By Dongyun Kwon
A coffee roastery owner won the Healesville Rotary Club’s Ron Goding Award on Monday 24 March.
The award perpetuates the memory of the late Ron Goding, a charter member and former president of the Rotary Club, who applied the highest ethical standards and led by example in his business as well as in the Rotary Club activities.
The annually presented award was given to Montesanto Coffee Roasters owner Mario Morales this time.
He said he felt humble.
“I felt I’ve got a lot of support from the community,” he said.
“Seeing so many people appreciate what you’ve done makes you feel good about all the hard work that you put in.”
Mario, who was born and raised in Costa Rica, has brought his home country’s coffee into the town.
Costa Rica is known for its coffee industry which produces high-quality coffee beans.
“People in Melbourne love coffee, and the coffee culture here is massive, even bigger than in Costa Rica,” the award recipient said.
“There was already a lot of coffee. I wanted to bring a unique type of coffee bean into a very big coffee culture.”
Mario’s journey in Australia began with his love story.
He met Sonya Turner, whose family have lived in Healesville for 30 years, in the United States in 2002.
In 2009, they dramatically reconnected in Costa Rica, when Sonya taught English at an academy which was owned by Mario’s best mate.
The Costa Rican man decided to take the Australian woman to coffee shops to show the Costa Rican coffee.
While experiencing different types of Costa Rican coffee, their relationship grew as a couple.
“When I met my wife, she wasn’t used to drinking coffee,” Mario said.
“In Costa Rica, you have coffee in the afternoon, so we started having coffee in the afternoon with cakes, and she really liked it. She loved the flavour and the style.
“We always had that dream of bringing that atmosphere to Australia.”
The following year, the couple got married and moved to Chum Creek.
Mario helped his father-in-law Brian Turner with his pressure washer factory in Bayswater for more than a decade before he finally realised his dream of opening up a Costa Rican coffee roastery in 2023.
The shop was originally opened up at the west end of Healesville and then moved to the east end in August last year and reopened in October after renovation.
“I believe that even though Healesville is a tourist town, I don’t feel I could make it without the local support,” Mario said.
“I think any business in Healesville has to cater to the locals because they’re the ones always there, looking after and supporting you.
“I’m very thankful for the community. I obviously do get tourists, but I try to focus on the locals.”
Other than coffee, Mario has been involved in various community activities, including sports and chess clubs.
He volunteers with national disaster relief organizations, using his mechanical skills to help on the ground.
He recently joined a local rubbish clean-up group No Reason 4 Rubbish.
He has begun involvement in the local Traders Group, which helps promote local businesses.
Mario hosts chess games and tournaments, and is looking to make them more formal.
