Zaaki Espresso – it means delicious.
It’s also associated with what Anas Ezmigna and Penny Saris believe to be the only Jordanian-Greek coffee shop in New South Wales: their business.
They’ve recently participated in Newcastle Council’s Multicultural Small Business Program, which helps refugees and migrants establish and run small businesses over 10 weeks.
“I arrived here in 2011 then moved to Newcastle to look for a job in 2012,” Anas said.
The couple bringing the flavours of the Mediterranean and the Middle East to Newcastle. Source: SBS
It was here he met his wife Penny, a Greek-Australian who had been working in cafes.
“Anas is very business-minded so he was like, ‘why don’t we open our own instead of just working for other people?’,” Penny said.
Everyone told them opening a Middle-Eastern shop in their location was a crazy idea and would fail.
But that only fueled a burning desire to start.
They opened Zaaki Espresso and first served sweets and coffee, but eventually moved on to create their own recipes and menu.
“Penny, being Greek, is really good with sweets and has made sweets that don’t exist, such as baklava cheesecake. That’s really big here when people come,” Anas said.
But starting a business was overwhelming, and the complexity of the requirements needed to open almost discouraged Anas.
Zaaki Espresso's famous baklava cheesecake. Source: SBS
“You don’t know where to start … it was very daunting and I was so confused.”
He’d like to see governments give greater guidance to those wanting to start a small business, saying it can be especially “hard for newcomers to find work”.
“The council started a program called Multicultural Small Business to try get the immigrants and refugees involved in the community and say: ‘OK, we want you to stay’,” Anas said.
Giving back as a participant of the council’s small business program showed him and Penny just how rewarding running a business - that serves a community - can be.
Helping refugees from Africa to Syria and Mauritania, he said it’s important they are made aware of the rules in Australia.
Penny and Anas mentors migrants and refugees who want to start their own business. Source: SBS
“There are things here they need to learn, there’s a process here they need to go through, so I was more than happy to mentor and help those people,” he said.
For Penny, it’s always been about: “Offering something different. People are used to always get the same thing. Be unique. Embrace who you are. If you have a passion stick to that and you'll enjoy it more.”
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