Cafe "Pride" / local Fresh Coffee supply

FreshCoffee2

I am an unashamed supporter of doing as much LOCAL business as possible. That's with everything, not only with wanting people to support their local roasters. With regard to the coffee / cafe industries my line of thinking is that if you wish to open a "cafe", that you will attract custom because of who you are, what you are doing, and whether you do it well. My line of thinking is that your customer base will be made up of people who will frequent your business because of what you make of it.

So it is always interesting to find cafe owners trying to align themselves with a perceived image of this particular roaster or that, and to hear them make extraodinary comments when selecting coffee suppliers such as:

a) "I have to offer a point of difference", OR
b) "I cant have the same coffee as another cafe in the street, or town" etc.

My feeling is that people do not walk past a line of cafes and make a decision based on what brand of coffee is displayed on the umbrellas, rather, that they make a decision based on what your cafe is like in comparision to others along the street and this is based on the miriad of factors governed by what you set out to achieve in opening your cafe including the decor, and whether the client feels comfortable or whether it doesn't suit his perception of a nice place to eat / drink, or whether someone has recommended that you do / dont eat / drink well there.  It is very much dependent on whether your staff know how to make a decent cuppa and serve good food with a smile, irrespective of the brand of beans used. I believe the point of difference BELONGS to the cafe developer and is part of his business goodwill, and that it does not lie with attempting to align the cafe with a particular brand of coffee.

The scenario appears to me, to show that there is a great lack of confidence among many cafe owners in their ability to brew a decent coffee, to run good business (which inludes lots of other variables), and to present themselves as purveyors of good fair (not just coffee), ALL with which to woo the paying punters with.

So I believe the premis for "importing" all and sundry outside coffee brands into your own areas for the reasons of wanting to "offer a point of difference", is essentially flawed.

If you want snazzy umbrellas to make an image statement with, you can put great artwork on them yourself that says words to the effect of...."this is my cafe and I'm proud of it". Build your own good name, not someone elses.

Support your local roaster (provided he can demonstrate he is capable of looking after you), you need to keep him in business or you will be paying extra big bucks for your coffee once the large companies have turned the marketplace into a triopoly.

Any comments from the floor?

FC.

admin

Hi FC - just thought I'd add my two cents worth; agree that buying local is good, although this doesn't always guarantee a good product (depends on the roaster). My main question, which nobody seems able to answer, is how to make consumers more discriminating, such that they actually demand a better result from their local cafe; ie raise standards by consumer demand...?? Ciao Admin

over_extracted

Dear everyone the answer to that question is as ..Consumers out there take what ever is given to them most of the time and dont givemuch about the coffee they are drinking,then you have the other ones that do care a lot about their daily shot of coffee they have ,now its up to the shop OWNERS to educate the public about the coffee they serve and to show their customers that they are not only getting good coffee but one that is made right,for eg.I have a new customer at the shop that has been getting her decaf coffee delivered to her house from CAMPOS (good one campos you do a fine job) and the first time that she came to the cafe she was going on about the decaf coffee and how she wants it,well after analysing her order i made her a double shot decaf cafelatte with soy milk and extra chocolate on top...since that day when i explained to her how milk should be heated and how decaf coffee should be extracted(aaahhh good word) she keeps on coming back and telling me how good this coffee is and how she can never get the same somewhere else,Now i think this is a good example of how to deal with this problem and how to educate people as what is good and what is average.good night OE.

FreshCoffee2

Hi Admin, I think the answer to your question is answerred well enough by OE. Individual cafes that take care to serve their clients well made coffee (as well as well made everything else), with a smile, lift the game for every one else over time. It's a slow process that will take years. And taking us back to the original question, I think it also serves to show that "the point of difference" is the goodwill developed by a smart cafe owner, not the individual brands of the ingredients he uses to make up whatever he serves to his clients. No? FC.

over_extracted

Thank you FC  ;D I do try hard enought to educate customers as to the coffee they consume and i hope that this helps everyone out there,Olso i would like to note that becouse this lady drinks "decaf coffee" it does not mean that the barista should put less effort in extracting a perfect shot of coffee.OE

dcbc

drink coffee not milk.

FreshCoffee2

Yes I like that....if you could educate and standardise the cafe industry to make espresso as it is designed to be made, there would be more people drinking espresso rather than a milk derivative. This will happen over time. I think milk coffee is the entry level for an eventual appreciation of well made espresso....and that's not to say a well brewed milk coffee doesn't taste good or isn't "real" espresso, just ask all of us brought up the european way to drink caffe latte at breakfast, made with the "stovetop" and milk heated on the stove. FC.

pab

As a consumer and coffee lover I'd like to make the following points. 1) It's a nice idea to be able to standardise something like coffe and have the same great shot every time. In reality, it is not always the case. Half the fun for the consumer is to track down that perfect shot - which cafe was it, who made it even to the point of who served it. 2) As for making consumers more discriminating, I, as a consumer would prefer that word of mouth is used in educating the masses. The minute someone works out how to market the perfect shot the whole experience will be ruined. It'll become a marketable commodity, just like they've marketed cool as a comodity and created the likes of a meterosexual. 3) Always keep in mind that some people aren't that fussed over the quality of their coffee. Just like everything from DVD players to wine, from nurseries to garden supa centas, there's a level of quality to satisfy anyone. There's coffee for the masses and coffee for those that still treat it as one of lifes pleasures. It's when the lesser name or franchise brands try and market themselves as the be all and end all that causes the problems - just like every f$%^ing epsiode of Blue Heelers/All Saints - a must see episode instead of being a great episode that everyone raves about afterwards. 4) It's a fine line as I see it trying to remain true to the coffee and the coffee loving client while still turning over a good business. Keep it up and keep it real... As Kyle from Southpark once said "Gods and clods".

admin

Hi Pab - take your point, and of course it's always great to have room for variation. My question was more related to the general awareness of good coffee.  How many coffee drinkers are there in Australia - probably several million? And of those how many are aware of what makes a good espresso coffee - perhaps several hundred thousand? My point - and it's more of a question really - is what would it take to make all those millions who are unaware that there is something better, more discriminating and in so doing raise the standard of espresso drinking generally? I guess to a certain degree it's a chicken & egg thing -if they don't know they could be getting something better, then they won't be going about demanding it...but for what it's worth, that's my question. ciao -A

pab

It would take allot of education to get the masses into good, real coffee. I suppose you could expose the awful truth about instant coffee being second hand coffee. Try and remove the convieniance of instant coffee. A government sponsored nationa instant coffee buy back scheme!!! I'm not sure... all I know that it sucks sharing the same name as the worlds worst coffee!!!! Seriously though, like I said before, for the consumer who knows the difference, some part of us wants to keep that privlaged information a secret. It's like comparing a chef to a kid flipping burgers - they both serve food but there's a vast chasm of difference...

FreshCoffee2

Well yes, and no I think. I can see your point/s. A very dear customer (large purchaser, good payer, honourable & gentlemanly) once noted that despite his establishment's good name for coffee in his local area, he still figured that all that most wanted, was a hot wet drink! Regardless.....if the hot wet drink tastes good then it's a winner and if it doesn't, I dont know too many people that would go back again...Ausies dont complain, they just dont go back! The only way the hot wet drink can taste good is if its well made so the education part is rather simple, just takes a a long time to happen. FC.

diplomat

You heard em cafe owners! you should also invest in a cow, chickens, a rooster and a vineyard. You wouldnt want to buy any milk, meat, poultry or wine thats not from around the corner. DON'T TAKE ANY NOTICE OF THEM, do whatever works for you!