Shamrock Cafe absorbs costs to keep prices down

From a quiet corner of the Shamrock Hotel to a welcoming stop for locals and passing travellers, the Shamrock Cafe has spent its first year of business carving out a place in the Greenethorpe community, offering a place to grab a coffee, enjoy something to eat and experience a little country hospitality. Owner, Jacoba Gaccion, is celebrating the milestone this month, reflecting on a year of challenges, community support and establishing a new business in the small village. But the idea behind the cafe goes back further, with the concept originally coming from Jacoba's late father. Jacoba's parents moved from Sydney to Greenethorpe around three years ago after purchasing the Shamrock Hotel in 2023. Following her father's passing in 2024, Jacoba also made the move to Greenethorpe from Sydney to be closer to her mother, who continued running the pub. With limited employment opportunities in the village, Jacoba decided to bring her father's idea of opening a coffee shop to life. Having spent 11 years working as a retail manager, she had no previous experience running her own business but was supported in establishing the cafe by Adrian from Young's Art of Espresso. What started with a coffee machine and a spare room in the pub has since developed into a popular stop for locals, visitors and travellers. Jacoba said the first year had been challenging, particularly adjusting to the responsibilities of running a small business largely on her own. "I literally had to be the cook, the barista, the cleaner - basically everything," she said. She is joined by Charlie, who has worked at the cafe since it opened, with the pair managing everything from quiet weekdays to unexpected rushes. Despite the challenges, Jacoba said the support from the community had been a major highlight. "I never expected it to go as well as it has," she said. "The support from all the locals around, and even people driving from Young, Grenfell, Cowra and travellers, has been really heartwarming." However, changing customer spending habits and rising operating costs have presented new challenges for the business, with changes to card payment surcharges and increasing interest rates adding to the pressure. Jacoba said the removal of card payment surcharges had a direct impact on the cafe, which had previously used the small additional charge to help cover the fees associated with processing card transactions. While the surcharge may have been a relatively small amount for individual customers, she said it helped cover costs that would otherwise come out of the business's pocket. Since its removal, Jacoba has chosen not to increase menu prices to compensate, instead absorbing the transaction fees herself. As a small business owner, she said every additional expense made a difference, particularly as the cost of purchasing products and supplies continued to rise. Jacoba said she wanted to keep prices as affordable as possible rather than pass the additional costs on to customers. "I try to keep my prices as low as possible because I obviously want to cater for everybody," she said. "I don't want people to think we're too expensive." She said the decision to absorb the fees was part of wanting customers to continue enjoying a coffee or breakfast without feeling they had to spend more than they could afford. Interest rate rises and the broader cost-of-living pressures have also begun to influence how often customers visit the cafe. While the increases have affected her mother more directly through the pub, Jacoba said she had noticed customers becoming more conscious of their spending, with everyday purchases such as coffee increasingly adding up. "Buying a coffee is basically not a necessity," she said. "If they fork out $6 for a coffee every day, that adds up. Everything you buy adds up." Jacoba said the cafe had been relatively consistent when it first opened, with customers coming through the doors regularly. However, from around the middle of this year, she began noticing a decline in trade as people adjusted their spending. The change has been significant enough for the cafe to reduce its opening days from six to five, now operating from Wednesday to Sunday. She said opening the cafe on quieter days could also put pressure on the business when there were not enough customers to justify the costs of trading. Jacoba said she understood that households had to prioritise their spending, particularly when higher interest repayments, fuel prices and other everyday expenses were taking up more of their budgets. Despite these pressures, she remains committed to keeping the cafe affordable and providing a place for the community to come together. Jacoba said the cafe was never established with making money as its primary motivation, but rather to create something meaningful and contribute to the Greenethorpe community. With Cowra around half an hour away and Young a further 35 to 40 minutes down the road, she said having a local place to grab a coffee or something to eat gave residents another option without having to travel. She hopes more travellers will discover the cafe and stop to experience what the village has to offer. "I just want to build something meaningful and contribute to the community," she said. The Shamrock Hotel continues to operate six days a week, Tuesday to Sunday while the cafe is open Wednesday to Sunday.