Laughter and lattes at new cafe

There’s a café in Tirau which serves laughter with its lattes, and aims to ensure customers leave happier than when they come in. It’s called the Bugger Café.

“We know the name is edgy, but most people get it – especially Kiwis, Australian and the English,” says the café owners Glenda and John Gourley.


Glenda Gourley and Kennedy Grant of Bugger Cafe Tirau love hearing their customers laugh.

It opened on April 1 this year in the heart of town in what was a former pub. The dark interior has undergone a complete makeover and is now bright and light. It serves fresh, seasonal and as much as possible, local foods and coffee, and a large helping of laughter thanks to photos, cartoons and quotes on the walls and even the ceiling. “We get asked all the time why we named our cafes Bugger.  It all came about on a trip from Auckland to Tauranga when John commented about the string of cafes we passed – many of which seemed to be named after coloured animals.

“This moved on to a conversation about how we can never remember the names of cafes. I asked him what he would call a café. His initial response was ‘buggered if I know’. But then after no more than 30 seconds thought he said, ‘If I owned a cafe it would be called ‘Bugger’.

“I thought his idea was ridiculous. However, by the end of the journey John had convinced me that Bugger Cafe would be a great name and that we should create a memorable, uplifting, fun experience.”

That was 18 months ago and such is the success of their cafés that John and Glenda plan to create a franchised chain of uniquely New Zealand Bugger Cafes throughout New Zealand.

“I feel like I have come full circle back to teaching kids to cook and empowering them through working with our a great staff of young people. We’ve got kids on apprenticeships and others doing cafe management and barista training. We hire for attitude and train for skill. I love watching them grow in confidence and self-esteem,” says Glenda.


Tirau’s Bugger Café has, like most businesses in town, a corrugated iron sign.


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