# Caffe Culture 2011 snippets



## MikeHag (Mar 13, 2011)

Hope nobody minds... I thought I'd pass on details of anything interesting I come across down here at the show. I'll just update the thread like a tweet.

First thing... Buy one workshop, get 2nd half price, at the door. There are also loads of free theatre shows, such as one tomorrow about using social media to help your business.

http://Www.caffeculture.com


----------



## MikeHag (Mar 13, 2011)

Wonder if your water is hard enough to be a problem? European WaterCare advise contacting your local water supplier and asking what the PPM (parts per million) is. If it's less than 40-50 million, fine. If more, you should descale more often or get a filter.


----------



## MikeHag (Mar 13, 2011)

There was a question recently about how you store home roasted beans. http://Www.standuppouches.co.uk sell bags with degas valves. Min order 1000 but maybe some members would split an order.

Contact Darshan Shah.


----------



## MikeHag (Mar 13, 2011)

Theatre presentation: what next for the UK coffee and cafe bar industry?










A panel of experts from the UK cafe/food industry.

Trends and issues:

1. Open provinence of products. Local.

2. A feeling of it being the communities 'local' place

3. Potential growth in breakfast offerings

4. Bad service is #1 bugbear

5. Lack of passion is quickly recognised by customers. Passion is everything.

6. Hand crafted mentality/approach in independent shops rather than big chains

7. Business model needs to change to address higher coffee prices. Eg more focus on food.

8. Tea and it's presentation. Matcha. How to add value above making it at home. Maybe Bubble Tea from Korea (urgh!).

9. Flat white is a profitable product

10. Transparence of ingredients, Health conscious customers.

11. Iced drinks market still growing. Desert in a cup.

12. High standards. Discerning customers.

13. Market may split. a) Chains serving hot drinks, and b) Gourmet independents serving high end products to knowledgeable patrons.

14. Variety of coffees. Different beans and different espresso recipes eg varying brew temperature. Hmmm.

15. A degree af theatre in coffee. Eg micro-roasting.


----------



## MikeHag (Mar 13, 2011)

Quite disappointed that I wasn't able to attend James Hoffman's barista skills workshop







But it was great to be introduced to Hugo Hercod (2008 UKBC winner) and chat about opening and running a cafe business. The people in this industry are so down to earth and happy to help.


----------



## MikeHag (Mar 13, 2011)

Presentation by Andrew Rayner of e-mpasis marketing about getting your business found on google, facebook etc.

Go to Google Places and fill in all the details. Google searches now automatically rank local search results higher. Google knows your IP address and finds local results.


----------



## MikeHag (Mar 13, 2011)

In summary, for me the show exceeded expectations by far. For anyone serious about starting a cafe and ready to get a firmer idea of your offering, and how to do it, don't miss Caffe Culture next year. I wish it had been 3 days not 2. Didn't get to speak to everyone I wanted to.


----------



## MikeHag (Mar 13, 2011)

Here are a bunch of photos from the event.

https://picasaweb.google.com/mhaggerton/CaffeCulture2011?feat=directlink


----------



## AndyL (Apr 10, 2011)

Thanks for taking the time to put this together mike really interesting. BTW I couldn't get your picasa link to work, from my iPhone at least.

thanks again.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------

