Volume 11, Issue 3
Heritage News and Updates
The OCVSA put on its
annual trade show at the White Oaks Hotel and Spa to which the Ontario
coffee service professionals gathered. For over a quarter of a century,
this event has helped present new products and launch entrepreneurs into
the world of OCS and vending. This year, Heritage promoted the Perfect
Servings™ Programme, which embodies the benefits of a cleaner
environment, better margins for operators and greater choices for the
end user — something for everyone! For more on the Perfect Servings
Programme, see the back of this newsletter.
Cappuccino Topping
Cappuccino Topping has
taken off in a big way! Our newest product addition to the vending
industry has made a profound mark on the way hot beverages are served.
Cappuccino topping from Heritage Coffee is a non-dairy whipped topping
that is used to garnish cappuccinos, lattés and other vendible hot
beverages through the latest vendors. The response to this quality
product has been tremendous! If you want to add sales to your machines,
contact your sales rep or broker for more details.
Retail Coffee Packaging
Retail coffee packages
are now available through Heritage Coffee. Heritage has the capacity to
manufacture a stand-up re-closable bag for coffee, cappuccino, hot
chocolate and whole bean products. This new addition to our packaging
line will allow our customers more flexibility, access to more markets,
as well as a value-added packaging option. Call your Heritage rep or
broker for more details on how this packaging can give you the advantage
you need.
We Love a Mystery!
It’s not unusual to get
coffee questions at Heritage… and some are downright posers. As a new
addition to Bean Thinking™, this section will be dedicated to
interesting coffee questions people have asked us — along with the
answers to the questions. If you have a burning coffee mystery that you
would like solved, please send it along to us at Mystery@heritage-coffee.com
and we will research the questions to the depths of the deepest oceans
to get you your answers.
Dear Mystery:
Why does my 2 oz. fraction packed coffee taste stronger than the 2 oz.
coffee out of my precision grinder, when both coffees are supposed to be
the same?
-Jack
Dear Jack:
When coffee is ground, and packed in a fraction format, the coffee is
allowed to de-gas which avoids having the packaging blow up to football
proportions. Whole bean coffee in precision grinders still has gas
captured inside the bean that is released when ground. That is why
freshly ground coffee smells so nice, the CO2 trapped inside escapes,
bringing with it some of the volatile aromatics to your nose. If the
coffee is brewed immediately following grinding, the rapid expulsion of
CO2 released from the grounds acts as a repellent of water during the
brewing process, inhibiting extraction and producing a slightly weaker
brew. Technically, depending on how long the fresh grounds have been
allowed to rest prior to brewing, to get the same strength as you would
from the equivalent weight of packaged coffee, you would have to add a
small amount of ground coffee. That amount would depend on the
weight-to-water ratio, a 1.5 oz. brew needing less than one of 2.5 oz.
- Heritage Coffee
The Other Coffee People
by Brian Martell
It truly is amazing when
you consider the voyage a coffee bean takes from fruit to cup. Starting
from the plantations of tropical countries where this cash crop supports
millions of people worldwide — to the foodservice employees who
carefully (we hope!) prepare a brew for the harried traveler on the
roads, railroads and airports of the nation, there is, indeed, a lot of
ground to be covered from farm to the warming of your hands around a
steaming cup.
In the press, there has been a lot of attention given to the primary
stages of production at the farmer’s level. The plight of many third
world coffee workers has been documented since the decline from
traditional prices. Further, much has been said about the service
providers, who constantly struggle with changing customer preferences
and emerging technologies that are both destabilizing and potential
opportunities.
But there is a big gap
between the two ends of the coffee spectrum. The exporters, the
importers, the transport companies, the brokers, the secondary suppliers
of raw materials, and the roasters all play an important part in getting
the product into the hands of the ultimate consumers… your customers.
While there is much to be
written on the functions of all these specialized stations along the
coffee route, time and space will not permit an in-depth analysis. So in
an attempt to pay homage to that aspect to which I can speak, this piece
is dedicated to the roasting plant workers. The roasting of coffee has
been romanticized in much the same way the wine master holds court with
those who appreciate the art and science wrought from the soil. Roast
masters, like wine masters, are supported through a complex network of
people who are there to execute the plan, and that plan is to create an
excellent coffee that will translate into an excellent cup.
Once green coffee has
been approved for shipping, the receivers have the sometimes
backbreaking task of unloading (by hand) non-palletized containers.
Imagine staring down a 10 by 10 by 40 foot tunnel with 300 bags of
coffee, weighing 152 pounds each, all having to be moved by hand.
Definitely work for the strong of heart. All incoming coffee then has to
be thoroughly checked by the QA department before it can be approved for
the roasting department, and time is of the essence. It must be noted
that coffee shipments are pre-approved through couriered samples, but
the product received must be checked off against the samples. In the
lab, the technicians who handle the samples must accurately assess all
the characteristics of the raw material before it can be released for
production use. Any deviation from the couriered samples causes red
flags to go up and the coffee is impounded (figuratively). The battery
of tests range from: density to humidity to screen size to HPLC analysis
to ultimate taste testing. It’s no wonder the lab people are usually the
first to arrive in the morning.
So the lab gives its
blessing to the myriad coffees that go into the blends and varietals for
which the roasters are chomping at the bit to work their magic. The
roasting staff goes into action picking the coffees for the blend,
carefully weighing them out and then feeding the roaster. If you haven’t
had the pleasure of working in a roasting environment during the heat of
summer, let me assure you it is hot and loud. All our roasting personnel
are required to wear hearing protection, full uniform and steel toed
shoes, no compromises. While the job is demanding, no corners can be cut
when it comes to the safety of our people.
Enter the QA people
again. Every single roast must be checked by the lab for colour, taste,
humidity and grind (if not whole bean) before the coffee is even allowed
to de-gas. By introducing this lab process at this stage, we can isolate
a problem roast before it gets packed, and long before it can become a
problem for our customers. After the coffee has been tested and
de-gassed, it goes to the packers. The packers are supplied the
necessary raw materials by lead hands who keep them flush in webbing and
labeled boxes and, of course, coffee. Packers are trained to ensure the
bags are properly formed, and are well versed in the functioning of
their machines (which can be quite complex). Further, they are expected
to produce all that the foreman gives them for the day (for certain
pieces of equipment, that can mean over 10,000 pounds in one 8 hour
shift).
It should be pointed out
that Heritage does not stock roasted coffee. The production people are
always under the gun to get the product perfect and ready for shipping
within 5 days of receiving the orders. This adds a more complex
dimension to the process for the production manager, who is in charge of
choreographing the entire production dance. Stage Right: enter the QA
people… again. All packaged coffee is tested for oxygen levels to ensure
the nitrogen flushing in our fraction packed coffees is working well.
Once this has been established, the coffee is ready for shipping.
Production staff stage the finished products in the shipping department
where the shippers pay close attention to the specific customer
requirements on how they wish to receive their coffee (some customers
want skids only 5 high while other want CPC’s between products on the
same lift to make their receiving quicker, etc).
With such a tight
production schedule, everything has to be just right (kind of like the
5th Dimension: “when the moon is in the seventh House and Jupiter aligns
with Mars…”), but hey, we live in reality and things are not always 100%
perfect. Take the equipment, for example. Our team of millwrights work
hard at preventative maintenance to ensure that the gears of our
production do not grind (pardon the pun) to a halt. When a machine does
go down, it is imperative that it be brought back up to production speed
pronto.
If webbing (the bag
packaging material) that we get in does not behave properly, we need to
do something about it. Unfortunately, webbing is one of those things you
have to order way in advance of needing it, up to 6 weeks in advance.
Thus, the purchasing department has to be really on the ball to make
things work, and make sure the vendor has a reputation of good quality
before the PO is given. Quality vendors notwithstanding, our QA lab
tests all packaging material before it goes into production. Webbing
that delaminates or does not have the proper kinetic coefficiency of
friction will fail when we need it the most, so we cannot afford to have
the problem show up the day before we ship the product. These and other
factors are tested in our labs before the webbing can be certified for
production.
Once the finished product
is staged, the traffic manager is then entrusted with the task of
coordinating all the various shipments to arrive on time at our
customers’ doors. Shipments are checked and re-checked before they are
released to the truckers, ensuring a hassle free delivery without
inconvenient backorders.
The on-time arrival at
our customers of the roasted and packed coffee, exactly as requested, is
a testament to the effort and care that was put in by all the plant
people pulling in the same direction. Their cheerful and optimistic
attitude with a “we can do it!” frame of mind is a major component of
our success.
Marketing Tips for Free Publicity
by Barbara Casey
Email Signatures:
Are you using an email signature to promote your business? You can gain
free publicity by using your business email to remind recipients how you
can help them. Make sure to include your name, business name and contact
information and a short blurb that spells out your unique benefit to
your customers.
For example:
Joe Jones,
ABC Coffee Service
===================
ABC Coffee Service delivers gourmet store coffees right to your office.
This month’s feature is Colombian Supremo – call 555-555-5555 or visit
www.abccoffeeservice.com.
===================
Take a look at the
signatures on email you receive to get ideas of how to word your own.
Your email program will most likely have a “tools” feature that adds
your signature automatically to all email you send. It really adds some
snap to your business email.
Letters to the Editor: As your city’s local coffee expert, you
can gain visibility with a well-worded “Letter to the Editor” of your
local newspaper. Whenever coffee’s in the news, you can expand on the
subject for the benefit of other newspaper readers. This works
especially well for operators whose business bears their name.
This is one of those
“free publicity” tools that could become part of your ongoing marketing
plan, along with press releases and radio call-in shows. If you have
good writing and/or speaking skills, you can schedule these activities
weekly or monthly – whatever works to keep your name in the public eye.
Volume 11 - Issue 2
What's New at Heritage?
As reported earlier in Bean Thinking™,
Heritage continues to re-invest in its operations to achieve greater efficiency, accuracy
and capacity as we grow. Last quarter’s installation of the latest technology in Thermal
Oxidizers (after burners) demonstrated Heritage’s commitment to our environment by
eliminating all particulates through our stacks with the 4.1 million BTU unit.
Before the end of June, Heritage will be
inaugurating a state-of-the-art large capacity Probat-Burns roaster. The new roaster, which
is fully automated using proprietary software, will increase our current capacity by 10
million pounds per year per shift. In essence, the entire roast process from feeding to
roasting to cooling to conveyance to the grinders will be automated.
Further enhancements that are built into
the new unit will allow for automated control over roast profiling (varying the temperature
in the chamber at critical stages of the roast process), faster roast sequencing while still
maintaining “slow roast” characteristics, and faster maintenance cycling.
The new roaster includes the latest in
communications technologies, providing for quick diagnostics through modems, and allowing
the Heritage roasting staff to keep ahead of any software updates and new processes.
Summertime and Let the Games Begin!
While Greece scrambles to be ready for the
upcoming summer Olympic Games, café owners around the city will be cooling patrons from the
Athenian heat of July with cold coffee. A staple in Southern Europe and a mainstay amongst the
Italians and Greeks (Granita in Italy), this product has taken on greater influence in North
America.
Heritage is proud to offer our customers our
Cool Café™ cold/slushy beverages. Ranging from Granitas (coffee based) to Smoothies (fruit
based), Heritage has a full line of flavours to meet the demands of this growing market
segment. Cool Café™ is packed in powdered form and need only be re-constituted with water
before adding it to the Granita machine. This greatly enhances shelf life as well as reducing
transportation costs compared to the liquid concentrates. Call us today to learn more about
this product and how you can help your foodservice clients pump up their summer sales!
Coffee and Caffeine in the News
by Brian Martell
A recent front page article in the Globe
and Mail took a shot at specialty coffee having more caffeine than “other” types of
coffees. Superficially, the reader was left with the impression that there was something
inherent in specialty coffee which imparted more caffeine than all others. Delving a little
further into the article, the revelation came out that the specialty products tested were 20
ounce cups brewed at a strength of 3.5 ounces (about 100 grams) per 64 fluid ounces of water
(this was implicitly stated, as one would have to know what strength some specialty shops brew
their coffee). When presented in the proper light, it becomes clear how obvious this is, but
the desired effect was achieved by implying there was something wrong with coffee, especially
specialty coffee.
Further, the article went on to state that
Robusta can contain up to 4% caffeine! (Robustas usually have caffeine contents in the 2.2%
range, while Arabica contains about 1.2% caffeine; I have yet to encounter a Robusta coffee
with 4% caffeine.) While the article stated that the types of coffee cultivated have differing
caffeine contents, the reader was left with the impression that specialty coffee was
predominantly Robusta (almost all specialty coffees are 100% Arabica). Again, the reader was
left with a fallacious premise based on the genus of gourmet coffees.
To better understand the co-relation between
coffee preparation, coffee types and the amount of caffeine per fluid ounce of coffee, please
refer to the graph accompanying this article. This will give you an indication of how much
caffeine would be consumed under the variables of coffee genus, degree of roast and strength
of brew. To keep the data as objective as possible, all other factors regarding the brewing
are kept constant. As you can see, the greater the strength of the coffee – the more ground
coffee used per brew, in this case 64 fluid ounces of brewed coffee – the greater the
caffeine content per fluid ounce. It bears mention that using a control amount of water equal
to 64 ounces will also have an impact on strength as the finished product will yield
diminishing volumes as the weight of coffee goes up. In essence, the more coffee weight in the
filter, the more water will be absorbed and held in the grounds and, therefore, the less
amount of finished coffee will be brewed in the pot. With less liquid coffee in the pot, the
strength and caffeine levels go up. Further, the same Arabica and the same Robusta were used
through the different weight categories.
As people are likely to consume all of what
is given to them, the serving size becomes critical in determining the level of any substance
that is consumed. Therefore, a 16 ounce serving of coffee will, all other things being equal,
have twice as much caffeine in it than an 8 ounce serving. This is where the daily recommended
amount of anything becomes fuzzy when stated in a subjective measurement such as a cup or “serving.”
Most people do not consider a cup to be 8 fluid ounces, but rather whatever their cup happens
to hold. I once had a 32 ounce insulated mug which the guys in my office would rib me about
until one of our American colleagues produced a 64 ouncer which he used at those convenience
stores that charged one price to fill your own personal mug. That he made off with the entire
pot is not the issue, but rather… what constitutes a serving.
Indeed, Cornelius Van Horn, the president of
the CPR during the construction of the transcontinental railway, was instructed by his doctor
to cut back to one cigar a day. He instructed his tobacconist to hand roll him 7 one-foot long
cigars per week!
Getting back to coffee, there is something
ingenuous in making the claim that specialty coffee has more caffeine in it than other types
of coffee, especially from a newspaper as reputable as the Globe and Mail. I doubt very
much that they would print an article stating that there is more sugar in your mom’s home
made blueberry pie than in a regular Kit Kat bar (there is, of course, more sugar in the pie,
but it outweighs the bar by at least 7 to 1). And yet, significant ink is spilled across the
front page of a national newspaper on precisely that kind of wonky journalism and less than
sophomoric science. The reason we in the coffee industry have to keep on our toes about such
issues is that newspapers and the media in general, keep missing the mark on what the facts
are. As an aside, one of my uncles who used to be a reporter for the (now defunct) Montréal
Star always said “Don’t let the facts get in the way of a good story!” I don’t
think good ol’ Uncle Max was the first to coin that phrase, and heaven knows that its spirit
lives on in contemporary media.
As we try to promote better quality in our
industry and raise the value of the products we sell, it is incumbent upon all coffee
purveyors to flush out wrong or misleading information for the sake of our integrity and for
the sake of our industry.
Specialty Coffee... Let's Make it Right
by Stuart Daw
The Specialty Coffee convention held in
Atlanta in late April bears testament to the success of that association, as some 8,000 people
streamed in from all over the globe. For many it was a case of “hope springs eternal in the
human breast.” These were the people from coffee growing countries, often poor farmers who
could ill afford to be there, excited by the prospects of selling their wares at prices well
above free market levels.
These conventions, originally intended to
cater to domestic retailers, soon seemed to take on a Lorelei-like appeal to those foreigners
who were bound to be impressed by the seemingly irrational retail prices in specialty shops,
whether by the pound or by the cup.
Inevitable disappointment for many of them
was bound to follow the show, as most hard headed potential green buyers, not taken in by the
hype preceding the affair, would see in their many offerings a failure to meet the simple
standard of value for value, the concept of free market prices based on supply and demand. And
the demand in specialty is force fed by the almost mystical aura surrounding it.
Undoubtedly, in many cases driven by pride
in the results of their toil, growers may be unaware that there is nothing really “special”
about what they were selling at all. But what they have seen is the strange spectacle of
various groups such as Fair Trade, Bird Friendly, and others getting wild premiums for coffee
that had little or no incremental intrinsic value in terms of actual quality and flavour.
Maybe some of them hoped they might be able to cash in on the trend, especially if they
represented countries or regions with romantic names, like Nicaraguan Matagalpa, Tanzanian
Kilimanjaro, Costa Rican Tarrazu, New Guinea Sigri or Indian Mysore Plantation, to name but a
few of the myriad sources and appellations.
But there are other interesting things
springing up from the so-called specialty business. Young people, especially from Latin
America, are sent by their families to receive an advanced education in the US. It then
becomes a case of living out the old post WWI song, “How you gonna keep ’em down on the
farm, after they’ve seen Paree?” Love their families as they may, they would rather not
return home.
We get regular calls from young people in
this category, who may not wish to go home, but perhaps partly out of familial loyalty decide
to try and sell coffee harvested on the old farm to Canadian and American roasters. That they
are attempting to bypass a tried and efficient system of distribution seems to escape them.
The green prices they see their parents receiving at origin and those they see roasters paying
for the same coffee lure them into a non-contextual vision of riches to be gained.
Then there is the Colombian Federation
deciding to open stores, getting in on the bonanza created by Starbucks, leveraging the value
of the Juan Valdez image that is already implanted firmly in the North American psyche. One
would hope they have not been seduced by Starbucks selling prices, ignoring that the actual
bottom line results are good, but hardly heroic. It may also be evading the vast storehouse of
retailing knowledge that Starbucks have at their disposal, to say nothing of the public
goodwill that has accrued to their name as a retail draw.
Here is what will seem like a tribute to
that same Starbucks, by way of recounting the experiences I have had lately while on the road.
Buying a cup of coffee whether I feel like it or not, and wherever I get the chance, serves
for me as a kind of mini survey as to what is going on in the foodservice coffee world at end
user level. The result was, as usual, disappointment.
Sixteen ounce takeout cups at perhaps $1.75,
containing lightly flavored hot water may not be appealing, but neither is coffee served in
hotel meeting rooms in china cups from thermal servers that impart a faint residual taste of a
stale brew served sometime in the past. This is especially annoying if that old brew was of a
flavored variety. Under these conditions it would be pointless to employ good quality coffee
to start with, an idea that many foodservice outlets seem to have taken to heart.
Recently, in the Atlanta airport during a
two-hour wait for my connection, I found myself carrying two heavy bags for what seemed like a
mile down to Gate 2A, at the very end of the concourse. With all that time to kill, I bought
coffee from every outlet along the way. A sip, then find somewhere to dispose of the balance.
Lo and behold, at the very end of the concourse, adjacent to Gate 2A, there stood a Starbucks
kiosk.
“Double espresso please,” I said.
“Sorry, the espresso machine is out today.”
Amazing! That was the very first time I have ever seen such a crisis in one of their outlets.
“A cup of regular then, just black.” And
to my delight I got what, conceptually, was a real cup of coffee. The components of the blend
may not have appealed to Epicurus, but what impressed me was the two basics of the three
required for decent coffee… a clean dispenser, and COFFEE WITH SOME COFFEE IN IT! It may
have lacked the acidity I would like to have seen, but it had a silken smoothness that can
only happen when the coffee is of a decent strength. It was a cup that a person might actually
be motivated to buy another of, if not right on the spot, at least when looking for one in the
future.
The specialty stores for which we at
Heritage roast coffee all seem committed to the same concept – selling coffee brewed to a
decent strength from clean containers, just as does Starbucks, with the added caveat that the
coffee itself be of the highest calibre. The key is not to be swayed by “far away places
with strange sounding names.” Quality is not necessarily in the geography – it’s in the
cup.
Volume
11, Issue 1
Coffee Reduces the Risk of Diabetes
A recent study conducted at the Harvard
School of Public Health and Brigham & Women’s Hospital over a broad range of subjects
has concluded that the risk of contracting Type II diabetes can be reduced as much as 30% by
drinking 4 to 5 cups of coffee per day. The link seems to be causal with caffeine; decaf
drinkers or those who consume fewer than 4 cups a day report a decrease in risk by only 2 to
7%. The study involved over 125,000 subjects – both male and female – over a period of
eight years. While the rate of decrease was more significant in men, the benefit derived by
moderate to heavy coffee drinking among women was still substantial at a 25% reduction.
Type II diabetes levels have skyrocketed
in the general population. The good news about coffee helping to reduce this risk is welcome
to those of us who are in the business, but mostly to those who are at the greatest risk of
contracting this debilitating disease.
New Vending Whitener Available Soon from
Heritage
Vending operators who are conscientious
about offering quality out of their machines have always struggled with the creamer factor.
Absolutely exquisite coffee can be vended out of modern vending machines, provided they are
filled with premium Heritage coffee and adjusted correctly.
The weak link in the chain has always been
the creamer (or whitener). Canadians, to a greater extent than our American cousins, have
traditionally used cream in our coffee. Indeed, the biggest selling coffee beverage in the
donut chains is “Coffee Double Double.”
Heritage now has a vending creamer that
dissolves well and offers a creamier alternative, in taste and feel, to the standard vending
whitener. Field testing has been encouraging and we look forward to making this product
commercially available in the coming weeks.
Café Casandra™ Flavoured Coffees
Making
Waves
Since the launch of Café Casandra™
earlier this year, Heritage has been busy keeping up with demand. The new flavoured coffee
line has gained wide acceptance by offering a premium product, packed in a beautiful format,
with attractive pricing. Available in all standard flavours as well as seasonal selections.
Call 800-791-7811 today for details.
Victorian Inn™ Cappuccino…
Excellence Through Obsession
Since Heritage Coffee brought Victorian
Inn™ Cappuccino to the Canadian market, the increase in sales has been spectacular, in no
small part due to the quality of our production. Using ingredients that are above industry
standards, taking the time to process the product perfectly, and testing each and every
batch under our stringent quality control parameters has yielded a product by which all
others are judged. While we pride ourselves on the quality of the coffees and soluble
products produced at our plants, we refuse to rest on our laurels. Heritage has further
invested in analyzing equipment, bringing our testing ability and QC measures to the top of
the industry. We have been asked, on several occasions, “Why go the extra mile if it’s
not required by the industry?” The resounding answer is… our obsession with excellence
drives us to build a better product.
There’s a Whole Lotta Changes
Goin’ On Out
There
by Stuart Daw
The struggle in the out-of-home coffee business has
always been between three basic heavyweights, QUALITY, CONVENIENCE, and PRICE. Every new
innovation or trend is an attempt to improve on one, two, or all three of them. The myriad
other variables are subordinate to those three. But the big question still remains: what
shall I sell and what should I charge?
Here are a few alternatives that bedevil today’s
decision makers: single cup vs. batch brew; fresh (“real”) coffee vs. soluble; variety
of coffees made available at the point of serving; time needed for preparation; private
label vs. national brands; leasing vs. loaning equipment to customers; capital and
maintenance cost of equipment along with the obsolescence factor; variability of needs due
to demographics within a location, to name just a few. We only have space here for a very
brief comment on some of these.
SINGLE CUP vs. BATCH
BREW:
Which makes the better cup of coffee? “It all
depends.” What is the basic quality of the coffee in the bag, the hopper or the cartridge?
How fresh is it? What is the coffee-to-water ratio? What is the time of extraction, given
the grind of coffee in use? What is the infusion temperature during the brewing process? Is
the coffee going straight into the cup, or is it first held in a thermal server or glass
bowl where it may sit for a time?
Cup by cup (let’s use that name for single cup,
brewed from a hopper of bulk coffee), with an adjustable measured amount of ground coffee,
gives flexibility not available in a cartridge system, where an illusion of better strength
can only come through elongating infusion time. But there is generally less variety of
choices in cup by cup, perhaps limited to two coffees and two other hot drinks. In
cartridges, packaging costs can outweigh the cost of the coffee itself. But some cartridge
coffees cost more than others. For example, Flavia costs more than Kuerig, and while the
markup per cup we see today may be similar with these two, GP as a percentage of sales would
be lower in the Flavia mode. While all cartridge coffee is much more expensive than cup by
cup, and even though the GP per cup is also higher, the lower cost to the end user in cup by
cup should mean higher consumption. And to the customer, cost may of course be the
determining factor. But so far in this competition, maintenance and service calls remain a
larger problem with cup by cup.
Cartridges are a shade more “fiddly” than cup
by cup, where one simply bellies up to a machine and pushes a button. Indeed, a cartridge
setup in a classy lawyer’s foyer almost reminds one psychologically of high tea time in a
ritzy English hotel, with formally dressed ladies swishing around trying to make you feel at
ease. A second cousin to the cartridge is the pod concept, similar to that employed in some
espresso coffee machines. A variety of equipment to handle pods will soon hit the market in
a big way. The over-wrapped pods will be a bit more finicky than the self-contained
cartridge for the end user. But for operators it will address the problem of tight control,
the attempted monopoly over product now exercised by the equipment manufacturers and their
franchisees. And they will be less costly. The result: price competition will rear its ugly
head when normal roasters and OCS operators hit the ground running with a variety of
pod-accepting machines.
As a sub-issue in cup by cup, there is the choice
between machines employing filter papers and those using screens. Paper filters produce a
clearer cup of coffee than do screens, but not necessarily a better one. The micro-fine
particles of coffee getting through a screen will allow brew colloids to collect around
them, creating a nice mouth feel, a sense of body, a tactile sensation on the tongue. The
coffee may appear stronger, while the filter paper will make the coffee appear weaker and
less cloudy… “cleaner.”
FRESH COFFEE vs.
SOLUBLE:
Nowhere are the questions of quality, price and
convenience more in conflict than in this area. One good example of the schizophrenia
involved is the national chain of hamburger drive-ins that has a large percentage of its
stores on a liquid concentrate and the rest still purveying fresh coffee, while their chief
competitor is trying to create a kind of Starbuckian image of selling specialty
coffee.
What strikes me as an indication of the collective
guilty conscience at the headquarters of the former company is the signage a customer sees
when he or she enters a store that uses instant liquid concentrate. On the wall near the
coffee machine is a big, blatant pitch designed to convince the customer that the coffee is
beautiful. The sight of this banner should make the customer suspicious. The jury must be
still out for this firm, awaiting data that convinces management to go one way or the other.
And now we have a plethora of freeze dry machines
being pitched to the coffee service industry. Convenience vs. quality again. But don’t
make the mistake of assuming soluble coffee will never be a serious threat to the real
thing. As an illustration of how I feel about solubles and quality, I recall a question a
reporter asked Seinfeld after the very long and successful run of the Jerry Seinfeld show.
“Jerry, what was the show really all about?” To which Jerry answered after a moment’s
consideration, “Nothing.” That’s how I feel about soluble coffee – it’s nothing.
In its best form it has a faint suggestion that it is a cup of real coffee. It is fit for
human consumption and not very objectionable, but neither does it have any claim to what we
regard as a “real” cup of coffee. But its very neutrality means that much of the
public that doesn’t really care for coffee will not be offended by it, and indeed may
accept it as their cup of choice. So if you confidently walk down any street in America with
two thermoses doing a consumer preference survey, with one thermos containing high grade
fresh coffee and one containing fairly weak instant, brace yourself for potential
disappointment. The majority of people you persuade to try both coffees blind may very well
say they prefer the instant, especially if it is loaded with cream and/or sugar. And liquid
instant is and has been for some time wildly successful in large venues such as stadiums and
banquet halls, where the argument from convenience and lack of waste easily overpowers any
case for a quality beverage for the cost conscious caterer.
FLAVOURS AND OTHER
VARIATIONS:
Added to the wide choice of flavours we now have to
contend with are all sorts of strange names and things having no necessary connection to
quality: Organic, Fair Trade, Bird Friendly, Song Bird, Triple Seal, Shade Grown, Transfair,
FLO (sounds like PLO, but really stands for Fair Trade Labeling Organization), Global
Exchange, Equiterra, Alternate Trade, Max Havelaar (that’s a Dutch variation of fair
trade) are but a few. No room here for a philosophic evaluation of this trend, but if it
were a contest, perhaps the prize might go to the wackiest one I have encountered lately. A
customer’s customer requested coffee picked from the top one third of the coffee trees. No
name given yet to that category as far as I know.
TIME AND THE COST
FACTOR:
I have yet to see a definitive (as opposed to a
self-serving) survey establishing the average time required to satisfy a company’s need to
provide cups of coffee for each employee. What would be the relative man-hours spent on each
of the alternative ways of providing it? Of course the internal demographics of any company
may suggest the best course, such as batch brew for the lunchroom and cartridge for the
executive suite. To the consumer, the cost of a cup of cartridge coffee is roughly the same
as the cost of a whole pot of batch brew. But to brew a whole pot, drinking one cup and
throwing the rest down the sink is not a very good answer, though for serving ten people at
once a full pot is a fast one. Still we can’t ignore all the reasons why the alternate,
the single cup way, might be better in spite of its hugely higher cost in variety, brew
freshness, etc. As one can see, the possibilities, the choices, are infinite. To repeat a
favorite saying of Peter Drucker’s, “It is impossible to predict the future. It is only
possible to predict the future results of things that have already happened.” The only
question remaining for a coffee service operator is: What the ______ has happened?
“Normal Evolution”
by Brian Martell
Over 4 years ago the Canadian Vending Industry went
toe to toe with the Federal Government over the issue of compensation for the change in
metal content in Canadian coins. If you’ll recall, at stake was the estimated 22 million
dollars the industry was going to have to pay out for acceptor modifications, just to stay
current. In contrast, the Mint was to realize a net cost savings of three quarters of a
billion dollars over the life span of a coin (20 years) with this initiative.
CAMA invested much time, money and effort in
lobbying the government to recognize and act on the principle of just compensation for a
government decision which disadvantaged one segment of the retail industry... vending. The
argument was clear; all retailers dealing in change would see no increase in cost with the
new coins, except the vending operators who would have to pay huge sums to validate the new
coins. Initially, CAMA contacted the Royal Canadian Mint, the Minister of Finance and the
ministry responsible for the Mint, the Department of Public Works. Delegates from CAMA
visited Ottawa on several occasions and in several capacities, engaged in a letter writing
campaign, hired a lawyer and didn’t give up when “no” was the answer on the first two
attempts.
The Executive Assistant in the Ministry in Public
Works, Jean-Marc Bard, repeatedly scoffed at our request to even speak with the Minister
responsible, the now famous Alfonso Gagliano. It seemed that the honourable Mr. Gagliano was
too busy to deal with such trifling events as the crippling burden his department was
placing on the vending industry. Indeed, Mr. Bard was quick to note in a letter to CAMA that
“The government appreciates the impact the changes to Canadian coins will have on business
in the vending industry but considers them to be part of the normal evolution of the
industry.” It appears that Mr. Bard’s comments, in the light of Auditor General Sheila
Fraser’s recent findings, are quite ironic.
The “normal evolution” through the eyes of the
Department of Public Works has more to do with gross neglect of duty, fraud and the
wholesale theft of Canadian taxpayers’ equity than the principled idea of compensating
honest business people when the government expropriated a standard. Is it any wonder that,
under these terms of engagement, CAMA’s bid to have the vending industry justly
compensated was doomed to failure? The details of Ms. Fraser’s report are enough to make
any Canadian, even the most partisan, tremble with rage (for the facts go to
http://www.oag-bvg.gc.ca/domino/reports.nsf/html/20031103ce.html).
All Canadian taxpayers are shareholders in the
organization we call CANADA. What do you think would happen to the CEO, the CFO, and the COO
of any organization which reported at year end that the company and its stock holders were
bilked out of $100 million? While the question is rhetorical, observe what happens to those
in the private sector who commit these types of crimes. Moreover, outraged shareholders
often divest themselves of scandal-ridden corporations whose ethical practices belong in the
18th chapter of Machiavelli’s The Prince. But what about Canadians; can we also, as
a form of protest, stop our investment cheques to the National Organization? Not without the
wrath of Revenue Canada bringing its full weight to bear on any who try. In essence, we are
told, “Don’t worry, we’ll rout out the guilty parties, and bring back respectable
government as a national standard.”
The problem is, Canadians are more and more cynical
about how their government works (or doesn’t), and are tending to see bureaucratic
dysfunction, or worse, as the norm. Observe how the current level of indignation will soon
abate as it did during the gun registry scandal or the Federal Business Development Bank
scandal, or the Federal Job Promotion scandal or the (fill in the blank) scandal.
Ironically, the vending industry has had shadows cast upon it by those whose media is
hearsay and innuendo that operators engage in questionable accounting practices. True, there
may be some who do not honestly account for all their earnings, but then again there are
over 2,000 vending companies in Canada, most of which are run by decent honest business
people. As Canadians, we only have one Federal Government; perhaps for that, we should be
truly thankful.
Copyright 2004 Heritage Coffee Co., Ltd.
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