Market analyses and reports on the coffee and coffee machine markets
Recently I took my car to my local garage for a MOT, the while-you-wait type, and while I was waiting, I needed to answer the call of nature. The garage itself was typical of these kinds of places, on an industrial estate on the edge of town. When I have had to avail myself of the facilities in these type
Driving into London last week we spotted what is a common sight. The Golden Arches of McDonald’s were shining brightly over a building site. The A40 at Acton it seems has a new fast food restaurant. The very first thing they did was to put up the sign. You see McDonald’s understand the importance of their sign, which is why
The UK was in shock momentarily when Theresa May, the British Conservative Prime Minister, announced a snap general election to take place on June 8th this year. For the last six months she had categorically ruled out another election, but she changed her mind in a dramatic fashion. It could turn out to be a political master stroke, so far
Having a queue in your coffee shop or café is a beautiful thing to behold, but according to the latest research, if you have more than six guests waiting, then people are deterred from standing in line. There is another six that matters, and that’s waiting more than six minutes, where you perceive the queue is too slow. When you
They say things always come in three’s; so when the coffee machine, dishwasher and high-speed oven decided to stop working in the week before Christmas, the good news is that we had all bases covered. What are your emergency plans? In the past, any one of these issues could have sent us into a tailspin, but strangely enough, even though
‘Build it; they will come.’ may have worked for Kevin Costner in ‘The Field of Dreams’ but it’s a strategy that rarely works for coffee shops. Recently we stumbled over one of the best independent coffee shops we never knew existed. We have just been to a town that we visit very infrequently, for a crucial meeting and coming out
The well oiled seasonal retail calendar drives sales throughout the year, and in many markets, Christmas is the biggest of them all. It’s not always a great trading period for everyone, though. Those coffee shops that are in city centres or shopping malls that attract the hoards are planning their big trading days, stocking up, staffing up and getting ready
It seems that everyone we speak to at the moment is finding it more and more challenging finding and retaining staff. The additional stress of recruitment and training on a small business like an independent coffee shop can be enormous. When someone leaves a small team, the team goes through a mourning phase and unless there is an immediate replacement,
Profit is not always purely financial; it can be measured as an advantage or benefit derived from an activity. In particular for charities or social enterprises who will measure their success in many other ways. Every week we talk to many coffee shops and Cafe from different sectors, including the not for profit & charity sector. We come across more
One of the biggest dilemmas or even traps the Independent Coffee Shop owner faces is getting themselves away from the day to day operation. There can be many reasons for this, sometimes the overriding pride or passion leads the owners to believe that only they can serve the customers properly, resulting in that well know disease ‘presenteeism’. The symptoms are