Behind the Counter - Claudia Hurford of Golden State Coffee
Hero image supplied by Mel Reid. Additional images supplied by Claudia Hurford.
What began with a 1970s Chevrolet van, Golden State Coffee embodies the timeless, magnetic pull of California—the uninhibited creativity of the 1970s, the pursuit of reinvention and ceaseless sunshine! In this conversation, owner-operator Claudia Hurford reflects on learning to trust her instincts, becoming comfortable in front of the camera and the advice that carried her through the harder days of hospitality — "Just keep turning up."
Tell us how Golden State Coffee began
Golden State coffee started with an idea turned reality based off our imported unique 1970s Chevrolet Step Van. Our coffee truck is the inspiration behind what we do, painted pastel yellow to embody our sunny and bright brand and feeling you get when visiting for coffee.
What have been the biggest learnings from going from a vintage truck to shop?
Since out-growing the coffee truck on a day-to-day basis we have moved our Monday to Friday operation into a container cafe. We got very lucky with the container set up itself as we bought it already fitted out as a cafe. The biggest learning for me has been that I can't do everything myself and that's a great thing, my partner and I run it together as well as our two amazing staff members. We work to each other's strengths and seeing our staff grow and help the vision is much more rewarding than doing it all myself.
You've recently launched on Uber Eats and generally seem open to trying new things. How do you decide when something is worth pursuing?
In my experience in the early days or years even of starting a brand from scratch — it doesn’t quite go as well as it seems, it's constant failures and learnings and more failures. You're constantly feeling like you're going backwards and I was dealing with situations I could never dream up.
I believe working through this gives you a good gut instinct, and I feel that I listen to that a lot. I can also tell when something's a good idea but not the right time, as the right timing can massively affect or hinder the business's growth. We embody being open minded and hand this down to our staff, we are keen to try most things and trends, reevaluate and learn from what it taught us :)
Hospitality is hard. What gives you energy and keeps you motivated - beyond coffee?
I am a big believer that good hospitality is a lot more skillful than it gets known to be, the work itself is fun, rewarding and busy. It can also be hugely impactful on people's day-to-day lives. The energy from the community we have built and the day to day skills keep us pushing day in and day out. I will always love being on the coffee machine chatting to customers wherever life takes me!
Also early on when the days got tough, I would have amazing support from others and the advice I got from successful cafe owners was to just keep turning up. The action of turning up daily keeps the discipline of getting it done even on the unmotivated days, and trust me we do have them!
What do you think people are looking for from a great coffee experience today?
Customers knowing who they are buying from, owners jumping behind the camera to share themselves as simple as a hello or a couple of photos. This is super important in today's consumer world. Along with having a delicious high quality product in efficient ordering time are two key values of ours :)
What are you focusing on this year?
Consolidating what we have. Getting the container running efficiently and the coffee truck running simultaneously on the weekdays as well as weekends. We did our first full week of the container cafe running and the coffee truck at Fieldays 2026, and we are all super proud of that! Also to work to our strengths, especially in the management side, stepping away from the container for a few hours a week to work on the business and not always in it.
What advice would you give someone wanting to start something of their own?
Have a go, you will never feel ready and remember to always be learning. I’ve started to understand that the journey itself is the most rewarding and fulfilling. Be prepared to grit through and turn up daily. Find something that you are passionate about and remember the bigger picture. When times get tough, turn up daily and remember everything is a phase so even in the worst of times and days, it (hopefully) shouldn't last forever!
