Restaurants of any description do not necessarily provide the "best" coffee, nor more often than not is it within their brief to do so - economies of scale would seem to suggest that if you have ten staff in the kitchen and fifteen on the floor, plus you're using the best available ingredients that money can buy, coupled with a million dollar fit out, then ten dollars for a coffee is probably a realistic return on the owner's investment In real terms the average price we pay for a coffee in Melbourne is in my experience at least way behind what Sydney, Byron, Brisbane, and the Sunshine Coast are charging - this in part would be in my opinion due to the intense competition for the consumer dollar here, coupled by a long and proud history of espresso consumption, married to an entrenched belief that we shouldn't have to pay 'through the nose' for our coffee But if you factored in all the costs that are associated with producing that coffee including fixed overheads and relatively high wages, I would say that $5 for a cup of coffee represents a much more realistic return on investment for cafe owners - the reality is though, that in a recessed economic climate, coupled with fearce competition for the consumer dollar, very few would be willing to pay that kind of money, except in exceptional circumstancesc The so called easy path for the cafe owner is to reduce costs by focusing upon cutting overheads, including sourcing what I would consider to be inferior produce / coffee / milk / pastries etc It takes conviction and courage to consistently provide a superior product - combined with a willingness to sacrifice profits for quality However you look at it it's an inherently difficult task fraught with potential dangers, to go out on a limb and strive to produce a consistently superior coffee product - and I applaud all those who a brave and foolish enough to follow this path Pat
