When Tasmanian company Compact Designs needed additional working capital to fulfil an export contract with Whirlpool Corporation’s KitchenAid brand for espresso machine accessories, Export Finance and Insurance Corporation (EFIC) and the Bank of Queensland came to the party.

After many years as café owners, husband and wife Manfred and Clare Jokuszies felt there had to be a more efficient way of disposing of spent coffee grinds used to make coffee for their customers.

“We had a café in Launceston and put in an espresso machine in 2002,” Manfred explained. “I destroyed so many flip-top metal bins trying to dispose of coffee grinds from the machine’s grip handle and concluded there must be a better and less messy way to do it.”

It took a number of prototypes before Manfred came up with the design for a self-standing ‘knock tube’ that would make it easy for baristas – amateurs and professionals alike – to dispose of spent coffee grinds.

“I spoke to people including coffee companies about the ‘knock tube’ but they claimed there was no demand for it because there was nothing like it on the market,” Manfred said. “Austrade made contact with me and that is when we started moving ahead.”

Austrade not only helped identify potential international customers, they also told Manfred about EFIC’s financial guarantee, EFIC Headway. This product is specially designed to help small to medium-sized exporters obtain additional working capital finance from their participating bank without the need to provide added security.

EFIC Headway is distributed by Bank of Queensland, NAB, Westpac, HSBC, Commonwealth Bank, ANZ, BankWest, Bendigo Bank and St.George.