought they’d lost me and so the phrase ‘Where’s Marcel?’ kind of stuck as a bit of a joke,” Ruggieri smiled as he recalled the moment in an interview with ABS-CBN News.

“When we ventured back in Australia, we started to put a team together and opened a wholesale roasting company.”

Where’s Marcel? first opened in Melbourne, followed by a second store in Sydney.

On Wednesday, the third branch will officially open at Pearl Drive in Ortigas – just beside the University of Asia and the Pacific – through a partnership with the Cravings Group.

Explaining why they chose Manila as their first offshore location, Ruggieri said: “We see that there is an attraction to specialty coffee and we are here to promote the coffee culture. There are definitely a lot of global brands here, but not a lot of specialty coffee shops.”

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“I think what’s beautiful about the Filipino market is they’re attracted to it, they crave for it, and they’re very interested to know about it.”

What to expect

Ruggieri said that all of the coffee beans they use at Where’s Marcel? are procured directly from local farmers, citing a principle he calls “crop-to-cup.”

Here, customers can enjoy coffee prepared through various brewing methods – Batch Brew (or what many Filipinos know as “brewed coffee”), Cold Drip Filter, Aero Press and V60, among others.

“We want to educate the Filipinos about the fact that all coffee is brewed. So it’s not proper to say that you’re having brewed coffee because all coffee is brewed,” noted Ruggieri.

“The question is, how do you like it brewed? Would you like to have it as an espresso or filtered coffee? There are so many different options and we want to introduce that here,” he added.

Ruggieri went on to compare Where’s Marcel? to the homegrown coffee place Yardstick in Makati.

“Locally, I think the benchmark is Yardstick. I think they’re amazing. Just their operations – from their leaders to their team and the way they do things – it’s very similar to what we do back home in Australia. We’ve had some good opportunities to work with Yardstick thus far and I think together, we’ll be setting a new benchmark here in the Philippines,” he said.

Aside from specialty coffee, Where’s Marcel? also offers Australian breakfast and lunch options such as muesli, protein bowls, salads and sandwiches as well as desserts. All are prepared by chefs Sau del Rosario and Christine Paredes.

Ruggieri’s personal favorite here is the Bananutella French Toast Roll, but the Cookie Shards, Coffee Muffins and Protein Balls are also a must-try.

“Melbourne food is generally designed for fast-paced environments, but are still high-quality and delicious,” he said.

“But for us, it’s not just about the coffee or food. What completes that is the overall customer experience. We attach a similar quality to the training with our team, and also to understand our clients,” he ended.