Our Mission is to improve the earth and peoples lives through a spirit of generosity and hospitality.
Our Vision is to be part of the solution to daily challenges for the benefit of human kind.
Our Purpose is to help disadvantaged people into employment and education.
With a background in Hospitality, Retail and Vocational Education and Training (VET); John provided years of training for people in the industry, jail system, disengaged youth in high schools & other at-risk communities.
It all started from humble beginnings. With a small personal budget and a big dream John Cafferatta started his own legacy called Darcy Street Project with help from his close family.
After several years working for TAFE NSW and assisting with the setup of William Angliss Coffee Academy in Sydney, John identified a major gap between Social Justice, Industry and VET and followed his passion for coffee and food culture to create a vehicle to bridge the three as a Social Enterprise.
John first converted his home garage into a coffee lab and began roasting coffee in an effort to improve his understanding of specialty coffee. More importantly, his goal was to find a way to combine a passion for coffee, BBQ and hospitality with a pay it forward mentality so he could help young people, with similar experiences to his own story, find better opportunities for meaningful, ongoing employment. Darcy Street Project was born as a specialty coffee school, espresso bar and roastery in the heart of Parramatta CBD.
Between 2015-2019 Darcy Street Project participated in dozens of projects in Fairfield, Auburn, Villawood, Chatswood, Hornsby, Sydney CBD, Central Coast and formed dozens of partnerships with Not for Profits, Government and NGOs to help hundreds of people into employment. As well as running several coffee shops, supplying catering & coffee carts to over 400 events.
Darcy Street Project has received multiple community awards and received grants from Local, State and Federal Government Departments to help support the need for better employment outcomes in vulnerable communities in NSW. John’s proudest moment was being awarded the Governor General Medal, presented by Sir Peter Cosgrove in 2018 for the impact Darcy St Project has had in the Greater Western Sydney area.
Did you know?
Darcy Street Project is NOT a Charity? We are a For profit, For Purpose Model meaning that we re-investing at least 50% of our profits back into expanding our Purpose.
We rely on making and selling great products instead of relying on donations. It is a different approach to doing good using good business as a force for good.
We work with charities, NFP, NGO, and every letter of the alphabet to ensure that our business can be of service. Whether its offering work experience placements, industry workshops and collaborations then you can be sure we will be there to help improve social injustice like unemployment, social exclusion and mental health statistics in our most vulnerable areas of Sydney.
To date we have given back 100% profits into expanding our business. But we are not done yet as we find more ways to become sustainable, we will continue to scale to different areas. We believe there should be a Darcy Street Project in every suburb in Australia and beyond.
DSP Timeline Highlights
Across three shop locations in Parramatta CBD- Darcy Street- Horwood Place- Macquarie Street between 2014-2019 (All sites demolished due to construction of Parramatta Square and Light Rail)
Introduced Australia’s first Specialty Coffee School and Roastery Social Enterprise in 2014.
Trained 2000+ students and 450+ events at the café, at High schools, Not for Profits and Social Housing groups in Parramatta, Merrylands, Fairfield, Villawood, Liverpool, Miller, Bankstown, La Perouse, Alexandria, Potts Point, Surry Hills, Sydney, Chatswood, North Sydney, Ryde, Gordon, Ermington, Hornsby, Baulkham Hills, Blacktown, Windsor, Auburn, Penrith, and Central Coast.
Entered into partnership between Suncorp and Wesley Mission to run the espresso bar on Pitt Street Mall and provide hospitality scholarships and jobs to at risk communities between 2018-2023.
Collaborated with Moorebank Intermodal Company in 2017-2021 to setup a multipurpose training warehouse at Moorebank.
Awarded Governor General of Australia Medal from Sir Peter Cosgrove at the café in Parramatta.
Awarded a small grant from former Premier of NSW Mike Baird and Parramatta Council.
ING Dream Starter and Start some Good Alumni and grant recipient
Awarded small grant from City of Parramatta Council
Entered into partnership with Frasers Property in 2019 at Midtown, Macquarie Park.
Implemented free training, pay it forwards, discounts for BYO cups until we banned single use paper/plastic cups/lids since 2019.
Opening “Darcy St Project Cafe” and “Kiosk 47” at Midtown Macpark in October 2020 and November 2021.
Introduced “Social Impact Catering” which enables ready-to eat meals to be donated to Women and Youth Shelters.
Partnership with Street Smart Australia in 2021 to prepare thousands of free “ready to eat” meals to Link Wentworth housing residents. The meals are also used for anyone impacted by the Covid-19 Sydney Lockdowns in the Ryde LGA.
Opening “The Smoke Academy” Barbecue School in 2021
Partnership with Link Wentworth and ANZ Bank for the 2021 Community Foundation Grant for "Ready2work in Hospitality program for social housing residents” delivered by Darcy St Project.
Opening of Darcy St Project Epping Community Cafe in December 2022, in partnership with Macquarie Community.
Partnership with Mission Australia for Barista programs and coffee cart setup for clients at Common Ground Camperdown.
