..most café owners are reluctant to raise the retail price of their coffees! The sad reality is that most café owners continually watch their competitors pricing and refuse to raise prices unless their competitors do it first

gabi Said:

I think it is absurd to think of espresso and its derivatives (cappuccino /latte..) as a "fix-price-commodity" Even bottled beer which is the ultimate commodity ( since there is zero difference between a bottled Corona served in two places ) sells for different price in different places
The price for standard tea ( hot water + tea bag ) fluctuates by 30-40% between different places

Good point and very true.

Where I came from (Tel-Aviv) you can get an entry level cappuccino in places like Aroma (which is a bit better than SB) for about $2.5 while the upscale places (Illan's, Arcafe) will sell for about $3.5. Sure the $2.5 a cup controls almost 90% of the market, but there is still a place for upscale coffee shops.

It's all about marketing, or before the fancy terms got thrown out there.....how to dress up a product and/or service so it looks better than the other guy's.

I don't understand why it can not be done in the US. Come to think about this we do pay different price for coffee in Dunkin' and SB so why not go for the next level ? When I buy Pizza in some upscale place (Figs/Upper-Crust) I pay 50% more than Pizza-Hut, what makes coffee a fix-price product ?

Places serving better coffee should be able to charge more for their coffee without loosing business. They should be able to explain that they sell a superior product and charge more I'm not a marketing guy, but I would use words like "artisan", "hand-crafted", "premium" or "specialty" to differentiate my business from the crowd You can host coffee tasting events, feature "coffee of the month", special "late-night-latte" (maybe using decaff)  etc. The one thing you should not be doing is try and live in SB shadow locked in the one-price-fits-them-all envelope

Posted January 1, 2007 link

gabi Said:

I think it is absurd to think of espresso and its derivatives (cappuccino /latte..) as a "fix-price-commodity"

Even bottled beer which is the ultimate commodity ( since there is zero difference between a bottled Corona served in two places ) sells for different price in different places
The price for standard tea ( hot water + tea bag ) fluctuates by 30-40% between different places

Where I came from (Tel-Aviv) you can get an entry level cappuccino in places like Aroma (which is a bit better than SB) for about $2.5 while the upscale places (Illan's, Arcafe) will sell for about $3.5.
Sure the $2.5 a cup controls almost 90% of the market, but there is still a place for upscale coffee shops

I don't understand why it can not be done in the US
Come to think about this we do pay different price for coffee in Dunkin' and SB so why not go for the next level ?
When I buy Pizza in some upscale place (Figs/Upper-Crust) I pay 50% more than Pizza-Hut, what makes coffee a fix-price product ?

Places serving better coffee should be able to charge more for their coffee without loosing business.
They should be able to explain that they sell a superior product and charge more
I'm not a marketing guy, but I would use words like "artisan", "hand-crafted", "premium" or "specialty" to differentiate my business from the crowd
You can host coffee tasting events, feature "coffee of the month", special "late-night-latte" (maybe using decaff)  etc.
The one thing you should not be doing is try and live in SB shadow locked in the one-price-fits-them-all envelope

Posted January 1, 2007 link

mattyj Said:

reading this article and all the posts (well, not really all the posts ... could someone bold the highlights for me please? :) ), I was reminded of Robo-Cop, and all the failure Robo-Cops.

Next, we'll be implanting the brain of previous World Barista Champions into Super-Autos ...

Posted January 1, 2007 link

gonzogourmand Said:

Someone ping me when a machine can :

Taste.
Smell.
Relate the previous two to human/customer preferences and control grind, dose, tamp, time, distribution, etc in order to make each shot taste right for each drink and customer. (i.e. pulling one ounce double ristretto for myself, a one and a half ounce double for one customers macchiato, and the same volume but at a lesser time for my fellow barista who prefers a sweet & sour shot...)

Control all of those factors to compensate for minute, moderate, or major changes in roast or bean type.

Pull the exact same coffee or coffee blend three, five, or ten different ways to make it taste good but completely different each time.

Steam milk so it tastes good. I believe it is possible at this point to make a machine that can have consistent texture as Mr. Sabados claims, but I note with interest he doesn't mention taste. It is relatively easy to steam milk to a consistent texture, but it takes an incredible amount of practice and skill to control all of the many variables in milk steaming to bring out the vanilla, caramel, sweetness, and other subtle flavors and aromas of properly steamed milk. Nor do I believe it is possible to have a machine steam milk to less than a millimeter less or more foam in order to get the proper amount of foam for a different type of latte art or slightly differently shaped or sized cup.

Machines easily beat out an untrained, uninterested, uncaring PBTB, but the cost of developing and producing a machine that can control the dozens of factors involved in making a great espresso shot or drink as well as la mano  is prohibitively expensive and unlikely in the foreseeable future. I welcome all improvements in super auto's because they have the potential to raise the average quality and interest in quality and may lead to new advances in understanding the science behind espresso.

Posted January 2, 2007 link