Black & White Coffee Cartel is a New Zealand coffee franchise built around what its founders call the art and culture of coffee, boiled down to three things: character, coffee and people. The brand was founded in Christchurch in 2014 by Bink Bowler, alongside brother Luke Bowler and Canterbury rugby's Reuben Thorne, with the first store opening in February 2015 at 83 Victoria Street in the city, in the years following the Christchurch earthquake.
Each full Black & White café operates its own onsite coffee roaster, meaning the coffee served in store is roasted in that same store, in full view of guests — a micro-roasting approach the brand says cuts out a key middleman and delivers a more authentic, higher quality cup. The house blend, Cartel Boss, combines two single-origin coffees: Brazil Cerrado, with soft, sweet and fruity notes and a nutty Brazilian overtone, and Honduras La Flor, with heavy cocoa notes and balanced acidity.
On the food side, Black & White offers a wide range of Western-style café food, including an all-day brunch menu that varies store to store based on the local market, alongside cabinet food covering both sweet and savoury options. Gluten-free, dairy-free, vegetarian, vegan and keto options are available in most stores, and much of the food is prepared on site.
Black & White Coffee Cartel describes its mission simply: character, coffee and people. It's a New Zealand coffee franchise built to pay tribute to the history of the coffee shop while living for the art and culture of coffee itself, and its story starts in a Christchurch reshaped by tragedy.
In 2011, large parts of Christchurch city were flattened by an earthquake. A few years later, in 2014, founder Bink Bowler arrived in the city with a vision to build a new kind of coffee shop for a rebuilding city — one built with an eye firmly on the future. His brother Luke Bowler and Canterbury rugby's Reuben Thorne got involved, and by late 2014 the first Black & White Coffee Cartel was underway. It opened in February 2015 at 83 Victoria Street, quickly becoming an iconic, loved fixture of the city's new café culture.
What sets Black & White apart is its approach to roasting. Rather than relying on a centralised roastery supplying every store, each full café operates its own onsite roaster, meaning the coffee served is roasted in the same store, in front of guests. This small-batch, hands-on model cuts out a key middleman, resulting in higher quality coffee and a genuinely authentic experience from raw bean to roasted cup — a European-style approach the brand has brought to New Zealand.
Rather than blending a dozen different coffees together, Black & White built its house blend, Cartel Boss, from just two: Brazil Cerrado and Honduras La Flor. The Brazil Cerrado brings soft, sweet and fruity notes with the classic Brazilian nutty overtone, while the Honduras La Flor contributes heavy cocoa notes and balanced acidity. One natural, one washed, the two beans collide into what the brand describes as a unique, full and rounded personality.
Black & White offers a wide range of Western-style café food, with an all-day brunch menu that varies from store to store depending on the local market — though stores with a full brunch menu tend to include classics like a bacon benny and a BOSS breakfast. The cabinet is stocked with sweet options like caramel slices, friands, bliss balls, muffins, scones, cheesecakes and brownies, alongside savoury choices such as pies, sandwiches, filos, wraps, sausage rolls, croissants and vegetable frittata, with some items unique to individual stores. Gluten-free, dairy-free, vegetarian, vegan and keto options are available in most locations, and much of the food is prepared on site.
After its first year, the founders set up Black & White Systems, the franchise division of the business, alongside partners Alan and Raphael, creating what they call New Zealand's first micro-roasting coffee franchise. Recruitment of franchise partners, known as Cartel Bosses, began in 2016, and Black & White went on to become one of New Zealand's fastest growing coffee franchises, all while keeping each store's music louder, service personal, food individual to its location, and coffee prepared by creative baristas.
To find your nearest Black & White Coffee Cartel, including the Rolleston store, use the store locator on the Black & White website, where hours and specific menu details for each location are listed.