RichardM wrote:
I counted in my head at least 15 coffee shops in two blocks of the main street without thinking too hard. Over half of them are less than a year old, and I can think of many more that have gone bust very quickly. The competition for coffee business here is fierce, and there are only so many coffees consumed in a day, so I'm guessing roasting is steady, but individual coffee shop business would be down here.
it's actually a very bad thing for everyone involved in the supply chain. As roasters, we unfortunately (and I say that kindly - an emotive subject for suppliers) tend to get hit up for all the normal freebies (FOL, etc.) and after spending up to $12K kitting out a cafe, for them to hit on hard times, it hurts the roasters just as bad - particularly as the FOL investment does nothing in terms of value-add to your own product and certainly does nothing but take away the potential for what could be in the cup. Used equipment, even if it's only light demo use, is still never good enough for some cafe owners, so it can be challenge. Any reasonable roaster will obviously want their cafes to be successful as we have invested what we generally deem as a "high cost of entry tax" into an ongoing partnership when there is any FOL involved. Granted, a cafe owner normally invests up to 20 - 30 times that amount, but it does'nt take long before a suppliers accumulate a lot of wasted capital and bad debts - just for the privilege of selling your product, so we try everything we can to help them be successful - sometimes that means more investment, ultra-premium beans, funding promotions, incentives, etc. These sorts of value-add can only work if there is a good cafe-roaster relationship - when the roaster can advise the cafe openly on how to improve - and likewise. There are some common patterns I've noticed emerging from those cafes that end up struggling. Firstly, the mindset of the owner (are they cost or value focused - cost focused more often end up failing first), then it's the energy and commitment of the owner (are they worn out, don't care anymore, sick of the long hours and constant routine) and how this influences the culture of all staff to deliver to a service standard and finally the relevance of the cafe - not changing the menu in years, tired decor, stale or boring approach, etc.......... I've seen some absolute classics over the years.......anything from trying to save 1c a cup on dodgy takeaway cups and lids that inflame customers to using the owners school-age kids to be barista with zero experience, training and desire.
