Prologue: Founded in 2008, Airport Retail Group has emerged as one of Australia’s most innovative airport food & beverage operators. Today the company runs four concepts across eight venues at Brisbane Airport. Over breakfast at the company’s The Aviary Café & Bar in the domestic terminal, Founder & Managing Director George Drivas chatted with The Moodie Davitt Report Founder & Chairman Martin Moodie and Brisbane Airport Corporation Head of Commercial Property Development Toby Innes about the company’s story, aspirations and social and business values.
George Drivas was perhaps born – and certainly raised – to be a restaurateur. From the age of 12 the first-generation Australian son of Greek immigrants worked in The Coffee Club – co-founded by his father Emmanuel in 1989 – in downtown Brisbane, washing dishes and generally helping out.
“I worked in Coffee Clubs until I was 18 or 19 and then the opportunity to run The Coffee Club here at Brisbane Airport arrivals arose,” he recalls. “My Dad turned to me and goes, ‘George do you want to take the opportunity?’ So I took it and the rest is history. We grew from one store to eight over the next 16 years.”
One of those is The Aviary Café & Bar, venue for our informal breakfast interview in the good company of Brisbane Airport Head of Commercial Property Development Toby Innes. It’s a beautifully designed space with a chilled vibe and a nicely understated Queensland feel created through the use of warm timbers, lush greenery and soft pastels.
“Moving from The Coffee Club franchise to my own branded stores, I really saw a market where people wanted this kind of dining, an elevated café-style experience,” Drivas explains. “And that’s where Windmill & Co [located airside within the International Terminal] came to life [in 2014].
“It was the first table service bar/restaurant in the terminal and at the time there were a lot of people doubting it, saying, ‘Are you sure you’re going to do that in a terminal?’ But that’s what people want. The customers love it. You get to sit down and relax without waiting in line.
“So this is what we’ve created. We want to showcase, say, a normal avocado on toast in a really nice and elegant way. We make everything in-house here. So all the ricotta, the whipped feta. Nothing is brought in.”
Today, Airport Retail Group offers four concepts at Brisbane Airport – The Coffee Club, Windmill & Co, The Aviary Café & Bar and The Lord Lamington (a reference to the first Governor of Queensland and creator of the famed Australian cake that bears his name). Perhaps not surprisingly given the Drivas family origins, The Lord Lamington’s wickedly delicious signature dish is a Nutella and baklava lamington.
From franchisee to entrepreneur
Drivas recalls the transition from running a franchise brand to operating one of his own – Windmill & Co – as the standout moment of his airport F&B journey. “It was something that I hadn’t done before. Creating my own brand was a big step forward. But it was something where I could express what I could do without having that franchise governance of telling me what to do. I really enjoyed that.
“With a franchise brand, they do everything for you. There’s a rulebook, a manual, that you follow. You just have to run the business. And that’s why people pay the royalties. Suddenly, when I stepped into my own brand we had to do everything ourselves. So I had to think, ‘Hang on, I need a Group Chef to develop a menu; I need an Operations Manager to develop the front of house beverage menu.
“It was a big step for our company to go, ‘Hey, we need to deliver this because then that will set us up for future stores.’ And we did it and did it well. The rest is, again, kind of history. We’ve developed these and other brands such as The Aviary and The Lord Lamington.”
Drivas says there are fundamental differences in running F&B operations within international and domestic terminals. Having started his airport business in international, the transition to domestic operations threw up new challenges.
“With international, I knew all the flight schedules, the patterns and what people really wanted. With domestic it’s a different pattern, a lot more widespread throughout the day and the majority are Australian travellers. With international you can design a product according to the traveller profile. But for domestic there is FIFO [fly-in, fly-out], there’s leisure, there are all kinds of groups, including school parties.”
But adapt the company did, partly due to an innate entrepreneurialism and the ability to simply go with the flow. “To be honest, when I first got here it was like, ‘I know how to run my store but do I know how to run a business?’ It was kind of ‘fake it till you make it’ but it was actually quite fun.”
The Aviary still boasts a sign that recalls those early learnings and the related no-fear philosophy. It proclaims simply, ‘Just wing it’.
Innes applauds the approach, commenting: “I’ve been at airports a long time and I think the people that thrive in the industry are the ones who are capable of working through issues. Because the old cliche of no two days being the same at an airport is very true.
“Something will spring up… a regulation change or it could be two planes suddenly go out of service and all of a sudden you’ve got to deal with an influx of people. So you have to cope with all sorts of challenges. People who enjoy solving problems really thrive.”
A platform of sound social values
The Airport Retail Group success story has been built on several pillars. Quality food and drink; pleasant and distinctive environments; and quality service are all key tenets to the approach but so are key Corporate Social Responsibility principles, something Drivas is particularly passionate about.
“I’m from Brisbane, born and bred, and what we do as a business in terms of sustainability is important. We’ve actually got an Airport Retail Group forest on the Sunshine Coast.
“It’s all about offsetting our emissions. We can’t have renewable energy in our stores because we’re within a terminal but I wanted to really focus on offsetting our carbon and that’s what we are doing. In March, we planted 253 trees and just seeing that forest develop is really cool.
“Local products is a big focus as well,” Drivas continues [based on a ‘paddock to plate’ philosophy, some 85% of produce is locally sourced]. “We deal with a lot of businesses on the Sunshine Coast. Our butcher comes from there and all our fruit, lettuce and other vegetables as well. We have local craft beers and we are also working with some local bars on our cocktails.”
{The ‘paddock to plate’ philosophy showcases the best of Queensland’s produce. Airport Retail Group works closely with local fresh products specialist Morco Fresh featured in this film}
Drivas is justifiably proud of his company’s support across numerous social causes, notably the Live Like Her Challenge (#LLHC2024), an event where donors such as him spend a night sleeping in their cars to raise awareness and funds for The Forgotten Women project. That’s a reference to more than 40,000 Queensland women over the age of 55 who are, in the words of the programme, “doing it tough”.
Tough in the sense of suffering financial hardship driven by rising living costs, lack of employment, limited or no superannuation and a lack of affordable housing options. Alarmingly, the project’s website reveals, recent forecasts predict that this figure is set to double by 2036.
Another cause close to his heart, this time for intensely personal reasons, is the Children’s Cancer Foundation. His sister Eleni was diagnosed with leukaemia at just four years of age, thankfully making a full recovery. Airport Retail Group sponsors the organisation’s annual ball, run by local company Madd Loans.
The annual Paniyiri Greek Festival, held each May, is another core focus. “It’s really huge. This year 70,000 people turned up for it and every tent, every food stall is from a certain village in Greece, and profits go back to that village,” Drivas explains.
“So we were there for ten hours on Saturday and ten hours on Sunday making some Yiros, Honey Puffs and halloumi cheese with all the profits going back to our communities.”
How COVID changed the world
Innes says such values echo those both of Brisbane Airport Corporation and an evolution of values within the wider business community over recent years. “There’s been a definite change. For business communities, COVID prompted the acceleration of the importance of sustainability and social responsibility. The world got a sort of wake-up call,” he observes.
“Lots of people experienced many different things. But I know the conversations we have at work around what people are going through in their lives is a much more important discussion than it was. It’s a really important part of our culture and the culture of our partners that we make sure we look after people.”
Drivas picks up on the theme. “We’ve got 210 staff in our business. I don’t call it a company structure, I call it a family structure. I treat all my people like they are family. My General Manager Judith Geiger has been with me for 13 years; Chris Beeton, [Operations Manager] who just served us, has been with me for 11; my Group chef Allen Chen is on 11 years. There are a lot of people who have been with us for a long time.”
The importance of social principles extends to Brisbane Airport’s RFPs, Innes says, with bidders required to show their commitment to the local community. “For example, that was a big part of Lotte Duty Free’s winning submission. It’s definitely something that was highlighted and I think done with real heartfelt meaning behind it.
“It’s not just something our partners put on a page… people genuinely want to give back to those who are suffering or are in a less fortunate situation, whatever the context is. That’s a really nice thing to be able to champion and is definitely something we look for in our RFPs.”
Olympic spirit
Like his peers, Drivas is excited by the 2032 Olympics and Paralympics coming to Brisbane and the sheer enormity of the airport transformation that will precede the great sporting extravaganza.
“There’s the redevelopment of the International Terminal and all the tenders. In terms of infrastructure, everything around Brisbane is getting built and there’s a lot happening here. I think we’re going to see it ramping up in the six years leading into the Olympic Games and that’s exciting for all of us.” {Main story continues after the sidebar below}.
‘Future BNE’This article forms part of an ongoing series by The Moodie Davitt Report dedicated to Brisbane Airport’s hugely ambitious A$5 billion (US$3.3 billion) ‘Future BNE’ development. As reported, the programme, which includes over 150 projects, is the biggest in Brisbane Airport’s history. Future BNE will upgrade both the Domestic and International terminals and continue the development of a new Terminal 3 precinct as both Brisbane and Queensland look forward to hosting the 2032 Summer Olympics and Paralympics. In a unique eight-year editorial programme, we will track the development right through to the Games themselves. The Moodie Davitt Report Founder & Chairman Martin Moodie visited Brisbane Airport recently to kick-start the series by reporting on the new ten-year partnership between Lotte Duty Free and Brisbane Airport Corporation. You can read that story here. Look out for more coverage of the ongoing developments coming soon. |
That anticipation is a far cry from the worst days of the COVID-19 pandemic which hit Brisbane hard from the moment the state government declared a public health emergency on 29 January 2020. After a series of statewide and national lockdowns, it would be just a week short of two years later before Queensland’s borders were reopened to international travellers without restrictions.
“It was a big challenge,” Drivas recalls. “Pre-COVID we were at 180 staff and we went down to 32. From that 32 we’re now up to 211 and growing. We’ve hired a lot of people and the stores are doing really well so everyone’s happy.
Talking about a revolution
What’s the future look like for Airport Retail Group? “Hopefully we will grow more stores at different terminals,” Drivas replies, noting that previous airport bids outside Brisbane have been unsuccessful. “Until now, we have been a one-city, one-airport company. But we’re in a better position now to grow and I think we have better insights into what other terminals as well as Brisbane Airport need or want. We’re in a great position.”
Drivas is optimistic about the future of airport food & beverage and the company’s role within it. “Ten years ago when we had just opened Windmill & Co, we created our mission and vision statement. One of the lines in there is ‘Revolutionising airport dining’.
“That’s actually up in our office. So we’ve always had that in our mind and that’s what we want to do. Revolutionising airport dining is about the service you are provided and the quality of food you get. It’s a rounded thing.
“Ten years ago airports were very much about grab and go – ham and cheese croissants and takeaway coffee, and then you’re gone. But creating spaces where people could get freshly made food represented a gap in the market. And that’s what we created with Windmill.
“We also brought it into domestic and elevated it one step further, just to see how people reacted. And we saw there is a need for it. Absolutely there is a need for grab and go and QSR but there is also a huge need for people to be able to come in and have a cocktail, nice food and service.
“When we brought table service to the domestic terminal, a lot of people were sceptical. They said passengers would not have the dwell time. But we said if we could create this kind of food in under 12 minutes, we will be absolutely fine. That’s our target and we achieve that.”
As an engaging conversation draws to a close, Drivas reflects on his passion for the airport food & beverage business. “A lot of people ask me why don’t I create a restaurant in the CBD or somewhere else outside? But the airport is such a unique area to run food & beverage so I don’t think I could.
“Once you’re sucked into the airport space, you are kind of here to stay. You want to be here. And that’s where I’m at.
“I love the airport space and what it means. I love seeing customers coming to my shops and leaving happy because they’re always going somewhere. And I want to be part of their journey.” 
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