This is something of a summary of the short talk I gave at the Allegra Strategies UK Coffee Leader Summit a week or so ago. Please also bear in mind that this talk was directed at the UK market specifically so won’t necessarily hold true for other national coffee cultures.
For me this talk was a [...]
Posted in Opinion | Also tagged article, Barista, brewing, Coffee, consumer, drinks, economy, Espresso, history, innovation, italy, london, marketing, pricing, quality, tradition |
I have a confession to make: I used to, in a very snobbish way, hate the idea of a coffee being an “after dinner coffee” or a “morning cup”. I thought it was one of those really stupid ways of selling coffee – like how supermarkets use the word “strength” to communicate how dark a [...]
Posted in Opinion | Also tagged brewing, Coffee, consumer, cupping, drinks, Espresso, promises, roaster, Roasting, varietal, wine |
I’ve tried to avoid writing about the current economic climate, and the outlook for coffee in 2009, and using the two “c” words that lost any meaning months ago.
Nonetheless it has been interesting to see what they industry press are writing about, what advice is being offered, what strategies are being deemed wise. A word [...]
Posted in Coffee | Also tagged Coffee, consumer, customers, diversifying, identity, pricing, promises, quality, sales, starbucks, tonx |
I think everyone in coffee knows deep down this is true. The wine model only works for wine, we can’t transplant it to coffee and expect some immediate understanding and increased sales of quality coffees.
First and foremost – we don’t drink coffee like we drink wine. Broadly speaking we buy wine in two [...]
Posted in Opinion | Also tagged chocolate, consumer, education, marketing, microlots, models, Opinion, sales, tea, tea smith, william curley, wine |
I’ve written a lot recently with an industry readership in mind. This post I write with the consumer firmly in mind. This isn’t about exonerating lazy cafe owners and baristas, or excusing the chains or making allowances for restaurant coffee. Anyone who loves or even likes coffee will often complain about how bad a lot [...]
If there is one thing that people behind bars and counters are guilty of it is forgetting what it is like to be a customer. They develop and “us vs. them” mentality with their own customer base.
To give an example of this in effect I want to talk about how many businesses react to [...]
Like most people I hate it when I go somewhere and they feel the need to educate me. I hate being talked down to by whomever is serving me, I hate patronising and irrelevant information and I don’t really ever want to go back to that business again. However – I love learning, I love [...]
Posted in Opinion | Tagged trust |
Never has a word or an idea so destroyed the good intentions of many cafes, and wrecked an owner’s confidence in their own product.
Over the last few years I’ve done a lot of very varied barista training. The vast majority of people I met were having their first introduction to brewing coffee carefully and well. [...]
Posted in Coffee | Tagged trust |
This is the second post in a series that I started with Trust. I want to examine a bit more closely what we communicate and can accomplish with pricing.
I hope you don’t mind if I use two theoretical espresso establishments. One sells a shot of espresso for 60p, they carry no obvious branding as to [...]
Posted in Opinion | Also tagged Espresso, pricing |
This is the first in a series of posts on quite a broad topic within coffee, that covers not only elements of brewing but sales, consumption, successes and failures and the challenges that lie ahead for anyone in the industry.
I am going to start with trust. This might seem an abstract word, but I hope [...]
Posted in Opinion | Also tagged article, Opinion |
