SPECIALTY coffee retailer, wholesaler, roaster and franchisor Zarraffa's Coffee has sold its Surfers Paradise store to local residents Judy, Graeme and Brendon Lord.

Located on the Gold Coast Highway, the store was opened by Zarraffa's Coffee in 2003. Zarraffa CEO Kenton Campbell says the company had been waiting for the 'right' personalities to take over the reins.

"We are really delighted to welcome the Lord family to the ever-growing Zarraffa's Coffee family and congratulate them on their acquisition," says Campbell.

"Not just anyone can invest in Zarraffa's, franchisees must meet our stringent selection criteria and we believe that Judy, Graeme and Brendon will perform well at the Surfers Paradise store."

Judy Lord says the decision to buy into a franchise followed research into the market and was made easier by the fact that it was a well-established brand.

"We bought this store as an investment into our futures. As proud 'Gold Coasters', the fact Zarraffa's is a Gold Coast company helped us make the decision," she says.

"Zarraffa's have a great deal of pride in their company, which filters down to their franchisees and employees. The support they have given us has been invaluable."

The first Zarraffa's Coffee franchise was opened in 2001 at the Myer Centre, in Brisbane's CBD. Since then, Zarraffa's has continued to open stores across south-east Queensland and in Sydney, with the total store count now at 23.

Franchisees pay between $300,000 and $400,000 for a franchise.

Meanwhile, Burleigh-based Espresso Essential is setting a frenetic franchising pace with 20 coffee vans Australia-wide and service and installation services increasing by the day.

The master Queensland and NSW franchisor has taken the brand to international markets in Singapore and the UK. Essential Coffee general manager Brett Bolwell says the family-owned franchise expects annual turnover of around $10 million in the 2007-'08 financial year on the back of a healthy franchise network - up from $5 million for 2006-'07.

"We are fortunate in that we have the perfect mix of the lot. We take our product direct to the people," says Bolwell, whose company slogan is 'life's too short to drink bad coffee'.

"Our growth has been by the way of a dealer franchise network and we don't really have any competition," he says.