Scalding - Boughton's Coffee House

Eight hundred commuters signed apetition in support of the Epsom stationfranchisee of Puccino's, who wasabout to be forced out of business bya rent increase of about £6,000. Thelocal council increased his small businessrate relief to even things up.Work has started on the firstStarbucks drive-through in GreaterManchester, a 2,000sq.ft. site nearthe Trafford Centre's Barton Square.A novel promotion is being run inGwynedd, where hotels and B&Boperators are invited to show howimaginative they are in promotingFairtrade products in that sector.The new Sorriso coffee shop inLuton, in the old BB's Coffee site, wasput out of action after only ten days -a fire broke out in a dishwasher.London's café and roastery NudeEspresso has opened its roastery as avisitor site - customers can have theroasting process demonstrated,before they buy anything. Similarly,but farther north, Atkinson's roasteryin Lancaster has opened its MusicRoom café, which features the firstBunnTrifecta machine to be used in acafe in Europe.The director of the InternationalCoffee Organization, Nestor Osorio, isleaving in November after thirty yearsin the job for a position with the UnitedNations.Coffee Republic has reached a dealthat will see their 'To Go' coffee servedfrom self-serve bars in 450 Shell forecourtsover the next twelve months.The 'best coffee house ambience inNewcastle' is the claim for the newFlat Caps coffee bar, opened by JoeMeagher. The name comes from hisusual headgear - which is of course,the same image as 2009 world baristachamp Gwilym Davies. Gwilym tellsus that he did not trademark the look!The latest in the twin-business idea,which pairs a café with some otheractivity, is a move to protect local postoffices from closure. The first is thePillar Box Tea Rooms, located atThorngumbald, near Beverley, whichhas been launched to provide a continuingvenue for a local post office.Starbucks is to offer its staff thechance of studying for NVQs in cus -tomer service and food hygiene.Under new training plans, staff canalso apply for a fund to spend howthey wish on items (we quote) ‘unre -lated to the workplace, such as learningto speak Italian’ !Cafe management skills still lowThe Coffee Boys, the Irish-based café consultants, have reported that over400 coffee-bar owners responded to their recent survey about the pressureson small catering businesses.It has now become clear that a great number of café ownerswho have followed the dream of their own coffee houseare still short on practical knowledge - many cannot read abalance sheet, and a surprising number say that they havedoubts about their ability to manage their own staff. Thebiggest demand by café owners is to 'find new customers',even though marketing wisdom says it is always cheaper toJohn Richardson capitalise on existing ones than find new ones.As a result of this, the latest of Coffee Boy John Richardson's videos is on thatsubject: www.getanewcustomer.com/lessonone.html. In the ten-minute talk hediscusses different customer types and what they may really want.The first international barista contest of the year has beenwon by a British entrant - the Caffè Ritazza contest for itsinternational staff was won by Jurate Skarzauskaite, a baristaat East Midlands Airport. Her signature drink was TropicalParadise, consisting of espresso coffee, coconut andbananas, presented in coconut shells. Unusually, finalistswere also given the chance to compete in making a flat white- Ritazza introduced the drink to its menu in October.Residents of Muswell Hill, London, have taken the new Café Rex as an exam -ple of 'garish' shopfronts which present an 'ongoing threat'to the area's Edwardian shopfronts. The milkshake shopnext door has also been criticised. The residents' associationsaid: "They devalue the character of the conservationarea - it's to do with respecting the architecture." The ownerof the new Rex chain, Mark Ashley, said he had followedcouncil guidelines exactly. The venue is the first of a pro -posed chain of 50 from a man who was formerly head ofhospitality for Marks & Spencer and operations director at Benugo.We have had a couple of 'most expensive' stories in the past few weeks. FirstCoopers of Huddersfield devised another of their charity blends, producing theUK's (but not the world's) first aphrodisiac coffee in aid of the Macmillan appeal.The coffee was a monsooned Malabar, the other ingredient was a liquid oysteressence. At the same time, a dining club in Manchester began serving the SacredWhite tea from Sri Lanka at £25 a pot. The tea is supposedly farmed at a secretestate in Sri Lanka and 'according to ancient tradition', only women can pick theleaves, using golden scissors. We had to consult Robert Wilson of Crewkerne,our favourite expert on Ceylon teas - he said: "my Ceylon tea antenna tells methat this is a marketing ploy… we know who grows it, and the bit about women isa red herring as women have always made the best pluckers. The scissors mayhave been gold plated as a gimmick but it does absolutely nothing for the tea!"Sign of the times - a new traditional-style deli in the centre of Birmingham,Anderson & Hill, is promoted as 'the only truly independent outlet of its kind in thecity centre'. "I would have to agree that it is indeed an astonishing comment, butwe do believe it to be true," director Gary Anderson told us. "While Birmingham isblessed with a growing number of fine dining restaurants, it is bizarre that theSecond City is so far behind London in delicatessens. We are currently dealingwith Cherizena for coffee and All About Tea for our tea. We sell on a rotating 'coffeeof the day' basis, and we do not offer latte or cappuccino."It is likely that a new consumer event dedicated to tea may be launched by YaelRose, who has run similar events dedicated to chocolate on London’s SouthBank; meanwhile, we expect the Bath Coffee festival to run on 21-22 May nextyear. The 2010 event was shortlisted for a PR industry award. Allegra's LondonCoffee Guide website (www.londoncoffeeguide.com) has appeared, with a print -ed book to follow before the end of the year.Boughton’s Coffee Houseis publishedby Ian Boughton and Trudi Roark.The office is at 11 Lansdowne Road, Falmouth, TR11 4BETel: 01326-311339 Mobile: 0702 348866 ianb@coffee-house.org.ukThe news website is www.coffee-house.org.ukThe newsfeed is http://boughtonscoffeehouse.wordpress.com/2

We cannot resist repeating theremark made by a coffee roaster whowas recently interviewed on radio,speaking on the coffee price trendswhile pitched against a spokesmanfrom the biggest ethical trading organisation.After the broadcast, the roastertold us: "It was like being mauled by asheep. Apparently there isn't a short -age of coffee in the world, and its notjust Fairtrade farmers who are defaultingon their contracts. Also the moon ismade of cheese and extra terrestrialshave taken over the Royal Family…"Starbucks, which always jumps onalleged copycat names remarkablyquickly, has forced Boulders coffeeshop in Wales totake down itsgreen sign, whichmight in fairnessbe thought to bequite similar. Theowner of theWelsh business,Derek Edwards, made a delightfultongue-in-cheek response to his localpress: "We do an excellent cup of coffeeat very reasonable prices, withgood service… I hope those who visit -ed us were not too disappointed to findthey were not in a Starbucks."A pro snooker player, Dave Harold,has opened the Apple Coffee House inStoke, after saying that whenever hecomes home to the city, he cannot finda 'proper coffee'. Curiously, the play -er's major tournament win was in… theNescafe Asian Open!It had to happen - a report in theAmerican press says that a customerwas thrown out of a Starbucks in NewYork for not talking the right languagein giving her order. The customer, a linguisticsprofessor who apparently hasa history of refusing to use the coffeehouse'sterms 'grande', 'venti' and soon, ordered a bagel but objected to thecounterperson's response of: "do youwant butter or cheese?" on the groundsthat she wished neither. The customertold a newspaper: "The barista said,'You're not going to get anything unlessyou say butter or cheese!' and calledthe police. The barista told the news -paper: "butter or cheese was a reasonablequestion…"Pubs go down, cafes go up...We all know that pub numbers are going down and coffee-house numbersare going up, and it has long been said that the licensed coffee-house willeventually take over as the national ‘third place’ - but an interesting comparisonbetween the performance of the two sectors has just come from themarket analysts Datamonitor.According to this analyst, between now and 2013, pub numbers will fall by2,000, and around 300 cafes will open, as will 1,900 restaurants. Effectively, theloss in one catering sector will be made up by another, thus fulfilling many pre -dictions from the speciality coffee trade.However, the actual numbers have been questioned. For 2,000 pubs to close inthree years would be a slowdown, as they have been dropping by around 1,500a year for some time to the current total of 52,000.And in return, it is expected that the number of cafes - whatever definition youcare to use for the term - will almost certainly rise by more than the reported 300.Allegra suggests that Costa alone will be opening more than 100 outlets peryear, Nero will be opening 40, and Starbucks 30 per year. It is expected that atleast another 50-100 of the highest-quality independent coffee shops will open upover that period, and many other chains have predicted numbers which boost thefigure even more.The likely prediction, then, is that coffee-houses and cafes will replace pubs ata far faster rate than has been suggested.Situations vacant:Peros is seeking coffee machineengineers, for Birmingham /Bristol/ Glasgow.40 hrs as required; £22K - £27K,plus fully financed vehicle. The successfulapplicant should have twoyears experience in a similar role, agood knowledge of espresso, filterand tabletop machines.To apply, please send CV tohr@peros.co.uk*Lincoln and York is seeking acoffee taster /buying assistant.The successful applicant will gradeand roast green coffee samples,evaluate competitor products andhelp with coffee buying. The positioninvolves developing new blends androasts, and advising clients on qualityand product information. Whiletraining is offered, the ideal applicantwill already have worked in theindustry, perhaps as a barista, or in acoffee shop environment.To apply, e-mail your c.v tojts@lincoln-and-york.com or call01652 680101*James Gardener of the CoffeeCart Company, Hereford, says:I’m looking to recruit somebody asa ‘manager’ to work alongside me tohelp operate my small business.Over the last couple of years I’veended up taking more and more onand ended up with a super busy job!I would dearly love to recruit a qualityindividual who is passionate aboutthe coffee business.Call: 07775 775 363Beyond theBean can usuallybe reliedupon for aspecific winter-drinksbrochure - thisis the latest,now available.Price continues to put consumersoff organic goods, says a surveyfrom YouGov, although adding thatmany organic items are now equal orlower than their 'normal' counter -parts. Apart from perceived highprice, the main objection from con -sumers was that 'organic' is simply 'amarketing status symbol'. By coincidence,another survey found that'organic' came 27th on a list of commonly'looked for' product claims.The new Cadbury Cocoa Housecafé chain, operated under licencefrom the big brand, is to follow its firstsite at the Bluewater shopping centre,Kent, with 50 branded caféswithin five years. Several Londonopenings are planned for 2011.Percol instant coffee is now thefastest selling product in theFairtrade sector, says managingdirector Brian Chapman. Percol alsosupports Coffee Kids and its ownGood For Life charity.The Old Bakery coffee shop in StCyrus, Aberdeenshire, was badlydamaged when a car struck it; twopeople in the car were killed.The European and American specialitycoffee associations haveformed a joint venture, World CoffeeEvents, to run barista championshipsand the like.3

After the explosion – theimplications are immenseFor the high-street hot beverage trade, the first effect of the recent explo -sion of an espresso machine in a coffee bar is that the health and safetyspotlight will be on the trade as never before, and every cafe operator willbe forced to look to their safety and machine-maintenance procedures.The general trade reaction has been that although the recent accident wasa very rare event, it reinforces what machine suppliers always preach aboutmaintenance, and several machine companies have now said that theyhave been warning the hospitality trade for a long time about the legalrequirement for espresso machine care.The national news media took greatinterest in the story of an espressomachine which exploded in aSainsburys café in Farnham, sending17 people to hospital.The BBC was the first to identify themachine in question as an Elektra, andquoted Sainsburys as saying that adesign change was probably behind afault with the relief valve. Sainsburysadded: "thirty-two of our stores havethe new design and these machineswill remain out of service; the environ -mental health officer has agreed thatthe machines in the remaining 126stores, which are of the originaldesign, are safe to use and can bebrought back into service."Meanwhile, suppliers and mainte -nance organisations all said that theincident should remind all beverageoperators of the nature of espressomachines. The immediate formalreaction has of course been to refercafe-owners to the pressure-vesselregulations, but the fact is that theseare not straightforward."The accident has massive implica -tions for the industry - every singlecaterer or retailer with an espressomachine should now expect their localH&S inspector to have them very highon their hit list," said Duncan Gaffneyof Coffeetech, a company extremelywell-known for its experience inespresso machine technology. As withseveral other companies, Coffeetechwarned café owners not to take shortcuts on the matter, and to be verycareful about how their inspections aredone – it is widely suggested that notall those who offer inspection servicesare qualified to do so. Specifically, acafe operator’s normal espresso engineermay not be allowed to inspectand certify the machine."Parts of the appropriate Act areambiguous,” says Gaffney. “This istrue of the requirement to have testsand assessments carried out by a'competent person' - the Act itself doesnot define the necessary qualificationsof a 'competent person'. However,The Health & Safety Executive's ownApproved Code of Practice is explicitin doing so."I emphasise this because there ismuch confusion in the market. We see“Every single catererwith an espressomachine should nowexpect their localH&S inspector tohave them very highon their hit list”- Duncan Gaffneyvarious companies and some veryexperienced self-employed engineerspromoting boiler inspection and main -tenance services. But do they satisfythe qualification criteria, and are theysuitably independent? In most casesthe answer is 'no'.“And any user or owner of espressomachines is taking one hell of risk byusing inspection services provided bya company that is operating outside ofthe HSE's Approved Code of Practice.”To illustrate the situation, Coffeetechitself applied to be an inspector - and,quite correctly, was turned down."We must certainly rank as one ofthe most experienced specialists inthis field. We asked the HSE if wemight be assessed for providinginspection services, based on ourprovable and documented competencyand experience.“Their answer was unambiguous -even with our qualifications and expe -rience, it would not be possible for usto inspect and certify, due to the potentialconflict of interest that would existbetween being both the maintainerand safety inspector of the samemachine!"(Coffeetech actually subcontracts aqualified independent inspector - but,says the company, this just shows theaverage café owner that they must besure about who does what work).At Fracino, Adrian Maxwell addedthat café owners should be very care -ful of their documentation - becausesome of the authorities who are sup -posed to enforce the rules "seem to bevery slack… probably due to igno -rance of the equipment."And this magazine can also reportthat one very big insurance companywas at first inspired by the accident toproduce a guide on the matter forcaterers… but then decided it was toorisky to put its name to anything in writing,and scrapped the whole idea.4

The biggest challenge facing thetakeaway drinks industry is thecommunication of environmentalmessages – nobody really has aclue what to believe with regard topaper cups and the environment.At the recent Solo Cup think-tank,environmentalist Leigh Holloway ofEco3 spoke of the vast number of misconceptionswhich exist in the retailtrades. Not least, he said, is the prob -lem that consumers are now encour -aged to see virtually all retail packagingas a bad thing, which means thatthose who sell coffee in takeaway cupshave a hard message to put across.However, he said, there are trulyexciting prospects ahead."In the takeaway cup sector", saidHolloway, "the challenges are of whatpeople have been told. There havebeen too many environmental state -ments that are just too wide to meananything, such as 'paper cups are notrecyclable'. Even 'environmentallyfriendly' is too woolly a term.”Consumers are now encouraged tocampaign against over-packaging, butthis leads to the misconception that alldisposable packaging is a bad thing,Leigh Holloway told his audience."In fact there is a legal requirementthat packaging has to be 'minimal'…but deep in the rules is a line that says'subject to customer acceptance',which is the biggest get-out you couldimagine. What this means is that theconsumer likes the end result of packaging,except that they are then told tocomplain about it!"By contrast, there could be a movementtowards more sensible 'minimal'packaging - China has introduced arule that packaging can only reach acertain size in proportion to the size ofthe item inside it.Consumers are also constantly toldthat packaging waste is all the productsupplier's fault."It is not," said Holloway firmly."Packaging is a cost, so of course theproducer won’t over-package.The danger of nonsensetalked about packagingConsumers are always told that productpackaging is excessive... it is not, andyet the beverage trade has yet to put aclear message across to the consumer"But we keep hearing reports aboutcucumbers wrapped in clingfilm, andhow unnecessary it is - but Asda say itgives the cucumber two more weeks oflife, which people would understand ifthey were told! There was an infa -mous over-packaging complaint abouta shrinkwrapped coconut, whichturned out to be protection againstfibre migration."And organic produce, which is usuallyheld up as a good thing, is oftenmore packaged than other produce -sometimes it has to be, to segregate it!"Other campaigns are misguided…when we were told that lightweightpackaging was good, companies didaway with glass jars and turned tometallic pouches. And that screwed uptheir opportunity to recycle!"No reasons are properly communicated,so consumers just see whatthey are told is 'too much packaging'."This, he told his audience, presentedthe takeaway trade with a straightfor -ward job to do – to communicate themessage 'this is why we package ourdrinks the way we do'.Solo Cup had asked Leigh Hollowaywhat new environmental messages wewill all have to consider next."The next big thing will be your 'waterfootprint', and what is called 'upstreamimpact', or what happened before thepackaging."A study has looked at the waterusage 'embedded' in foodstuffs - sixeggs take 1,200 litres of water to pro -duce. A glass of milk takes 250 litres.A burger uses 2,400 litres of water, andit takes sixteen thousand litres to getbeef into a supermarket pack. Breadtakes 40 litres a loaf, and it takes 140litres of water to bring you an apple!"What other issues cause problems?The idea of ‘recycling’ is the one theconsumer continues to grasp best,said Holloway. But some recycledproducts are more carbon-intensivethan those of virgin materials, andmaterial availability and cost fluctuatemassively, so it isn’t that straightfor -ward.Recyclable products are also popular,but difficult to dispose of becausewe still face the problem of councilsworking to different rules - some col -lectors of 'green' waste have been toldnot to take degradable cups.The consumer's favourite message,said Holloway, is of 'biodegradable'packaging - but something which isbiodegradable may feature a GMingredient, which is unpopular.The cafe trade is not helped by messagesfrom its suppliers, he added."We have even seen a cup maker say:'this product is made from at least onehundred per cent recycled paper' -what does 'at least one hundred percent' mean?!"So, if you are going to make claims- make them clear. Better communicationwith your customer about yourpackaging is going to be vital."However, he told the Solo debate,some big advances are on the way.Typically, the average consumer doesn'thave a clue about the differencebetween PET, PLA and PVC, so atpresent, any general vague encour -agement to 'recycle plastic bottles'remains meaningless.However, big progress is being made- typically, 72 per cent of milk bottlesget recycled, and soon, the UK’s processingcapacity will be able to handleas many as we expect to collect.Here comes the exciting move - weare not far off from a scanner which willtell waste-collection machines the differencebetween PET and the othermaterials. And that will bring the daywhen all kinds of plastics can be puttogether in waste.Private wastecollection maybe the bestFor the average coffee-shop, thegreen choice in takeaway cups maysoon become the cost-effective wayof doing things."Businesses of all sizes can savemoney by recycling organic wastesuch as food and compostable pack -aging," says Lucy Frankel of Vegware,the pioneer of compostable drinkwareand tableware. "Landfill charges areset to double by 2020, and it is alsolooking very likely that from 2012, foodwaste will be banned from landfill. Thatmeans that within a few years, organ -ics recycling will be standard."If used compostable coffee cups,napkins, coffee grinds, milk that hasgone off, and stale muffins can all getcomposted together, it makes a cafe'swaste cleaner and easier to recycle.“Even single-sitecafe businesseswill find that theycan save moneyby sending wastefor composting,says Vegware.Lucy FrankelSome caterers canalready be paying council rates of£100-£120 a tonne for general wasteincluding food waste, and those coun -cil services still tend to use landfill.The compost option, she says, benefitseven the single-site café."There are now many companies allover the UK who pick up smallamounts of organic waste from suchbusinesses. Cawleys is one of a growingnumber of operations offering thisservice around the Midlands throughto London, and Shanks tell me thatwhile a 1,100 litre bin would costaround £13-£15 per lift through localcouncil collections, they themselveswould charge around £7 per lift."As such, the move towards this kindof collection now seems inevitable."The private companies alreadyhave the capability to offer alternativewaste management. Councils tend tostill rely largely on landfill, and willprobably be the last sector to moveaway from it – eventually, they will beforced to, though."Realistically, to what degree does'doing the right thing' incur a cost onthe small coffee-house?"Some of our compostable productscost more, some cost less, but overallit balances out. Add in the potentialsavings to be made on waste management,and doing the 'right thing'becomes an attractive option ratherthan a chore."6

The cup problem - what dowe do on the high street?Two new 'dynamics' are about to influence the cup market, says Huhtamaki, themajor cup manufacturer which has just celebrated its 90th year. High streetoperators are beginning to take the matter of cup litter seriously, and the resultof this may be that certain trade distributors will stop offering cups as if theyare a meaningless commodity only to be sold on price."The pressure on recycling andwaste streams is now hitting usfrom a number of differentavenues," says managing direc -tor John Young."Our major customers reallyare keen to find a way throughthe question of 'what do we doon the high street?' They're notabdicating their responsibility."The reason, of course, is that thosemajor customers are the ones whosenames are regularly seen in the gutter."Yes, and the MD of one very big chainhas already said to me that he does notwant to see his brand name littering thestreets. This is the big topic of the day,because the growth in takeaway is stillincreasing - and yet you can walkthrough many areas, particularly sta -tions, and not find anywhere to disposeof litter, since the bins were all removedbecause of terrorism. What does theconsumer do?“Everyone now wants to find solutions,right down to sponsoring bins in the highstreet, to show they're tackling the prob -lem."At the same time, Huhtamaki is one ofthe makers to be very annoyed at theway that cups are sold through the tradedistribution route. Very littleis said to promote the qualityof such an essential product.Very few suppliers to thetrade make any attempt tosay 'this is a good cup'."This is bitterly disappoint -ing, and is something we talkabout with enormous regularity.We maintain that the integrity of awell-made cup product is everything,and yet an enormous amount of productis now coming in to the UK, from all overthe globe, that might be questionedregarding its quality.John Young“The quality requirements which applyto us do not apply in other countries,which is sad - so we, and the other majorbrands, cannot compromise on our quality,and yet we are competing againstinferior cups which, sadly, some cus -tomers buy on price rather than 'fit forpurpose'."And yet, says John Young, attitudesare changing."We are competing for major contractsin which customers have said that theyhave previously made mistakes in goingfor cheaper products."They now believe the consumer islooking for a better takeaway cup."Mike Gardner, sales and marketing director at International Paper, whoseEcotainer range has already sold a billion cups around the world since 2006,believes the cup-recovery and anti-litter job can be done."It's not impossible. You usedto see more bottles and cans,until people got educated aboutrecycling them. In PET bottlerecycling, the biggest support -ers are the Cokes of this world(Coca-Cola has put millions intothe world's largest plastic bottleto-bottlerecycling plant). This raises thequestion – in coffee cups, who takes theresponsibility?"There is a lot to be said for cafes promotingthe quality and 'green' value oftheir cups, as well as asking the question- when you've enjoyed your coffee, whatwill you do with the cup?"In common with his rivals, Gardner isconcerned that café owners are badlyserved by commodity traders offeringcheap takeaway cups."If there's one big frustration we alwayshave, this is it. Cafe owners need anassurance of quality, and the people whoare trading in cheap imported cups, andwho don't care where they buy, aren'tMike Gardnerdoing the trade a service.”This is where the old line of'the assurance of brand'makes some practical sense,says Mike Gardner."Who takes responsibility foran accident if your lid and cupare spot-bought from differ -ent sources? If you make certain thatyour lid and your cup are made by thesame company, you have a degree of'insurance'.“If you think you can use an importedcompatible lid, you’re taking a risk.“Nobody has as many cup-makingmachines and lid-making machines aswe do - and 'reassurance of brand'means that we know what our cup cando, and we know our lids fits it!"So, don't look at price first - take samples,and do your own temperature tests.And then communicate with your cus -tomers to take care, and communicatethe quality of your cups."8

What do you actually put in thecup in return for the money?One of the most remarkable pieces of work in cups has just been complet -ed by a company which is not one of the big international names. The PaperCup Company of Clitheroe, a five-year-old business, has been looking atwhat actually goes into takeaway cups, and whether the trade gives value.Director Mark Woodward’steam researched the contentof takeaway drinks by visit -The company has taken astand to encourage cuprecycling rather than com -ing various coffee houses inposting, says MarkManchester.Woodward. "We feel cus -Not only did the companytomers misunderstand, infind the expected variationsthinking that they can sendin price (from £1.25 to £2.05 Mark Woodward cups to landfill, and they arefor a 12oz cappuccino), theygoing to return to the soil."also found a remarkable variation intemperature, from 53.2C to 73.1C,with chains generally producing coolerThe company is however a big fan ofimaginative overprinting by its cafecustomers.drinks than independents.But the real fun came with their workon the volume in the cups. Workingright in front of the café staff, the companymeasured the actual amounts ofliquid which could be consumed, asopposed to froth, and then related thatto price. The best value came fromfairly big names - but the worst valuewas one of the Big Three.The Paper Cup company manufacturesin Australia and China, but willprobably open a third factory inLancashire next year."It is sad that very few beveragecompanies maximise their printing –most just have a logo, whereas consumerswill read quite detailed text ona paper cup. There are opportunitiesfor competitions, product promotionand menu offers, and practical promotionof other locations - 'take this cupto any of our other stores for a halfpricecoffee'."Even better, he says, is to sell advertisingto other businesses. Revenuemight average a penny a cup, which inquantity adds up nicely.Colour-changelid takesAmericannewspaperprizeThe Smart Lid, a productwe mentioned in thesepages last year, has pickedup a second-place prize inthe Technology InnovationAwards for 2010 run by theWall St Journal.The product is a colourchangingdisposable coffeelid, intended to alert con -sumers their drink may betoo hot by showing a brightred when the lid is applied.Nick Bayss, the inventor,says his lid 'will fit many ofthe major brands of dispos -able hot paper cups theworld over', and expects tohave a distributor in the UKsoon.Very short-run printingoffered by ScyphusOne of the newest companies to start makingcups in the UK is Scyphus of Northampton,which says it did so in protest against thenumber of cups sourced from the far East. Itnow offers an alternative service in the lowvolumeoverprinting sector."We were determined to approach the marketfrom a totally different perspective, turning theclock back by manufacturing our cups in the UK…to the surprise and consternation of many!"Surely, it was not as easy as that, we asked thecompany's Steve Morris."No it was not easy - we spent many monthsvisiting machine manufacturers in various countries,together with sourcing our raw materials tosuit our philosophy.“We already had three large units on our ownland, so we had somewhere to put three singlewallmachines producing 8, 12 and 16oz cups,and two double-wall machines producing 8 and12oz cups. Our current normal running capacity isabout sixty million a year."The company offers extremely short customprintruns, from 1,000 cups."The price is about £100, which we are current -ly looking to reduce by better buying. We haveproduced bespoke cups to date for such compa -nies as Landrover and the BBC Hairy Bikers -keep a look out for our cups on the TV."9

What's the difference betweendrinking chocolate, cocoa, and hotchocolate? And, for the coffeehouse,does it really matter?It does – because they are differentproducts of different quality, and thisdictates the selling price and margin.The simplest rule is that 'drinkingchocolate' is a beverage mixed withhot milk, and 'hot chocolate' is mixedwith hot water. The simplistic analogyis of a speciality coffee and instant‘cappuccino’ powder.Chocolate is the seed of the cacaotree. The beans are roasted to producecacao 'nibs', which are ground tochocolate liquor (or 'cocoa mass'). Thisis rough, pure chocolate, which is thenseparated into cocoa solids and cocoabutter.Cocoa solids are made into powder;cocoa butter is the fatty part, smoothand has a low melting point.At this point, things get confusing. Insome countries, 'hot chocolate' isrecognised as the cocoa powder, withadded sugar and powdered milk. Inothers, it is the richer drink from cocoabutter, and in many cases, chocolatierswill use a base of powder but also addmelted or shaved chocolate bars for aneven richer effect.All these drinks are very different."That’s why there really should be aChocolate and cocoa -what’s the difference?All chocolate drinks are not the same - the keyis to pick the right one for your clientele.differentiation between‘hot cocoa’ and ‘hotchocolate’," says theAcademy of Chocolate."There's a lot of confusionsurrounding this."More big argumentsgo on about the contentof 'cocoa solids' in differentdrinks. If a drinkis described as '50 percent cocoa solids', theother 50 per cent willgenerally be sugar anda whitener. Some high-class drinkingchocolate might be 80 per cent chocolatewith cocoa solids and 20 per centsugar. Some high-level chocolatecafes will even sell you a drink madewith hundred-per-cent cocoa solids,often served in a shot size.But the other side of the argumentsays that the ‘British taste’ is provenresoundingly to be for a milder chocolatedrink at 30 per cent or less.What does this mean for productsavailable to the cafétrade? What does theBritish consumer reallywant?"There are many lev -els of chocolate taste,”remarks Philip Rundlettof the Italian BeverageCompany. “Four yearsago, I'd have said thatthe British taste wassweet cocoa.“Now it has matured -the consumer looks forquality chocolate drinks, not cocoaand-sugar,and there is a huge gulfbetween any cocoa-and-sugar productand a melted-chocolate product, ofwhich we now sell 200 tonnes a year. Ahigh-quality chocolate will bring you ahigh selling price - a cheap cocoa-andsugarwon't."Pic: Academy of ChocolateFor the café trade, there are severalways of preparing a chocolate drink.The most common way is with achocolate powder, whipped with a dropof water into a sauce, and then mixedwith steamed milk from the espressomachine. Others prefer sauces, or pellets,and some like to have chocolateconstantly rotating in a paddlemachine."Again, there are many standards ofchocolate sauce,” says Rundlett. “Wehave one which is not so sweet, makesa very good chocolate drink, and isused by a large pub chain. By comparisonwith a powder-based drink, itseems to 'dispense' into the mouth farbetter."The paddle machine, because it isworking all day, might appear to be awasteful method, but is not."It's effective, and not wasteful - atthe end of the day, you drain themachine and store the chocolate in thefridge. We now have around 500 cus -tomers working with paddle machines,and if I were a coffee-bar owner, it's theroute I'd take, because I'd want mycustomers to taste chocolate, notsweetened cocoa."Our pelleted chocolate is CostaRican single-origin Rainforest Alliancechocolate, and to my mind, there'snothing that comes close to it - it is thereason why BHS has probably the bestchocolate drink on the high street!”Outside the trade, there is not a greatdeal of brand awareness in chocolate.10

The British leader is a national institution,but beyond that there is littlebrand awareness for anyone.Even as a national name, Cadburyhas now repackaged itself to show offits Fairtrade logo, and has a tradeguide which aims at helping caterers to'stir up perfection'.This is worth while taking time over,says Cadbury - sales of hot chocolateare growing faster than tea, and it isnow the second most popular hot drinkafter coffee. Cadbury is investing veryheavily in point-of-sale material, arguingthat the British customer sees thename as 'the classic hot chocolate'.That aside, chocolate in cafes is usuallyhindered by being anonymous."It doesn't help that chocolate is keptunder the counter," agrees PhilipRundlett."Because people do not ask for achocolate drink by brand, it tends tobe seen as a commodity line.However, what brings loyalty is thequality of your chocolate drink. Peoplecome back to a place which servesgood chocolate.“Personally, I think that if the qualityof your chocolate is worth shoutingabout, then shout about it! If it were upto me, I would put signage around avenue saying 'we use very good qualitychocolate in our drinks'.”The newest counter-display chocolate brand for thecafé market turns out to come from a familiar name - itis Nero and Bianco, an independent brand, owned bythe directors of Peros, the Fairtrade specialist.The new brand features Fairtrade cocoa beans from theDominican Republic and Peru, and Fairtrade organic canesugar from Paraguay.The British company has already helped send in agrono -mists to advise on farming methods, and helped buy pro -cessing equipment. Like some coffees, the crop is shadegrown,and when those shading trees are crops such asbanana, it provides another income.The new milk chocolate contains 39 per cent cocoa solids.The dark is 70 per cent, and is promoted as having 'complexand intense' flavours, yet without bitterness. The whitechocolate is described as being creamy but not sickly.Another useful new Fairtrade chocolate for the trade isGrand Chocolat, from United Coffee – this comes in littleportioned sachets. For selling a 12oz drink, use two.The original chocolate drink, as drunk by Montezuma, washeavily spiced - now Cream Supplies has launched a spicedhot chocolate powder, with cinnamon, almond and vanilla.A typical very high-class drinking chocolate is offered bymaster chocolatier Bill McCarrick of the Sir Hans Sloanebrand. This is not cheap, and one you serve at a very specialprice because of its remarkable hand-made process."My problem with drinking chocolate is that it is alwayspowder or flakes," Bill told us. "So when I first looked at creatingour house drinking chocolate I wanted something thatlooked rugged yet refined.""I spend hours coating, spraying with tempered couverture(very high quality chocolate that contains extra cocoa butter)and polishing our drinking chocolate. The unique method isThe new chocolatesNew chocolates for the trade - the fair,the spicy, and the high-class hand-madeChocolatesfor thecoffee shopto test -Nero &Bianco,CreamSupplies,GrandChocolat,and handsprayedpellets fromSir HansSloane.that I spray 100 per cent cocoa onto Demerara sugar, andbuild up layer upon layer of unsweetened chocolate over thesweet sugar."I won't compromise on quality, so the workability of mydrinking chocolate is slow - you should make a small emul -sion by spooning in two tablespoons of pearls and only toppingthe pearls with a shot glass full of hot milk; when thepaste is smooth, add the rest of the milk.”Bill McCarrick is another chocolatier who endorses theidea of more education, trade and consumer, about realquality in chocolate. "I watched Jamie Oliver on the telly,showing American schoolkids what goes into chickennuggets - the guts, the skin, you get the picture. I wish Jamiewould also do the same with some chocolate makers… andthen talk about us smaller award-winning brands."11

How green isyour tea-bag?One of the biggest recent developments in tea-bags has been the 'pyra -mid', or 'temple'. It goes by other names, but the principle is of a threedimensionaltriangular bag which is big enough to let leaves infuse better.With environmental claims always high, we were not surprised to receive anenquiry which asked: are these bags biodegradable? This was quickly followedup by another enquiry: 'if the teas are organic - are the bags?’ Indeed, are allpyramid bags the same?The result was a complicated argument between trade users which ran: somepyramids aren't biodegradable because they are nylon; some are biodegrad -able, but may not be organic, because the ones that degrade are made fromAmerican corn starch, which probably has GM ingredients. The unanswerablefollow-up to that was - if an organic tea is presented in a tea-bag which was createdfrom a genetically-modified source, can the entire product be sold as‘organic’?So we asked several tea brands: what is the construction of your teabag? Andare they all the same?"Our pyramids are nylon, so they do not fare on the compost heap at all, I'mafraid," said Oscar Woolley of Suki Teas. "We were determined to have our teasin biodegradable Soilon bags but, after a thoroughinvestigation, we discovered that Soilon cannot claimto be sourced from non-GM crops, as was previouslythought. Our investigation resulted in the SoilAssociation and Organic Food Federation withdrawingtheir acceptance of this material for organic products."Nylon pyramids were the only option open to us, butwe await the day that the biodegradable material canbe responsibly sourced. Until then, any tea companiesselling 'organic-certified' teas in biodegradable pyra -mids may be doing so against the advice of the UKorganic bodies."At Teapigs, Nick Kilby said that he had never comeacross anyone referring to the teabag itself as beingorganic."All Fuso-style bags used to be made from nylon. Inrecent years a new biodegradable material has beenproduced made from corn starch, but the supply of thisnew material is still limited. We changed all our pro -duction to the biodegradable material two years ago."Jorg Muller of Solaris Herbs told us he spent 'ages'on this problem. "Ours are biodegradable, and thecontent is organic - there are only three producersworldwide that dominate the market. None of these offer the product as organic,so it's very likely it is made from GM corn. As far as we know there are noorganic biodegradable tea bags available on the world market.""Some pyramids biodegrade as they have a GM ingredient added to allow thisprocess to happen - as a result their tea can't be verified as organic," agreedRichard Allan at Storm. "On the flip side, ours don't biodegrade, but as a resultof having no GM ingredients, the teas used can be organic. I'd love to find amaterial which covers both."We have, said Mighty Leaf: "Our pouches are indeed made from biodegrad -able polylactic corn starch, but Mighty Leaf USA have the manufacturer's assurancethat they are GM-free, and that all the ingredients are regularly tested toensure that this remains the case."It goes to show that all tea bags and pyramids are not the same, said AllanPirret at Daily Grind. "We won't touch nylon pyramids because we don't think it'sright. Our pyramids are Jolly Green Giants - they're from corn, very high instarch, which is removed, and then woven into a lattice. They are biodegrad -able, although this material presents a far more difficult filling process."It's easy to tell one from the other, he added. "Rub the bag between your fin -ger and thumb, and nylon, which is man-made regular fibres, rubs nicelythrough. Biodegradable fabric is natural, and more scratchy. It's woven, but thefibres are less even."Chai latte - a useful add-onto the winter menuWhat is a 'chai latte'? Is it a legitimate 'tea' – indeed, because of the way thatIndian roadside tea is so thoroughly brewed with the milk, is the 'chai latte'one of the most authentic teas of all?The most recent championof the idea is Teapigs, whichsays that using steamed milkwith a tea creates somethingwhich is 'more than just acuppa', and makes a legiti -mate stand-out offer for thewinter season."The coffee industry hascapitalised by offering a vari -ety of flat whites and frappaccinos,while the tea industryremains a one-trick pony.There are some add-waterchai products and syrups, butwe think the tremendousopportunity is in servingNick Kilby and his tea latte menuwhole leaf tea as latte - youcan get a lot of flavour out, and you can certainly charge more for them than fora 'normal cup of tea'."Teapigs has been experimenting with help from barista and coffee supplier 'LazyJose' Melim, and says quite openly that this idea is one in which suppliers andcaterers are going to learn from each other. Typically, achieving the balance of athree-minute tea brew with the speed of latte production is an interesting puzzle– Teapigs' suggestion is that the bag be brewed in the normal way and thentopped with steamed milk, which we suggested might cause a bottleneck behindthe counter."In the context of a fast counter service, this may be a bit slow, although in a sitdownsituation we think this is manageable. We learn as we go, and we're encouragingour far more experienced café customers to experiment with tea and feedback to us."Experimentation brings out some interesting results with other highly-flavouredteas. The principle, says Teapigs, can most quickly and easily be experiencedwith such items as a rooibos caramel latte, and from there on the idea is just tokeep testing and tasting.Mint tea - as big asEnglish breakfast?Everybody says that mint has an important place on the standard tea menu,and at Daily Grind, director Allan Pirret says that his Egyptian Mint nowsells almost as much as his English Breakfast."This won a Great Taste award, andhas a phenomenally strong content - itreleases a huge mint flavour. Somepeople might think it over the top, butit has become our star product."Mint aside, he says, the great problemfor the caterer is deciding whichEnglish Breakfast tea to go with. For aserious café, any old generic will justnot do."English Breakfast is very importantto a tea menu, and you have to have agood one, and say so. We're chuffedto bits with ours, because we took anew slant on the traditional approachof Assam with Ceylon, but not withKenyan - we're averse to the kind ofEnglish Breakfast because their tea isnot really at the finer end of the mar -ket."The big problem is the consumers'perception of what an EnglishBreakfast should look like. This per -ception has been entirely dictated bythe bottom end of the market, and as agood Ceylon does not colour well withmilk, it does not appear as the cus -tomer expects."So, what we did was blend Ceylonwith three Assams - the market is fullof some very dull Assams, but wefound one very good one for colour,another with a very good body, andanother we picked for taste.“The result was an English Breakfastwhich looked good, with a very cleantaste that has punch, but it doesn'tchoke the palate. You don't getwhacked with tannins like a standardtea dustbag!"12

Canton - the accessible pu-erhThe big difference between an unusual tea and a big-brand tea, says EdgarThoemmes of Canton Tea, is that one has a story to tell… and a good storyjustifies a higher selling price.Canton has several unusualteas, and one of the usefulones for the trade might beits Vietnamese pu-erh – thisis the kind of tea, traditionallyfrom Yunnan, which came toattention when girl pop starspraised its healthy qualities. Itis not cheap (some of it sellsby vintage, like wine) and itusually comes to the trade inbricks, like big cheeses. This one,rather more conveniently, comes in apack."Ours is probably not, according tothe letter of the law, a pu-erh," saysEdgar Thoemmes, "because it's maderight on the border of Vietnam andYunnan. However, it is a very light one- people often don't like a pu-erh thefirst time, just like they don't often liketheir first olive or their first whisky, butthis is 'approachable'." Use it, he suggests,as an 'afternoon special'.Canton also offers 'a Chinese blackmade in the style of a green', whichsounds silly, but describes the appearanceof the tea."It's not brittle, like so many blackteas, but soft and wispy. It's abreakfast tea or end-of-mealtea, because it has a sweetcaramel feel which complementsdesserts. It's slightlysimilar to Darjeeling… butdon't put milk in it."However, he acknowl -edges, there are many reasonswhy it is tempting forthe hospitality trade to simplyoffer a standard cup of tea."First, the general public is comfortablewith generic big-brand teas.Second, the standard teas offer a marginwhich is so high, it's scary! Andthird - most establishments don't knowhow to serve tea. The teas we spe -cialise in need care, and we're not talkingabout dunking a bag into a cup ofhot water."We have invested a lot of time in theright brewing equipment for tea, andwe have decided that glassware, whilenot the traditional way of brewing fineteas, is the most effective. We loveglass teapots - a green tea movingaround in a glass vessel is a finesight."The Irish herbal tea company Solaris Botanicals has introduced an unusualsweetening agent in helping launch its entire range in Saudi Arabia."Consumer feedback from the area has been excellent," said company bossJoerg Muller. "Socially, tea is very important in the Middle East, where at least 15cups are drunk daily, although much sweeter than in the UK. For this, we had tocreate blends with Stevia extract (an American herb used in some countries as asweetener). We see this as an innovative product development – it is not accept -ed as a food ingredient in Europe, but in the Middle East it is. It is encouragingthat we are seen as doing something quite unique in the tea world".Solaris Botanicals has also won a Best Product award by Bord Bia, the Irishfood organization, for its Detox Variety Box."Again we saw this as an innovative product development, creating a multipackthat offers different detoxifying blends with different actions for specific times ofthe day. There is green tea chai, which is cleansing and gently stimulating, highin antioxidants. There is our King of Pu-Erh, which breaks down fat before it isdigested and thus helps to lower cholesterol (there are quite a few clinical trialson this). The lemon detox is our caffeine-free herbal blend for the evening."The arrival of the new Shinzo green tea has renewed the usual discussionabout whether the best green tea comes from China or Japan. There is ofcourse no answer - the two are simply 'different'!Shinzo is Japanese, available in both a leaf and powdered form. The usefulaspect for the café doing a little green tea is that itcomes in 50gm canisters, with the leaf tea sufficient forapproximately 13 pots and the more concentrated powderedtea making up to 50 servings."This really is about as good a Sencha as it is possibleto get," says the importer. "Good quality green tea isvery fresh and has a very distinctive, almost sweetsmell. Green tea should be regarded as a fresh produce.Although green tea will not go bad for a very long time,it still has a relatively short 'fresh' period during which itsflavour will be most distinctive. Generally speaking,unless stored in special conditions high quality green teawill last for about a year. Beware of Japanese green teas that have a relativelylong shelf life, two or three years."Japanese greens are certainly expensive, hence the advantage of buying insmall canisters - some Japanese senchas reach £50-500 per kilo.Shinzo is available from Cream Supplies.The new Storm tea brand is as different from an everyday cuppa as premiercru is from table wine, says the company confidently."Organic Storm Tea is made from real chunks of wholeleaf tea, fruits and flavourings and so will never leave atrail of dust in your teacup," says the brand's RichardAllan. The product uses the pyramid bag format, and featuresthe expected standard blends and a Japanese senchaand an organic Chun Mee. There are trade packs of1,000 bags.Tetley is testing a children's tea, T4Kidz, in 75 Tesco stores. The product isbased on caffeine-free redbush and honeybush tea brand, with additional vanillaand strawberry flavours. The product comes in re-sealable pouches of 20 bags,and can be drunk with or without milk.Twinings has launched a limited edition Mulled Spice tea. It is describedas 'a rich and aromatic tea blended with Christmas spices and full bodiedAssam'.It goes, we are told, with mince pies. Twinings is also providingdownloadable point-of-sale material available at www.twiningsfs.co.uk/pos.The London Tea Company also has some new ideas for winter- a vanilla chai, which the company says includes 'authenticChai ingredients - organic black tea, cinnamon, peppermint,ginger, cardamom, cloves and vanilla'. The result, says thesupplier, can be served to match mince pies and Christmascake. There is also a blend of blackcurrant, raspberry and cinnamonintended as 'an uplifting, warming pick me up, especially good when thetemperatures start falling'.14

One of our favourite cafe maxims,coined by Christine Collins of theCup of Tea company, is the simple :'good teas pay'.The maxim works for GeorgePeacock and Rachel Lemkov, wheresixty-six rare and unusual teas haveturned a riverside cottage into one ofthe UK's very top tea-rooms.Peacocks of Ely is one of the handfulof British tearooms qualified to displaythat most imaginative of all trophies,the stained-glass window which marksa Tea Guild 'top tea place of the year'.And they have three awards of excellenceto go with it.Peacocks is tucked away beside anantiques shop and a busy but relaxedmarina. The frontage is tiny, dominatedby overhanging trees, and difficult tofind - but the interior is surprisinglylight and spacious, with two sittingrooms full of antique tea memorabilia,including some items which defyunderstanding. An old poster forBongola tea, at one-and-six in oldmoney for a packet, has so far resistedall attempts to identify the brand.Peacocks even has two notable loos -one has a giant pair of antlers fixed tothe wall above the seat, so that theGreat teas really work...A menu of sixty-six special teas, impeccably presented,is what brings four national awards in four yearsuser appears to be wearing them, andthe other is a shrine to tea, filled withtea-themed pictures and ornaments,including a full tea-set within reach ofthe throne.The most notable feature of thePeacocks tea menu is that it featuresitems from all continents. The vast teamenu - sixty-six items - is overhauledduring the winter months."I was taught that there are five continents,but they seem to have addedtwo more since I was at school,"remarks Rachel, pouring an unusualFrench Pleine Lune from a Duchessteapot ("it's nice to buy from Englishpotteries - I think it's rotten that somany of them are closing down.")The tucked away Peacocks,Rachel Lemkov, and themysterious Bongola poster"They've added Antarctica, whichisn't helpful - so George sent some teato the research centre there and askedthem to mail it back, so we really couldoffer tea which 'came from Antarctica'."Every other international tea is legitimate,if very unusual - the Pleine Luneis fragrant, with notes of almonds,vanilla and honey, and a reminder thatFrance actually does have a tea industry.So of course does Georgia, representedby the irreverently re-chris -tened "Georgie Best". There is aKashmiri described as 'very gentle, areal cracker of a chai', there is aVietnamese Imperial ('a fantasticwoody oolong'), a Gorreana tea fromthe Azores, and the distinctive Billy Teafrom eastern Australia. "It has a bit of akick with all that eucalyptus in it, and alot of earthiness. I didn't like it at first,but you get used to it."Coffee is only by cafetiere, exceptthe Peacocks special iced coffee,which is a recipe handed down fromRachel's mother, and which, almostunbelievably, uses Camp coffee.The Peacocks staff take chilled milk,almost to the top of a tall glass, a dashof Camp, a spherical dollop of Rodda'sCornish clotted cream, probably donewith an ice-cream scoop and keptchilled in the fridge, and serve immediatelywith a straw and spoon.It's a simple serve at £2.95 (or withadded Bailey's, £3.75).Does it sell?"It does," says Rachel with a grin."We have several customers hookedon it!"15

Of all the arguments which divideplayers in the café trade, one of themost entertaining is the matter ofthe freebie on the saucer.One side of the trade says they are apain and detract attention from the coffee(sometimes intentionally, say themore sarcastic commentators!)Others say they see a business ben -efit, and some have started using themcreatively – some very top coffee barswill actually balance the taste of thegiveaway with the taste of their coffee.Some use unexpected items like apri -cot or walnut pieces to enhanceespresso.And at a very practical level, onecafé owner in Wiltshire has opened upa good trade in them as add-on sales,selling speculoos by the 50-pack!The latest player in the field is anunexpected one, but it comes in withpowerful backing. It is Single Source,the pioneer of single-serve portions insugars and milks, and now theprovider of probably the biggest rangeof saucer-side items, all individuallywrappedand several big enough forretail add-on sale as well as gift.This new status comes from the companyjoining PortionPack Europe, animmense company in the single-servesector, and the items it has obtained asa result are attention-getting - not justThe saucer strategy...Is the giveaway biscuit on the saucer something you have to do, or wantto do? Is it something you get away with as cheaply as possible... or is itsomething which you can use strategically in your business?Wood berries in chocolate (left) the ‘stroopwafel’, and theorange cake - all attention-getting items beside the beveragegeneric giveaways, but attractivelybrandeditems."Our only contribution to eating so farhas been speculoos, and you do haveto wonder about how this tradition stillrelies on one cinnamon-flavoured biscuit,"remarks marketing managerAndrew Gibb."In this day and age you would thinkthings might change… and when webecame part of PortionPack Europe,we were exposed to other ideas.“They make individually-wrappedportions of many styles of biscuit andquality Belgian chocolate, and theirmarkets have a long history of offeringitems on the side of a cup of coffee."Is the accessory an integral part ofbuilding the image of a venue - just aspeople will say 'you get a good cap -puccino there', do they think: 'you getsomething decent on the saucer at thatcafé'?"Our continental sister companiescertainly see this as an importantstatement about the venue. Many customerswill see your expensive coffeeand think – so what happened to thefreebies? Many cafes will give away achocolate emblazoned with the outlet'sname on it, but the quality is often quitepoor, which begsthe question: whatare they trying toachieve? Belgian"The data we haveisn't scientific, but thereis some information tosuggest that the betterthe item, the morerepeat consumption ofcoffees, and the moreconsumers areprepared to pay.”chocolate withreal mint crisppieces inside areinfinitely better."So, if the cafeowner is smartthey can vary theoffer. There are opportunities to offerthe freebie with the real premiumdrinks as a support to the pricing or totrade up as a promotional giveaway.You could be endlessly creative,including giving one away with a coffee-and-sandwichpurchase as a thankyou for the spend. It is a real counter tochains' loyalty cards."A major complaint from some caféoperators is that giveaways are a costto the business, not an asset."Oh, come on, get real! These littleitems can get you remembered – theyare a support for the high cost of yourcoffee drinks and also a way to engi -neer an increase in prices. Consumersexpect good value, and now the offeringmust be interesting and comple -ment the drink – we do already seesome trade customers showing aninterest in varying the offer every sooften, to keep the interest up."Talking to the trade about this hasidentified a cross-section of reaction.Some can only see through speculootintedspectacles… but some are nowopening their minds to something dif -ferent, including a rotation of goodies."The data we have isn't scientific, butthere is some information to suggestthat the better the item, the morerepeat consumption of coffees, and themore consumers are prepared to pay.Top notch chocolates, such as a pra -line, seem to help generate moreoccurrences of second or third cupsbought, far ahead of more basic chocsand even biscuits."Certainly, the freebie should beseen as a strategic pricing tool to helpease your drink prices upward."The trade price of everyday speculoosis fairly minimal – Single Sourcesays, perhaps surprisingly, that theirnew range starts at the same level."I would expect chocolate coatedbeans, speculoos and little biscotti tobe easily in the 3-5p range," saysAndrew Gibb. "We've been gettinggood feedback onthe tiny little chocolatecoated beans,which come in differentstyles – with cof -fee bean centres,almond, and crispycereal centres reminiscentof a Malteser.Andrew Gibb “The Bolero (a littlemint chocolate) andthe Le Carre 5gm Belgian chocolatesquares would be a little more, andthen the choc chip cookies, Daelmansmini wafer, the orange cake (like a miniJaffa - everybody loves them) andFairtrade chocs to be around 7-9p."They all show quality and value, andthe real key is to keep the size of nibblesmall enough to leave paying cus -tomers wanting more, so they'll buysomething else, or that they'll buysome of the snacks to take away."This is a real possibility."We now have exclusive distributorshipfor a magnificent product,Daelmans' branded caramel wafers,the stroopwafels. This sticks in buyersminds - once tasted, the productalways makes people smile and canthey have another? I predict this couldbe a high growth product at a sensibleprice - singles and even duo packs cansell for under £1."16

The most familiar of all saucer-sidegifts has a new look. The Lotus isthe original caramelised biscuit,and now has a series of individualmessages on the pack. The productitself remains unchanged after 70-odd years."It's popularity continues to grow,"says sales manager Ian Lucas. "Thecaramelised flavour complements theroasted aroma of coffee, and it hasbecome a much-loved token of thanksto customers, at a relatively minorinvestment. The limited-edition ver -sion with a range of six messages onthe wrapper has served to bring thebrand to life in a playful manner and Ienvisage that this activity will berepeated in the near future."The curiosity, of course, is that theseare only for sit-in customers."Takeaway is a more difficult chal -lenge - but we are in the early stagesof a development project with a leadingdisposable cup manufacturer,aimed at addressing how coffee onthe move can be enjoyed with a Lotusaccompaniment."Consumers are not as ‘healthy’ intheir choice of snacks as they saythey are, says Trevor Stroud atCranberry.“Healthy snacks are growing at theexpense of crisps and nuts,” he confirms.“But there is a world of differencebetween customers' intentionsand how they actually behave - fewerpeople actually snack healthily thansay they do. By working on a realisticinterpretation of customer behav -iour, we have settled on a productrange that works for us. The mostpopular product out of 140 lines ismango chunks, a very healthychoice."The ‘whoopie’ cakehas arrived...Last year, the big trendy snack product for the catering trade was the cup -cake. This was the highly-decorated and extremely creamy item, for whichthe over-used cliché of 'indulgent' did for once actually apply. Althoughmany products were masterpieces of design over substance, some manu -facturers did try to include some genuine taste, and reduce the amount ofcolourings and sugars.This year, the equivalent is, believe it or not... the Whoopie.Like the cupcake, this trend comesto us from the States. It is a kind ofcream sandwich - a top and bottom ofcake, a filling of cream, and a frostingor topping on top. The cake can be aplain sponge or a chocolate sponge; atypical filling is thick butter cream. Thehomely story, which may possibly beremotely true, is that the Amish farmers'wives in Pennsylvania startedmaking them to use up leftover cakebatter. The name supposedly comesfrom the husbands' reactions whenopening their lunch boxes.We know that the Handmade CakeCompany, which was quick to producea cupcake range for the trade lastyear, will launch catering Whoopiesvery soon, although the company isbeing unusually reticent."We have been just observing andtasting for the last six months,” saysthe company's Simon Law. “So far wehave tasted some that we didn't like,and some which were nicer, but nothingwhich is really a 'coffee-shop product'.“We have now decided that it is timethat we offered the discerning coffeeshop operator a really good Whoopierange, probably based on cleanflavours with no funny aftertastes,good cake-like texture, and an artisanlook.“Having now made a few samples,we are beginning to properly under -stand how ours will be different - theouter 'shell' (a bit like a clam-shell) willhave a proper cake-texture, asopposed to an almost polystyrene texturewhich is what some seem to have,and also a filling that has a flavour thatmakes you think, ‘I'm going to enjoythis’, rather than just getting a massivesugar hit.The Dawn Foods Whoopie“While those currently available tocoffee shops are quite gaudy inappearance ours will be a little morerestrained - some might say boring,but that's us, more Delia than Nigella!Our cupcakes were 'proper' cakes, notjust about a pretty look, and I seeWhoopies as being the same – somethingyou can really enjoy, rather thanjust being seen to be eating somethingthat is 'on trend'.”Meanwhile, Dawn Foods ofEvesham has produced the tradecake-mix version."I believe this is more of a fad, andnot as long-term as the cupcake,"remarks the company's JacquiPassmore. "Whoopie pies have hadthe headlines but seem to be veryslow to get off the ground - I don't seethem having either the impact or thelongevity of the cupcake."This is described as a 'just add watercake mix'."This is for businesses who wantadditional product lines without havingto commit to more production time.Preparation is 5 minutes, baking is 30-45 minutes depending on size, coolingis an hour, and finishing 10-20 minutesdepending on the detail."Selling price depends on the result,but prices for cupcakes made with ourbases and toppings are anywherebetween 95p - £1.75."Alex Albone - the crisp-makerdown on the farmThe ‘artisan crisp’influences thebig namesIf any proof were needed of themove towards the 'artisan crisp',says Alex Albone of Pipers Crisps,look at the way the big-namebrands have suddenly startedbringing out new ranges under dif -ferent names, with nothing to sug -gest they come from the industrialcrisp-makers."There must be a growing consumerperception of the 'artisan crisp',because customers do tend to seekus out. We now employ 30 people,and we trade from Scunthorpe toSaudi Arabia.“But we still don't supply supermar -kets - other artisan companies havesaid they would not, and ended updoing so, but we haven't. The con -sumer couldn't care less, but it's theretailer and café operator who like thedifference, because they always wanta way to be different from the super -markets. Coffee shops love a highlypackaged,premium-price productwhich can't be found in Tesco.“But we retail at a higher price, andthe consumers are prepared to pay it.We always tell retailers and coffeeshops that no, we will not be selling into them at a comparable price to othercrisps, but to be aware of the cashmargin. And many of them do try andmake the most of artisan crisps."Typically, he says, every Pipersflavour has won a Great Taste award,so cafes can say 'we have chosenthese crisps because…', and evenwhen crisps are used as a garnish tosomething like a panini, they make apoint of saying 'these are premiumcrisps…'.An example of a response from thegiants is that Walkers has now decidedto launch an Extra Crunchy. This isintended for the retail market, in largesharing packs, on the grounds that(and we quote) 'staying in is the newgoing out…'18

The passionfruit butterburstMore cookie ideasfrom Byron BayBeyond the Bean’s work in promot -ing the new British-made cookiesfrom Australia's Byron Bay brandhas been sufficiently successful fornew launches to become, quite gen -uinely, waited-for events.The latest idea is Butterbursts, aproduct which has ambitions to reachthe hotel sector as well as the cafétrade. They are in twin packs, in threevarieties: citrus, described as 'packedwith the aroma and zest ofMediterranean lemons', choc hazelnut,and passionfruit, promoted as having a'real tropical taste'.It took almost a year to get this rangeready, says the company's PaulMaxwell. All three flavours have beenapproved by the Vegetarian Society.Byron Bay’s ‘limited edition’ cookieshave also become expected events,and the winter one is the white choco -late chunk and cranberry cookie.“This Limited Edition cookie has beendeveloped to marry the classic flavoursof white chocolate and cranberries intoa treat for winter shoppers,” says thecompany. “Each cookie is packed withchunks of premium European whitechocolate and over a quarter of thecookie is made up with cranberries togive a moist and delicately chewycookie.Byron Bay was launched in Australiain the 1970s, and because of ‘foodmiles’ concerns, opened up productionin England in 2008. The UK-bakedcookies use locally sourced ingredi -ents, free range eggs and premiumEuropean chocolate.The British-made triple-choc fudgecookie won the Vegetarian Society’s2009 ‘best snack’ award.Coffee Republic has devised afundraising cupcake to be sold in aidof the Teenage Cancer Trust.Proceeds from sales of the TeenageCancer Trust cupcake, available inCoffee Republic bars across the UK,will go towards improving the lives ofyoung people with cancer. The cakewas designed by a seventeen-year-oldcurrently recovering from cancer.Pack takeaway snacks well -and don’t forget the savouryThere seems to be no end of traybakes on offer to the trade - so how doesa coffee-house operator distinguish between them? And what counts as‘value for money’ in the snacks trade?"When I was a retailer, I heard'value for money' roll off suppliers'tongues far too easily," says NigelGrumbar, marketing manager at thePeck and Strong trade bakery. "Itsmeaning is often not 'unpacked' - thereal meaning is of how far you cansqueeze upward thequality and the margin."Value for moneydoes not mean'cheap'. We are at themore pricey end of'value for money', andthere are surprises –you would think thatstudent buyers wouldsave every penny, butwe have universitiestaking our product and student customerscome back and back.“Value for money means the cus -tomer has not one tiny shred ofresentment for whatever they paid forit – instead, the reaction is: 'heavens,that was worth it!'Peck and Strong stays away fromthe trends and fads in snacks, preferringto offer the trade a reliable longtermrelationship."The problem with trends is that theyhave a timespan - this can be great forshort-term marketing, but a problemfor quality when a product is broughtout to fit a current trend. That's whyyou see so many rubbish cupcakesaround."Our approach is the long run – ifour traybakes have a point of differ -ence, it's not a trend, it's in mouthfeel,discernible tastes, and different layersof taste as you chew through it.“Typically, we make our caramelfrom scratch - many bakers buy theirsDon’t miss the takeawaypotential of the savoury pie...in, so a lot of them are probably usingthe same caramel."Although Peck and Strong sees thepotential in the takeaway trade, it hasresisted the temptation to pack itsproducts singly."Something is lost in prepacking, inperception and otherways… it is possiblethat poor retail pack -aging can affect thetaste and texture," hesuggests.."The more inventiveapproach to takeawaysnacks is to say: 'youenjoyed that, so nowplease let me cut you aslice to take away'. Butthen you must package it properly -don't just slap some clingfilm on it.Make it something special for them tobuy and take."Peck and Strong also makes piesand flans for the café sector, and isvery strong in vegetarian ones."Our savoury pies and flans are vegetarian,but are still geared to themeat-eaters, who refer to them asgutsy, though that's a non-vegetarianterm, and 'full of oomph'. At CaffeCulture, we had an exciting responseto this range - it was as if the tradehad been starved of such things."It seems that very few people docutting-style quiches, flans and pies,and so this seems to have turned outas a fairly low-risk win-win for a caterer.“We produce them to order, so theyleave here chilled with a true ten-daylife… and if you can't get throughtwelve slices in a ten-day life, thenperhaps takeaway snacks aren't thebusiness for you!"Takeaway snacks can be Fairtrade too...The Fairtrade angle is the promotional point from Peros with additions toits One World range.It now has three new cupcakes, two new chewy cookies and an assortmentpack of mini muffins. The ever-growing One World bakery range combinesFairtrade credentials with great taste and quality. The cupcakes qualify for theMark with three flavours that each contain over 46 per cent Fairtrade ingredi -ents. One of the chewy cookies is 35 per cent certified, the other is 50 per cent.The mini muffins are in an assortment pack containing about 43 per centFairtrade ingredients.Around 20% of roast and ground coffee sold in the UK is now Fairtrade, andthis growing trend is also positively affecting complementary products such asbakery and snacks. The opportunity to demonstrate an ethical stance in take -away and add-on sales is all the more important, says Peros, when a largenumber of similar products carry no certification.Shortbread – stillthe classy biscuitShortbread is always positioned aseither a 'luxury' or certainly 'betterthan average' retail item, saysDean's of Huntly, but it does helpfor a coffee-house operator to beable to promote an item as being aparticularly good shortbread.Although there is one giant brandwhich gets all the press, Dean's turnsout to be the best-selling retail shortbreadin Scotland - how does a cafeput this across?The Dean's proposition is to do allbaking in a time-honoured traditionalmanner, producing a strong 'homemade'visual identity," says the bakery'sSylvia Grant."We are very much a small-batchproducer and hand-bake all our lines,as opposed to our high-volume, highautomationcompetitors. I suggest thecoffee house owner promotes Dean'sas traditional honest-to-goodnesshome baking, produced in what canonly be described as a scaled-up versionof a home kitchen."Offering shortbread such as theDean's petit four as a complimentarysaucer item, will certainly create apoint of difference against the conventionalcaramelised biscuit.”And don’t leave it there, saysDean’s. Giving a piece away is onlyhalf the business.“Remember – use the complimentaryshortbread to promote the retailpacks!"Dean's foodservice range hasdeveloped because of a demand forsmaller packs - there are now twinpacks of shortbread fingers (40gm)and shortbread rounds (25gm), andthe unusual flavoured ‘petit deux’shortbread.Moy Park has come up with a novelversatile snack item – the thaw-andservemini-donut, which has threeflavours, and can be sold as a take -away, a saucer item, or as a full dessertwith ice-cream and a topping.19

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