SCAE Hawaii tour announcement
The Pacific Business News and Honolulu Star Bulletin picked up the this announcement for the upcoming SCAE tour organized for Hawaii. PBN even went so far as to make it one of their top business stories for Friday. The Speciality Coffee Association of Europe's (SCAE)...
Campos Coffee Features Hula Daddy
This morning I was forwarded a link from Campos Coffee in Sydney with their review of Hula Daddy Coffee's Kona Sweet, which has been selected as their featured coffee of the month. Rarely do coffees meet expectations- especially when they are prohibitively expensive....
SCAE Seeks sponsors for 2009 Hawaii origin tour
The Speciality Coffee Association of Europe's annual origin tour is coming to the Island of Hawaii for the first time ever this October 26-31st, organized and led by Andrew Hetzel of CafeMakers (Kamuela) and author of The Hawaii Coffee Book, Shawn Steiman (Honolulu)....
Coffee menu design that works
The September issue of Fresh Cup Magazine features an article titled, "Your Board Room: a clear menu helps decisions get made," that discusses the elements of an effective coffee menu. Coffee menu design and appearance is a critical one, as it defines your brand image...
Coffee fix: operators looking to reinvigorate brand loyalty
A short article in the September Restaurants & Institutions Magazine discusses the latest tactics employed by Caribou Coffee, Corner Bakery, Dunkin' Donuts, Starbucks and McDonald's to refocus (or in some cases, build) their brand image in a depressed market. I...
An article in yesterday's Wall Street Journal looks at Starbucks new experimentation with Lean manufacturing principles. Under a new initiative being put into practice at its more than 11,000 U.S. stores, there will be no more bending over to scoop coffee from below...
Coffee Business Solutions Magazine to bury competition
In a curious Friday press release, FMM Media, publisher of Funeral Business Advisor (check out this month's feature on "tribute blankets," who knew?) announced that it will launch a new trade magazine circulated primarily to independent coffee and tea shops. "As part...
Coffee Certification Comparison Matrix
The SCA sustainability committee today released (though dated 4/14/09) a comparison matrix of major coffee certification programs: Organic, Fair Trade Certified, Rainforest Alliance, Smithsonian Bird Friendly, Utz Certified and 4C Common Code. Although making no value...
Coffee trend scores 11
In Specialty Coffee Retailer Magazine's Ten Trends for 2010 this August, my comments on overseas expansion of the specialty coffee industry have ranked an impressive E-L-E-V-E-N. Rock on! Coffee Trend #11 for 2010 "The majority of our company’s work has come from...
First video of 15th Avenue Coffee and Tea released
The Seattle Times today released video of the interior of Starbucks' new 15th Avenue Coffee & Tea concept and what's most impressive about the design is that it, essentially, copies most other independent coffee shops started in the past 3 years. Take a look at it for...
Starbucks Q3 ’09 financial results analysis
Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) today announced that they will beat industry analyst projections for Q309, but almost entirely as the result of cost cutting initiatives and store closings, followed by decreased (ceased) short term borrowing and increased grocery store...
15th Avenue Coffee and Tea Starbucks New Concept Store
Starbucks will be launching a new "neighborhood" concept store next week under the name "15th Avenue Coffee & Tea" that adds beer and win to the menu. Andrew Hetzel, the founder of coffee consulting group Cafemakers, said Starbucks may also be renaming its stores to...