Brunetti Brothers Separate Businesses After Decades-Long Partnership
Melbourne's iconic Brunetti cafe chain, owned by the Angele family since 1991, has been operating as two distinct businesses since 2021: Brunetti Classico and Brunetti Oro. The separation involved brothers Fabio and Yuri Angele, who ran the business together for decades. The brothers have not publicly discussed the reasons for the split until now.
Melbourne's iconic Brunetti cafe chain, owned by the Angele family since 1991, has been operating as two distinct businesses since 2021: Brunetti Classico and Brunetti Oro.
Background and Early Tensions
The family patriarch, Giorgio Angele, a pastry chef who arrived in Melbourne in 1956, established his first pastry shop before acquiring Brunetti in Faraday Street in 1991. The business grew, and by the 2000s, Fabio focused on front-of-house operations, while Yuri managed production and product development. Their partnership built Brunetti into a recognized brand.
Early tensions emerged in 2006 during a major rental dispute with the Faraday Street landlord. Fabio managed the relocation of the Carlton flagship to a new site in Lygon Court, a move that cost approximately $10 million. Yuri expressed concerns about the substantial risk and how the dispute was handled, feeling his voice was not adequately considered, despite being a 50/50 owner.
Early tensions emerged in 2006 during a major rental dispute with the Faraday Street landlord.
Diverging Visions and The Split
The fundamental cause of the separation stemmed from differing visions for the company's future. Yuri advocated for significant expansion, particularly pushing for a dedicated off-site production facility at a company-owned property in Coburg. He believed the existing Carlton kitchen was inefficient and constrained growth.
Fabio, the older brother, sought to consolidate the business and prepare for a potentially slower pace or eventual succession, preferring to stay within familiar operational parameters in Carlton. He felt he had been working intensely since the 1990s and desired a more settled approach.
A four-person board was established to mediate decisions, but it ultimately failed to resolve the brothers' disagreements. In approximately 2020, the board decided to sell the Coburg property, a decision Yuri vehemently opposed, viewing it as crucial for Brunetti's future expansion. He states he was told to become a silent partner, leading to his belief that the decision went against him.
A four-person board was established to mediate decisions, but it ultimately failed to resolve the brothers' disagreements.
The differences proved irreconcilable, and neither brother was in a position to buy the other out. In 2021, during the COVID-19 pandemic, they formally separated their operations. The machinery was divided, and staff were given the choice of which brother to work for. While Fabio described the split as fair, Yuri noted that extra costs led to some staff redundancies.
Current Operations and Future Plans
Brunetti Classico (under Fabio Angele):
- Operates the Carlton flagship, three cafes at Melbourne Airport, and outlets in Moonee Ponds and Coburg North.
- Fabio, 63, continues to work long hours, arriving at 2 am.
- He now acknowledges the limitations of the Carlton kitchen and is actively exploring industrial sites across Melbourne for a new production facility, reflecting a shift towards the expansion strategy Yuri previously advocated.
- Fabio's son, Tory, serves as the CEO of Brunetti Classico.
Brunetti Oro (under Yuri Angele):
- Operates the Flinders Lane flagship and outlets in Brunswick, Myer Bourke Street, Chadstone, and Swanston Street.
- Yuri promptly established his desired 3000-square-meter production facility in Brunswick, which now supplies all his cafes and has capacity for growth.
- He is pursuing aggressive expansion, planning a new large store and developing a modular, removable shop concept called