Opening a café already takes guts. But Queenslanders Nathan and Sam took over Thomas Corner Eatery in January, setting up shop in the middle of the worst fire season on record and a pandemic.

When we heard about Nathan and Sam’s story, and their passion for fresh local food, we knew we had to help.

“You can either bury your head in the sand, or you can try and stay positive and figure a way out. That’s where Harris coffee came along,” Nathan says.

We’re really happy to be supporting these guys, because they’re helping support the Sunshine Coast community.

“Our ethos is supporting local in every way we can,” Nathan says, adding that their focus is serving homegrown food farmed by the legends of the Sunshine Coast and wider Australia.

“We’re very passionate about supporting the local economy and the local community.”

But keeping support up for local producers would have been a stretch without some help. Great ingredients aren’t cheap and, as a new business, they couldn’t get any government backing.

“We want to create more jobs for new people,” Nathan says. “[The Harris support] means we can invest more into the local economy and help keep Australia strong.”

“Harris is giving us the opportunity to focus on what we do best,” he says. “The future’s always going to be uncertain, [but] the certainty is the next 12 months we’re going to have great coffee.”

Despite a stressful year, Nathan remains philosophical about it.

“I guess in times like that you gotta look to your family, I’m very fortunate to have two lovely kids and a beautiful wife in Sam. We look to each other.”