DOES fate play a role in our lives?
That’s a question many ask and if you were looking for an affirmative answer one person to chat to would be Andrew Covino.
More than 18 year’s ago Andrew was out on a weekend country drive with his family when he called in to Canungra for a coffee and bite to eat at the Outpost Cafe.
They liked the food and Andrew also liked the cafe which he noticed had a sign in the window saying it was for sale.
For the rest of the drive he thought about it and when he got home on the Gold Coast he reached out to older brother Michael and suggested they buy it.
Just a few months later they were handed the keys to a cafe that had a history dating back to 1946 when it would provide 120 meals a day for the nearby Army base.
“I have never regretted buying the cafe and opening a business in a great part of the country,” he said.
“And it’s Canungra that makes it so special. It has grown so much in the time since we first opened and we have grown with it.”
Going into a cafe business was not a huge step for Andrew and his brother as their father, Frank, had operated a fleet of service stations across Australia for many years which focused on truck stops.
Now instead of fueling up vehicles their cafe business sees them fueling up customers, especially the ones that love a good old fashioned country pie.
“The Outpost Cafe was well known for its home cooked pies when we bought it and we continued that tradition using the same core recipes and expanding the range of pies from around 10 varieties to more than 16,” Andrew said.
Now many people who go on weekend drives to the Hinterland make a regular stop at the Outpost Cafe and try pies such as the steak, bacon and Guinness pie which won a major award for the cafe.
Every week more than 5500 customers bite into an Outback Cafe pie.
Over the years they have been asked many times if they would supply their pies to other outlets, but they have always politely turned the offers down.
“We want to make sure that we retain the same quality and that means we need to be true to our same processes rather than trying to go into mass production,” he said.
The Covino brothers opened a BP Service Station next door to the cafe in 2019 and they have plans to open another one at Tamborine if they can get council approval.
Between the two businesses in Canungra they now employ more than 35 locals and many of them have been with them for years.
“One of the greatest attractions of the area is being able to find staff that are loyal and hardworking,” he said.
“My assistant manager, Callum Whiting started here as a casual when he was just 13, now he is in his 20’s and he’s done everything at the cafe from washing dishes, to cooking the pies.
“We are proud to be part of this great town, employing locals and supporting community organisations.”
Andrew showed his further commitment to Canungra when he got behind establishing a Bendigo Community Bank in the township serving as a Board member of the bank for four years.
