Tony ‘Tank’ Hawker’s new permanent drive-in coffee locale is situated at the old milk depot on Petit Street highlighting the need for adaptability during the bumpy times of coronavirus.
With plenty of parking, customers can pull up and get service out their window like a drive-thru or hop out to make a purchase.
Tony and his wife purchased the old milk depot on the corner of Petit Street and Waroo Road this year. Half of the building is currently being used for storage for their coffee business and another small business is renting out the front shed.
He said they hope to eventually enclose the veranda to increase space, but don’t have any other plans to renovate at this time.
The coffee stop is open from Monday to Friday from 5am to 11am. But that is often pushed to 11:30 or 11:45am due to the high number of customers.
Tony’s second coffee van with his two employees leaves the depot at 9am to run around town till 11:30am so there are plenty of chances to get your caffeine fix.
“We wanted it to be very adaptable and very flexible,” he said.
No stranger to early mornings, Tony previously owned and operated Yass Valley Bakery before selling the business a few years ago.
Tony said he always had the idea of the van doing a coffee run around town but the permanent spot for the food truck makes it more efficient. If the van is busy and can’t prepare any more food then they can call Tony to organise more supplies.
After the team finishes up for the day, they also often do events. Before the most recent lockdown Tank’s Coffee had worked the Bowning Hill Walk, Goulburn Motorcycle Swap Meet, Spin Foundation’s Show n Shine, and Australia Day’s Touch Footy Comp to name a few.
“We’re open to doing events,” Tony said. “It’s actually what we initially bought the van for and then we’ve just gone from there.”
“The idea of having a permanent van here has just been a bonus.”
Tony said they were very lucky that COVID-19 restrictions didn’t affect business too much since they could operate outdoors.
“We were sort of trucking along as normal because we’re outdoors,” he said. “We never really had many restrictions on us and we used to do deliveries.”
During the stricter stay-at-home orders in NSW, when funerals max capacity was 30 attendees outside and 10 in an inside ceremony, Tank’s Coffee catered for three funerals in the Yass Valley.
Tony said they would cater for 30 people in an outdoor ceremony and make sandwiches, biscuits, cake as well as coffee.
“Just as COVID has gone on we’ve adapted,” he said. “This is sort of just the next phase of that.”
“We’re just adapting to what’s the new normal and people are used to not going inside,” he said. “So they appreciate that they’ve got a drive-thru coffee spot.”
Tank’s Coffee closes the week of Christmas till the beginning of February when they will reopen their drive-thru spot at the Old Milk Depot but the second van won’t start making the rounds again till the end of February.
By Brianna O’Rourke
