Marg

A Coffee Talk

Nov 1

*Marg - Founder / Senior Roaster / Barista at Puck Provisions*

I met up with Marg on a Sunday afternoon sometime back in November. He was kind enough to take some time out of his busy schedule for A Coffee Talk. When I say Marg is one of those coffee guys with a lot of experience, I mean it.

Marg has been in the F&B industry for over 15 years, with his coffee origin story dating back to 2012, amongst which includes his barista experience in Spruce, Toby’s Estates, The Coffee Academics, and Kurasu.

Sometime in 2019, Marg was hoping to expand his skills as a coffee professional and was looking to learn the art of roasting. As luck would have it, a junior roaster position opened up with Common Man Coffee Roasters, where he dedicated two years learning while working towards his goal of opening a space he yearns to call his own.

Finally, at the start of this year, Marg finally fulfilled one of his many visions, the opening of Puck Provisions. Puck Provisions is a really beautiful space, one of the very rare spaces that feels very homely, almost as if you are visiting a friend’s home.

“The idea behind Puck Provisions was really the idea of providing a lifestyle, the provision for a space to allow people to take a break from the hustle of daily life. The focus was really about the space; the coffee element was a bonus.”

One of the challenges of opening his own space, apart from the financial woes, was finding the right people who aligned with his values to join the team. Puck Provision is about the provision of lifestyle, which means collaborations with local artists and maybe even toying with the idea of housing a nursery?

Marg’s current role with Puck Provisions is Head of Coffee. His responsibilities include leading the team in the weekly team calibration, taking on the role of both barista and cashier, roasting, training, and the R&D for all the delicious vegan yummies you will find on his menu. If this doesn’t sound amazing to you already, I don’t know what would.

Of course, throughout his years as a coffee professional, he had his fair share of challenges. One of it being having an “untrained palette”. Marg works on that through buying and tasting the many fruits he can find and also by going to the different cafes tasting coffees of different origins and processing methods.

Marg also works on his skills as a coffee professional by acquiring “outside-insights”, visiting cafes and observing how others work, setting a benchmark and thus improving himself as a coffee professional. I asked Marg if there was any advice he would give to a barista who may feel stagnant in wherever they are; he feels it could be a lack of opportunity in the current environment.

“If anything, enable your own self-discovery, go out and see how and what others are doing, and create your own 5-year plan.”

Puck Provisions is one of Marg’s many visions and 5-year plans. It is both exciting to see what he has in plan for the future and inspiring to see how much he has achieved thus far.