Cafe Culture Magazine - Issue 49

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magazine APRIL 2012 ISSUE 49

TASTING THE LIFESTYLE OF THE CAFÉ SECTOR

... a Must with coffee!

Buy online today

at ww w.cafebronte.com* * Café Brontë Dunkers and Café Brontë Shortbread available to purchase online.

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Welcome!

CONTENTS

After a successful Hotelympia, we now await what looks set to be a busy Caffè Culture, as well as the holding of the second London Coffee Festival, and report on the progress of this year’s UK Barista Championship.

The winners of this year’s Café Society Awards will soon be announced at a luncheon to be held at the Roof Top Gardens in Kensington, London (24 May 2012), and we look forward to seeing many of you there (turn to page 14 to find out how to reserve your table and secure your presence at this event).

Those popular complementary café staples - tea and cakes dominate this issue. We also consider how outlets can get online and become more involved in the marketing technique of the moment - social network marketing.

Clare Benfield - Editor Editor Clare Benfield, Tel: 01291 636336, E-mail: clare@jandmgroup.co.uk Advertising Manager Paul Steer Tel: 01291 636342 E-mail: paul@jandmgroup.co.uk Production Manager Jayson Berry, Tel: 01291 636339, E-mail: jayson@jandmgroup.co.uk Subscriptions and Customer Service Tony Lorimer, Tel: 01291 636333 E-mail: tony@cafesociety.org.uk Editorial Address Café Culture, Association House, 18c Moor Street, Chepstow, Monmouthshire, NP16 5DB Fax: 01291 630402 E-mail: cafe@jandmgroup.co.uk www.cafeculturemagazine.co.uk Opinions expressed in Café Culture are those of the contributors and not necessarily those of J&M Group Ltd or Café Culture. No responsibility is accepted for the opinions of contributors. Café Culture is published by J&M Group Ltd. and supports Café Society. It is circulated to managers, executives, buyers, retailers and traders in the café industry. © 2009 J&M Group Ltd

www.cafeculturemagazine.co.uk

NEWS 4 Starbucks to offer ‘British latte’.

5 Barclays and Roadchef agree £30 million funding package.

6 Costa Express celebrates first anniversary with 1000th machine.

8 Gruppo Cimbali’s new centenary logo.

CAFÉ SOCIETY AWARDS 2012 14 Category information and booking form.

EVENT PREVIEWS

30 Cake mix – new products and ranges that are continuing to meet the ‘treating trend’.

38 Local and social – guidance on how outlets can embrace the marketing benefits of Internet-based social networking.

ARTICLES 26 Tea experience – the hobby that became a fully fledged business.

28 UK Barista Championship – the latest on the search for the UK’s top barista.

36 London Coffee Festival 48 Independents in the driving seat? – Sanremo’s Andrew Tucker gives his opinion.

16 Caffè Culture 2012.

REGULARS

EVENT REVIEWS

37 Barista talk – your barista questions answered.

46 Coffee Clinic - your maintenance questions answered.

47 New products.

51 Checkout

42 Hotelympia 2012 highlights.

FEATURES 20 Tea time – tips and advice on successful preparation.

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NEWS

Starbucks customers in the UK will be able to choose lattes with a higher coffee content.

Lynsey Harley, who officially took on her new, two-year SCAE role on 1 March 2012.

United Coffee’s Lynsey Harley appointed SCAE UK Co-ordinator Lynsey Harley, United Coffee UK & Ireland’s coffee development manager and Q grader, has been appointed by the Speciality Coffee Association Europe (SCAE) as its UK chapter coordinator following a landslide vote by its members.

In this new role, Lynsey Harley will be responsible for co-ordinating and developing the organisation’s competitions, as well as looking to develop wider benefits for members.

“The SCAE is a fantastic organisation and I’m delighted to have been appointed to the role,” said Lynsey Harley. “We’ve got a fantastic coffee scene in the UK but I’m passionate about making it even better. I’ve got big plans for the development of SCAE competitions and to engage more non-competing members. It’s important for the organisation to become more inclusive for all members who don’t necessarily want to test their skills in competitions.

I believe by sharing knowledge and educating through workshops, seminars and other initiatives we’ll be able to bring people together.”

“I'm confident that Lynsey, supported by her colleagues, will transform the UK chapter into a progressive learning and networking organisation that leads the way in Europe,” added Elaine Higginson, United Coffee UK & Ireland’s managing director. “Lynsey is energetic, no nonsense and has a great palate and since joining United Coffee in 2010 has developed as an individual, as well as made a significant contribution to our business.”

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Starbucks to offer ‘British Latte’ Starbucks has announced a multi-million pound investment to re-launch its bestselling Latte to suit changing British tastes.

In the UK, the latte, which is the nation’s favourite coffee, will have more Fairtrade espresso at no extra cost to customers and a new approach to steaming milk will give it a smoother taste, say Starbucks.

The change from March 14 will be backed with an in-depth TV, print and digital ad campaign which will invite customers to try the new Starbucks British Latte for free. Meanwhile, customers who prefer the existing milder taste will still be able to have their drink made as exactly as before.

All 10,000 UK baristas have also been trained over the last three months to use a revolutionary milk steaming pitcher which spins and folds milk to velvety perfection every time, and which allows the coffee to rise through the milk. Designed by Starbucks engineer, John Brockman, it took a year to develop and went through 14 prototypes until it was exactly right, say the company.

In extensive trials, British coffee drinkers told Starbucks that they liked the richer taste, the extra value and the new milk texture, and will be another example of Starbucks successfully adapting to UK tastes following the introduction of 100% Fairtrade espresso, the launch of the Flat White, a new British store design and food like the Bacon Buttie.

Starbucks say that they have noticed UK customers adding more coffee in recent years – a 60% rise in the last two years to 200,000 extra shots every week.

The success of its Flat White, a smaller stronger coffee launched in 2009, encouraged them to reconsider the way

they make Britain’s favourite coffee – the latte. In trials customers said they preferred the new latte and appreciated the value of the extra coffee worth 35p for free. For many, their drink will now be 14% cheaper.

In Britain, the latte outsells cappuccinos by a ratio of 2:1 at Starbucks. “Tall”-sized lattes, cappuccinos and all other espressobased drinks will also get an extra shot of coffee, so will the largest “venti” size of espresso drinks.

“Britain has become the home of the Latte and it’s the country’s most popular coffee shop drink,” said Kris Engskov, managing director for Starbucks in the UK and Ireland. “At the same time, the British palate is changing; we can see that in the way our customers are ordering their coffee. They’re becoming more experienced, more sophisticated and many more are looking for a stronger taste. This is a big move and a big investment, but our feedback shows that this UK-only change is the right thing to do for British customers.”

Starbucks UK Coffee Master Laurence Winch added: “Not all lattes are created equal and it’s harder than you might think to get it just right. Our baristas and our customers love the new drink – you really can taste a difference in the milk – it’s smoother, there’s a richer coffee taste and it looks great too.”

This change is part of a Europe-wide initiative to cater as closely as possible to local taste preferences, and deliver national favourites to the highest standards, say the company. In another world first for Starbucks, customers in France will be offered a choice of two different espresso blends - a full-bodied dark roast or a lighter roast option.

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NEWS

Barclays and Roadchef agree £30 million funding package Roadchef, one of the UK’s largest motorway service area operators, and Barclays have finalised terms of a new working capital and long-term development funding package worth around £30 million.

The agreement follows a competitive tender process, involving the major banks, and extends the two companies close working relationship, which has been in place for almost two decades.

Roadchef, which turns over more than £200 million per year and employs around 2,000 people, say that they will use the funding to continue its successful redevelopment programme of upgrading the catering facilities at its 20 sites across the UK. This programme began in 2010 when it unveiled plans to invest £12 million on overhauling the catering facilities at ten key motorway service areas. The move included the announcement of a 20-year deal with McDonald’s, bringing a unique and

powerful value-led branded offering to the motorway.

Over the last 18 months, Roadchef has achieved substantial growth in both visitor numbers and overall sales at a time when motorway traffic volumes are under pressure. The company has seen footfall at its redeveloped sites increase by up to 15%, with total catering outlets reporting an increase in sales of around 40% on the previous year’s trading.

The motorway service area operator is currently halfway through its three year development programme and following today’s agreement with Barclays, it has announced that a further six sites will be revamped this year.

The redeveloped sites will all feature a new McDonald’s restaurant along with an upgraded Costa Coffee outlet, to deliver the best possible customer experience.

Additionally, the traditional ‘free-flow’ restaurant will be upgraded with a modern own-brand offering, which will see the

quality and speed of service improve, whilst continuing to deliver value to customers.

"Our redevelopment plan is going extremely well and we have seen great results at the sites we have already upgraded. We measure success in terms of the number of people coming through the doors of our sites that make a purchase and at our revamped service areas, we have seen both visitor numbers and the conversion of those visitors to purchasing customers increase significantly,” said Simon Turl, CEO at Roadchef.

"The performance of the Roadchef business has continually improved over the past three years and we decided it was essential to continue developing our sites in order to carry on building the business.

Our ambitious growth plan means that it is essential that we have sufficient cost effective funding in place and we’re delighted that Barclays were successful in retaining our ongoing business.

Caffè Culture announces launch of UK Barista Challenge The UK’s leading event for the café bar market has announced the launch of the Caffè Culture Barista Challenge - a new competition to find the UK’s Barista of the Year.

In line with Caffè Culture’s commitment to providing a first-class business resource, the Barista Challenge will aim to find the UK’s best working barista and uncover the next big trend in coffee based drinks, with the final of the competition to be held at this year’s Caffè Culture Show (16 and 17 May, Olympia, London, www.caffecultureshow.com).

Along with being awarded the prestigious title of Caffè Culture Barista of the Year, the winner will also receive a trophy, a £1,000 cash prize, and a range of equipment and products for the business in which they work. In addition,

they will be promoted within an extensive PR campaign.

“Baristas have played a critical role within the show since its launch and, over the years, we have been involved in a number of different competitions, workshops and events to help highlight the talent that exists within our industry. We have now decided the time is right to launch our own barista event, offering something a bit different to existing competitions,” said the Caffè Culture show’s event director, Elliot Gard, at the launch.

“Whilst we want to recognise the fantastic skills of baristas operating within the UK, we also want to deliver a competition that relates back to the commercial world in which they work. We have therefore launched the Caffè Culture Barista Challenge to

demonstrate how imaginative, talented and inventive baristas can make a significant difference to the bottom line in café bar businesses.”

The competition will take place in three phases, with baristas presenting their signature drink, a written submission and fulfilling a number of skills based tests.

The judges will be looking for a barista who can demonstrate an exceptional talent for producing superb coffee, as well as being able to translate those skills into devising drinks that will truly deliver for real customers. The baristas will need to demonstrate how their chosen signature drink has great marketability, is consistently quick and easy to deliver within a working café bar setting, whilst offering a healthy profit margin.

The launch of the competition has already attracted interest from the industry and several sponsors have approached Caffè Culture about supporting the event.

The first to associate itself with the competition is Royal Himalayan Coffee & Tea, as the official coffee sponsor for the competition.

The judging panel will be announced shortly and comprises a host of industry professionals, including coffee, café business, marketing and product development experts. There will also be a more innovative aspect to the judging befitting the nature of the competition, say the organisers (for further details about the Caffè Culture Barista Challenge and to submit your entries visit www.caffeculture.com/baristacompetition/).

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NEWS

Costa Express celebrates first anniversary with 1000th machine Costa Express has celebrated its first anniversary with the unveiling of its 1000th self-serve coffee bar in Charing Cross station.

This milestone puts Costa Express well on track to achieve its target of 3000 machines by 2016, say the brand, demonstrating phenomenal growth in just one year since Whitbread’s £59.5million acquisition of Coffee Nation on 2 March 2011.

Following the acquisition, Costa Express self-serve coffee bars were developed and rolled out from June 2011 in sectors as diverse as forecourts, retail outlets, healthcare and education. These ambitious growth plans have seen existing Coffee Nation machines converted and new Costa Express machines placed at a rate of 20 per week.

Costa Express machines can now be found around the UK in locations such as Moto and Welcome Break service areas, Esso forecourts, Tesco Express stores, plus a growing number of universities and hospitals. The launch of the self-serve brand

Costa’s Scott Martin and John Derkach celebrate the 1000th Costa Express. has also opened up new customer opportunities in channels such as airports and railway stations.

In the last year, Costa Express machines have served over 15 million cups of coffee and those that have been re-branded to Costa Express have seen a 20% increase in the number of cups sold per day, report the

Erlenbacher’s quest to decrease carbon footprint Erlenbacher, a European manufacturer of premium frozen cakes and desserts for the food service industry, has embarked on a mission to become increasingly sustainable with the help of the German Centre for Sustainable Corporate Management (ZNU) of Witten-Herdecke University by handling all natural resources in an ecological manner.

The year 2010 was an extremely significant year for them, report Erlenbacher, with consumption of resources taking a massive plunge. Heating oil was reduced as much as 25% and fresh water consumption, being particularly high, plummeted by 38%, and they aim to accelerate this decrease of consumption over the coming years.

They have even installed new washing machines that are more energy efficient and have been one of the first companies in the baking industry to regulate and take

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control of their CO2 emissions and are actively reducing the amount of greenhouse gases produced.

Equally as important Erlenbacher are focused on keeping all their products natural by having no added hydrogenated fats and oils, no artificial flavours, colourants or preservatives.

“We have set extremely high standards. It’s all about safety, hygiene, avoiding risks and carrying out frequent checks; our quality management systems ensure all of the above,” said Bernhard Neumeister, Erlenbacher’s managing director.

All Erlenbacher’s employees undertake training courses on industrial safety, healthcare and quality and they must ensure they are operating sustainably. Their sustainability manager heads and coordinates all relevant tasks to ensure all employees work alongside their philosophy to function in a sustainable manner.

company. The Costa Express business has also experienced the busiest period in the company’s history, with more installations in the last year than the previous ten combined.

In addition to the customer benefits, Costa Express has created many new job opportunities and increased its employee headcount by more than 30% with the generation of new roles in engineering, customer service and account management.

“We knew there was a demand for high quality coffee on the go and were confident that combining our tried and tested technology with the nation’s favourite high street coffee would be successful -- but the results one year on are remarkable,” said Scott Martin, chief executive of Costa Express. “There are now a thousand more locations across the country where people can get a cup of great Costa coffee on the go, in customer segments and areas of the UK we’ve never previously been able to reach.”

Family firms scoop ice cream accolades Two family firms have been chosen as the best ice cream makers in the UK. Judges at the National Ice Cream Competition awarded the Champion of Champions title to the Morelli family of Coleraine for their vanilla ice cream and also chose Ryeburn of Helmsley run by David Otterburn for his Nutella flavoured ice cream.

The competition is organised by the Ice Cream Alliance (the trade body for the UK's £1 billion ice cream industry) with chief executive officer, Zelica Carr, saying that the ice creams from the two makers were outstanding and could rightly claim to be the best of the best.

The Morelli family have been making ice cream in Northern Ireland for 100 years. Arnaldo Morelli whose great uncle Pietro started the business, said: "This is the ultimate honour - we are all so proud."

The business produces 50 different flavours of ice cream at their Coleraine factory

David Otterburn of Ryeburn of Helmsley with Zelica Carr. supplying demand from a host of hotels and restaurants as well as Tesco supermarkets across Northern Ireland and Scotland.

David Otterburn, whose family switched from dairy farming to ice cream making and runs an ice cream parlour in Helmsley, North Yorkshire added: “This is a wonderful result for us. We have been trying to get to this stage for 25 years and now it has actually happened I really can't believe it."

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NEWS

Gruppo Cimbali’s new centenary logo The hundredth anniversary of Gruppo Cimbali, being celebrated this year, will represent a very prestigious milestone for the famous espresso company in terms of its history, events, and developments, and has initially been marked by the unveiling of a new centenary logo.

It all started back in 1912 when Giuseppe Cimbali opened his coppersmith shop in Milan. A few decades later, and Carlo Ernesto Valente opened a coffee machine making factory in Milan and Faema was born. Since then, the group has never ceased to expand and develop, and so La Cimbali and Faema, with their innovations, have since been contributing to Italy’s industrial development throughout the 20th century, exporting their culture and passion for espresso and cappuccino around the world.

“The 100th anniversary logo is meant to symbolise Gruppo Cimbali, a company which makes a daily commitment to creating the best quality in the cup, an embodiment of prestigious and best ‘Made in Italy’ expertise and craftsmanship around the word,” commented Massimo Faravelli, Cimbali Group’s CEO. “From here springs the idea for a stylised, tricoloured coffee up with the handwritten number 100 to recall all the different hands which have created and worked at this company day after day.”

Soft drink companies launch ‘Transform your patch’ campaign Robbie Savage, Denise van Outen, Emma Wills and Fazer have teamed up with popular soft drink brands, including Pepsi Max and Robinsons, to launch ‘Transform Your Patch’ – a campaign that aims to regenerate around 165 outdoor spaces across the UK with the support of the public.

‘Transform Your Patch’ is a UK community-led regeneration scheme which aims to create great outdoor spaces for people to enjoy through a series of projects. The campaign, a partnership between leading environmental regeneration charity Groundwork and soft drink brands from Britvic and PepsiCo, will see the four celebrities championing different outdoor projects supported by different brands, including five a side football pitches, playgrounds, picnic areas and parks, and skate parks.

Robbie will be rallying for five a side football pitches supported by Pepsi Max, Denise will be campaigning for playgrounds supported by Robinsons and Robinsons Fruit Shoot, Emma will be squaring up for picnic areas and parks supported by J20 and Lipton Ice Tea and Fazer will be championing skate parks supported by Tango and Mountain Dew. All four are competing against each other and are calling on the UK public to vote for their team online via www.transformyourpatch.com. Each vote made will support the celebrity’s team,

helping them to potentially secure an additional £100,000 prize fund for their project area across the UK. “We’re really pleased to be teaming up with Robbie, Denise, Emma and Fazer to launch this campaign. ‘Transform Your Patch’ will be one of the most inspiring transformation programmes ever undertaken in the UK, so it is only right that we work with such popular famous faces. It is so simple for people to get involved and support a celebrity team. All they need to do is log onto the ‘Transform Your Patch’ web site and vote for a specific project in their region. Our four celebrities have already become very competitive and together we hope to create some great outdoor spaces for people across the UK,” said Jonathan Gatward, GB marketing director, Britvic Soft Drinks.

The campaign will run for nine months in total (until October 2012) and people can vote for a celebrity team and a project in their region from March to September 2012. Every single soft drink purchased of any of the participating brands represents a real 1cm piece of land that will be transformed, offering a simple way for people across the UK to contribute to a long-lasting legacy on their patch.

Festival’s artisan pop-up coffee shop Allegra Events Ltd, part of the Allegra Group, and La Marzocco will be joining forces to create the True Artisan Café, a collaborative pop-up independent coffee shop which will be at the heart of the London Coffee Festival 2012.

The True Artisan Café will be the only place in London where, for the three day festival, some of the best independent coffee shops and coffee ventures will come together, under one roof, to showcase their art using La Marzocco’s iconic Strada machine.

Visitors will be invited to meet the baristas, learn about their coffee and celebrate London’s indie coffee scene in style. Baristas from 18 different coffee shops and roasteries across the capital will be selected to take over the café, each for a three hour slot during the event period, from 27 – 29 April 2012. So far,

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Nude Espresso, Tapped & Packed, Sacred, Pascucci, Allpress and Taylor St Baristas have all signed up to be part of this very special feature.

The True Artisan Café will also raise money for Project Waterfall, the clean water initiative delivering clean water projects in African coffee-producing countries, by asking all visitors to make a donation to the charity rather than buying their drink.

“For La Marzocco, the True Artisan Café represents an opportunity to bring together the independent coffee shop community and the third-wave coffee scene. We are pleased that the project offers the independent coffee shops a way to get involved in the festival and gives us an opportunity, together, to celebrate the local coffee community. So far the

response from coffee shops wishing to participate has been very positive,” said Chris Salierno, marketing director at La Marzocco.

Richard Reed, owner of Nude Espresso added: “We are delighted to be involved in The True Artisan Café. It gives us a great opportunity to showcase some of the amazing coffees we source and roast in The Old Truman Brewery. It is always a pleasure to work with La Marzocco, a company that pushes the boundaries of espresso machine innovation and support a worthy charity, Project Waterfall.”

The True Artisan Café will be located in the Soho zone of The London Coffee Festival, which will take place from 27-29 April 2012 at The Old Truman Brewery, Brick Lane (www.londoncoffeefestival.com).

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NEWS

Douwe Egberts announces support of the Big Jubilee Lunch 2012 Douwe Egberts has announced their support of the Big Jubilee Lunch, part of the central weekend of events to celebrate the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee in June 2012.

As a supporter of the Big Jubilee Lunch, Douwe Egberts say that their support comes as a part of their on-going marketing strategy to support local communities and encourage people to become 'local stars' within them.

Led by the Eden Project, the Big Lunch is an annual initiative which encourages people across the UK to have lunch with their neighbours in a simple act of community, friendship and fun. With the 2012 Big Jubilee Lunch forming part of the official Diamond Jubilee celebrations, this year’s festivities are

set to be bigger and better than ever.

Douwe Egberts have organised a programme of activity to drive participation in the event, looking to add value to Big Jubilee Lunch organisers, as well as driving trial to the brand.

At the heart of the integrated marketing campaign is the bespoke Facebook app (http://www.facebook. com/DouweEgbertsUK?sk=app_1769252090 88518), giving users the ability to register their own Big Lunch profile and then invite friends and neighbours to join them via Facebook.

There will also be an option for users to widen their scope by inviting people who are not 'friends' via a unique URL that will be

Chocolate bars to complement coffee Coffeelate, manufacturers of luxury confectionery and drink products, say that they are now targeting the café sector with their latest products – chocolate bars specially created to complement coffee.

The Coffeelate coffee chocolate bar is blended with Caribbean spices to be enjoyed with coffee, while the Coffeelate espresso chocolate bar can be melted in hot milk, then stirred and served to customers as a

refreshing drink in its own right. Several cafés in the London area, including Kredens in Streatham and the Blue Mountain Café in Sydenham, are already stocking the product.

The concept was launched last November, and has already been promoted at trade shows where the Coffeelate Bar product has received very positive comments and reviews, report the company (www.coffeelate.co.uk).

Fracino doubles in size with new premises Birmingham-based Fracino has expanded its manufacturing facility to a new purpose-built headquarters close to its current site to meet increased demand for its espresso and cappuccino machines.

The 24,000 sq ft workshop and offices at Birch East Road brings the size of Fracino’s premises to a total of 45,000 sq ft and enabling the business to grow its 60 plus product portfolio, hold more stock and provide customers with more flexibility.

A £250k investment in cutting-edge machinery has enabled Fracino to bring more manufacturing components inhouse to speed up production and continue to innovate with cutting-edge machines.

The existing premises have

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been converted into a new servicing department and showroom, and the site will also house a dedicated production line for its domestic machine, the Piccino.

Fracino reports that it is continuing to buck the trend by consistently increasing its sales, and having also expanded its now 40-strong team by almost 50% over the past three years.

“The move is a momentous milestone in our development and it is exciting and inspiring to be in our new home, with plenty of room for expansion,” said Fracino’s John Cook. “The extra space and improved facilities will enable us to increase production even further as we drive sales of Fracino machines to the next level.”

generated each time a profile is set up. The App will also provide users with engaging content such as organisation tips, help kits, recipes and exclusive competitions and prizes, the main prize being the chance for five Big Jubilee Lunch organisers to win £1000 to help host their own lunch.

Douwe Egberts will be running a sampling programme, giving away up to 900,000 dry samples in the Big Lunch starter kits, as well as sampling in magazines, cinema and railway stations in the lead up to the Jubilee celebrations. Further activities include family orientated projects, such as innovative ways to raise £100 by utilising the iconic Douwe Egberts jars and in-store point of sale support.

Kerry launches new DaVinci gourmet fruit syrups Kerry is inviting café owners, bartenders and mixologists to release their creativity with its new range of DaVinci Gourmet fruit syrups.

Building on its expertise in gourmet syrups for hot café applications such as flavouring coffee, DaVinci says that it is now extending its know-how to a line of fruit syrups developed specifically for cold beverage applications.

The new range consists of eight varieties – strawberry, lemon and lime, raspberry, pineapple, green apple, coconut, passion fruit and grenadine - providing the

inspiration to create unlimited new taste experiences, say the company.

Delivering an intense flavour, the versatile syrups can be used for numerous applications including alcoholic or nonalcoholic cocktails, iced coffee and tea, carbonated drinks and sodas, milkshakes and smoothies, in addition to culinary applications with the premium recipe syrups offering an impressive fruit juice content of between 10% and 30%, natural colours and flavours, no preservatives, micro-stability, thick consistency, and a two-year shelf life once opened.

Denny’s launch new catalogue With the UK’s café culture flourishing, it’s important that bars, bistros and café teams do not give the wrong first impression by wearing outdated uniforms, say uniform and catering wear supplier, Denny’s, who have recently launched their 2012 catalogue.

Uniform makes a vital difference in the customer perception of your brand and a stylish, smart team will also enhance the customer experience, say Denny’s, who feel that an apron is a complete uniform in itself – cost effective, durable and versatile. The latest Denny’s Uniforms 2012 catalogue reflects this philosophy, with some twenty seven pages dedicated to just aprons (the catalogue can be downloaded at dennys.co.uk).

Baristas and front of house

teams require uniforms that will be comfortable to wear and enable them to multi-task efficiently at a fast pace during peak customer traffic times, advise the company, with staff needing to stand out by being neat and smart so that their appearance reassures customers that everything about the drinks and food preparation is clean and hygienic.

Bright colours are now in vogue, say Denny’s, who have produced a range of bib and waist aprons in hardwearing polyester cotton in eye-catching colours such as Hot Pink, Fuschia and Opal. And if you want to add a touch of flair to your appearance, they have also introduced old-school flat caps to match the printed and woven aprons in the Le Chef range.

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NEWS

SHORTS Latest trade statistics According to the International Coffee Organisation, world coffee exports amounted to 7.99 million bags in January 2012, compared with 8.87 million in January 2011. Exports in the first four months of coffee year 2011/12 (Oct/11 to Jan/12) have decreased by 3% to 32.59 million bags compared to 33.61 million bags in the same period in the last coffee year. In the twelve months ending January 2012, exports of arabica totalled 65.96 million bags compared to 66.18 million bags last year. Robusta exports amounted to 37.53 million bags compared to 31.98 million bags.

Trade day to start festival With less than two months to go, the London Coffee Festival 2012 will commence with a trade day on the Friday and this year see the introduction of the Trade Day Experience, a new, enhanced VIP visitor programme. Key trade visitors will benefit from participating in a series of relevant and industry specific workshops, seminars, product tastings and other interactive educational experiences, chosen by them and tailored to their current interests, say organisers, Allegra. La Cimbali’s Sensory Sessions, The La Marzocco’s Strada 101 Pressure Profiling Workshop, as well as Union Handroasted’s Roastery on Tour have already been confirmed.

Eating habits study Researchers at the University of Leicester are to carry out a study into how food and eating habits can help to shape children’s social skills. They will examine the social and behavioural aspects of dining and their potential impact on school attendance and attitudes to learning. The study will centre on pupils at the Samworth Enterprise Academy in Leicester which has a focus on food and was designed by architects to have a restaurant at its heart. The research is expected to take three and a half years.

Love British Food 2012 This year, British Food Fortnight which traditionally takes place during the autumn, will run at the same time as the Olympics under the title ‘Love British Food 2012’ (27 July to 12 August 2012). Promotions are being planned in thousands of shops, pubs and restaurants. Led by Aramark, the event’s flagship sponsor, 3663, Brakes, Compass Group, Harrison Catering and Sodexo are all taking part in the food service sector. For details about what is happening and how you can get involved visit www.lovebritishfood.co.uk.

Farm Shop & Deli returns Following its successful debut last year, Farm Shop & Deli is returning for 2012 and will be larger, with new live events and more opportunities for visitors to meet suppliers relevant to their businesses. Running as part of Food & Drink Expo (25 to 27 March 2012) this year, over 500 exhibitors have confirmed their attendance. An increase in consumer demand for speciality deli products is clear from the scale and range of products - new and old - that will be showcased.

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New chocolate Easter addition Chocolate company, Belflair (www.belflairchocolates.co.uk), have launched a new luxury, white and milk chocolate ‘happy bunny bar’ to their collection in time for Easter.

The new 200g chocolate bar joins their existing top seller, the Weird & Wonderful Collection which features a range of left-field combinations such as honey and fennel, extra virgin olive oil and poppy seeds, lemongrass and coconut and salted caramel.

The latest white and milk chocolate bunny bars have provided a perfect vehicle for Belflair’s Stefaan Moyaert to showcase his extensive handcraft skills that this master chocolatier has acquired during his extensive apprenticeship at the famous Mahieu Patisserie (Brussels), Chocolate School of Brussels and the Chocolatiere Opera in Antwerp. The bunnies

Belflair’s premium 200g Easter bunny bar has a RRP of £14.99. are all individually handcrafted using creamy high quality milk chocolate (34% cocoa) mingled with 28% cocoa white chocolate.

“The focus of our fledgling business has always been top quality treats of real substance which is why at Belflair we always champion the widest possible palate of memorable tastes, textures and top-notch ingredients,” says Stefaan Moyaert.

Soho Coffee rolls out loyalty campaign Loyalty campaign, Club Solo, is now live across all its UK high street, shopping centre, motorway and Butlin’s locations.

The already popular concept earned its wings after its initial 2012 debut and now a ‘Flying Club’ campaign is to be unveiled at all UK airport outlets of Soho Coffee Co. Club Soho is a completely new loyalty campaign for the chain, offering its subscribers targeted offers direct into their inbox, as well as changing in-store promotions like the ‘Breakfast Club’ meal deal. With no money-loading or complex point earning necessary, Club Soho rewards both regular and occasional customers.

Airport travellers at

Manchester, Birmingham, Bristol and East Midlands will now be able to pick up great deals airside to take on board and enjoy their Soho favourites in the sky with the ‘Flying Club’, offering passengers who are uninspired by notoriously high-priced and low-quality on-board refreshment options, an alternative proposition.

Soho’s point-of-sale also supports the Club Soho brand with in-store QR codes driving customers to sign up online for regular offers for their local Soho, meaning speedy perks for Soho’s dedicated coffee drinkers who can have their loyalty card stamped and redeemed within a week for a free tall coffee.

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Sponsored By

Awards 2012

The Café Society is a trade body focused on the encouragement of the café experience as a way of life in the UK. As well as providing support for its members, the Society aims to promote the café society to consumers in a way that will encourage the development and embodiment of this casual way of life into British lifestyles.

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Join us for

The Café Society Awards 2012 Luncheon At the Roof Gardens

99 Kensington High Street, London

The seven award categories are: ■ The Café Society Award

At 12.00pm

■ The Café Innovation Award

On THURSDAY 24TH MAY 2012 The Awards will by presented by last year’s Café Society Award winner Peter Dore-Smith, from Kaffeine

■ The Café Design Award ■ The Café Food Award ■ New Product Award ■ Café/Coffee Bar Chain Award ■ Café/Coffee Bar Independent Award

To book your table at the awards either email your details to pam@jandmgroup.co.uk or complete the following booking form and email, or fax to 01291 630402, or post to: Pam Sainsbury, Café Society, Association House, 18c Moor Street, Chepstow, Monmouthshire NP16 5DB Contact Name ............................................................................

Business Name ..........................................................................

Address ......................................................................................

Card Type: (e.g. Visa, Mastercard) ..............................................

(Please note – we do not accept American Express)

Card Number ..............................................................................

3 digit security number ................Expiry Date ..........................

....................................................................................................

Name on card .............................................................................. ....................................................................................................

Signed ............................................................ Date .................. ................................................Post Code ..................................

Please book: ............ Table(s) at the Café Society Awards 2012 at £980 + VAT per table ............ Place(s) at the Café Society Awards 2012 at £98 + VAT per place

Do you or your guests have any specific dietary requirements?

If yes, please list .................................................................................................... .................................................................................................... ....................................................................................................

If you require further information please telephone Pam Sainsbury on 01291 636341 or 07866 670605

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PREVIEW

Caffè Culture show latest The Caffè Culture Show (16 and 17 May 2012, Olympia, London) has become the leading event for the UK’s café bar market. Hosting hundreds of the industry’s major international brands alongside smaller independent suppliers, Caffè Culture offers its visitors the complete range of products and services needed to help them run their businesses.

Big and small Whether you are an independent café owner, a buyer from one of the high street chains, or even a budding entrepreneur starting up a business for the first time, Caffè Culture is the ideal show for you.

Visitors will be able to see the latest innovative products from over 200 highend suppliers, and receive free business advice from some of the industry’s leading professionals. Meet face to face and network with industry colleagues, build contacts, open up new commercial opportunities and gain valuable insight into the latest industry trends.

This year will also see the launch of two new features with the Caffè Culture Master Class to be hosted by the Coffee Boys, and the Caffè Culture Barista Challenge (for more information and to register for your free pass, visit www.caffecultureshow.com).

Caffè Culture Barista Challenge stage This year will see the launch of the Caffè Culture Barista Challenge - a new competition to find the UK’s Barista of the Year.

In line with Caffè Culture’s commitment to providing a first-class business resource, the Barista Challenge aims to find the UK’s best working barista and uncover the next big trend in coffee based drinks. The final of the competition will be held at this year’s show on the Barista Challenge Stage.

The judges will be looking for a barista who can demonstrate an exceptional talent for producing superb coffee, as well as being able to translate

16 APRIL 2012

CAFÉ CULTURE

those skills into devising drinks that will truly deliver for real customers. The baristas will need to demonstrate how their chosen signature drink has great marketability, is consistently quick and easy to deliver within a working café bar setting, whilst offering a healthy profit margin.

The judging panel will be announced shortly and comprises a host of industry professionals, including coffee, café business, marketing and product development experts. There will also be a more innovative aspect to the judging befitting the nature of the competition (for further details about the Caffè Culture Barista Challenge and to submit your entries visit www.caffeculture.com/baristacompetition/).

In between each heat of the competition, the Caffè Culture Barista Challenge Stage will also play host to a number of practical product demonstrations and tastings (visit www.caffecultureshow.com for a full schedule). The presentation to UK’s Barista of the Year will take place towards the end of the day on 17 May 2012.

Caffè Culture business theatre Along with giving visitors the chance to meet suppliers of thousands of products and services vital to the successful running of cafés, coffee bars, hotels, restaurants, pubs and anyone running a business with a quality coffee or tea offering, this year’s Caffè Culture will also be offering free programme of seminars in the Caffè Business Theatre,

hosted by some of the industry’s leading lights.

Master class The show will be running a one day marketing master class for the coffee shop and hospitality industry by the Coffee Boys – John Richardson and Hugh Gilmartin.

When times are tough there is one skill, and only one skill, that can guarantee you will be able to ride out the economic storm, argue the Coffee Boys. The ability to create the perfect espresso is no guarantee of success, neither is your ability to create the finest sandwich known to mankind. The only skill that can guarantee your success is the ability to generate and retain new customers, claim the duo.

Thus, they will be putting on a master class designed to guide you through everything you need to know to increase your sales. And it won't be dry theory, say the Coffee Boys, who say that they have created 50 directly actionable techniques that you can immediately

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PREVIEW

CONFIRMED EXHBITORS

apply (techniques that they've either used within their own businesses or with clients and are proven to work).

All attendees will leave with a full working manual of the day and will receive online access to the video recordings of the day. Anyone who books a place before 31 March 2012 will also receive, a free one-to-one half hour telephone consultation with John Richardson after the event to discuss how to implement their plan.

The masterclass is priced at £127 + VAT if booked on or before 16 April 2012, and £167 + VAT if booked after 16 April 2012 (visit www.caffecultureshow.com/ masterclass).

‘Coffee boy’, Hugh Gilmartin will be running a coffee shop master class with John Richardson .

www.cafeculturemagazine.co.uk

AL-EZZI INDUSTRIES ANFIM UK ARTISAN BISCUITS ASHBOURNE FOODS LTD BEAR NIBBLES BELVOIR FRUIT FARMS BEYOND THE BEAN BIOME LTD BORN TO BE YUMMY BRAVILOR UK LTD BRECKLAND ORCHARD BUNN-O-MATIC CORPORATION BUNZL CATERING SUPPLIES CAFE BUSINESS MAGAZINE CAFE CULTURE MAGAZINE CAFE FOLLIET CAFEBAR CAFFE CARRARO S.P.A. CAFFE SOCIETY AND BRASILIA CENTRAL FOODS CENTRAL FOODS CINO CJ'S SPECIALIST VEHICLES CLAM'S HAND-MADE CAKES CLASSIC CATERING CLASSIC FURNITURE GROUP CLIPPER CMA SPA COFFEE EDUCATION NETWORK COFFIX CRAVENDALE CRS LTD DARLINGTONS COFFEE LTD DAVANWOOD DAVID RIO COFFEE & TEA DEBAERE DRAGO MOCAMBO GMBH DRINK ME CHAI DRURY TEA & COFFEE CO LTD EASI-PAC ESPORANGE LTD ESSENTIAL CAFÉ ETEAKET EURO FOOD BRANDS EWGA LTD FAIRTRADE FOUNDATION FALCON SALES

FERRARI'S COFFEE LTD FIAMMA FRANKE COFFEE SYSTEMS UK FRESH ERIC'S GALETA GW LONDON H R HIGGINS (COFFEEMAN) LTD HALSSEN & LYON HONEYROSE BAKERY HVD.BE INSTANTA LTD ITALIAN BEVERAGE COMPANY JEEVES & JERICHO JURA PRODUCTS KEEKO KIDS LTD KIMBO UK KYLEMARK WORKWEAR LA CIMBALI UK LF SPARE PARTS LOTUS BAKERIES LUSCOMBE ORGANIC DRINKS LTD MAGRINI LTD MANITOWOC MATRIX FOODS LTD MATTHEW ALGIE & CO LTD METRO DRINKS LTD MITCHELL & COOPER LTD MOJO SMOOTHIES MONIN UK (BENNETT OPIE LTD) NELSON CATERING EQUIPMENT NESTLE PROFESSIONAL NEW YORK DELHI NISI'S ARTISIAN BAKERY NORMAN PENDRED & CO LTD (PENTIC) NOVUS TEA NUTSHOT ORIGINAL DRINKS OSBORNE REFRIGERATORS LTD OWLET FRUIT JUICE PENTAIR FOODSERVICE PEPPERSMITH PERRY COURT FARM PULSIN QUICK BITE MAGAZINE QUICK FIRE TABLEWARE RAINFOREST ALLIANCE RATIONAL UK LTD RAYNOR FOODS LTD

ROBOT COUPE (UK) LTD ROCKET PRINT & PROMOTIONS LTD ROOIBOS LIMITED ROYAL HIMALAYAN COFFEE AND TEA ROYAL HIMALAYAN COFFEE AND TEA SANREMO UK SCANOMAT SEDA UK LTD SIELAFF UK SINGLE SOURCE LTD SOUTHERN RETAIL SYSTEMS SPECIALTY BREADS SRI TEA STILETTO FOODS SUNDROP TEAPIGS TEASCENT.CO.UK THE ARTISAN BAKERY THE CONTACT GRILL COMPANY LTD THE FINE CONFECTIONERY COMPANY LTD THE HANDMADE CAKE CO THE ITALIAN BEVERAGE COMPANY LTD THE LONDON TEA COMPANY THE METROPOLITAN TEA COMPANY THE MORRIS FURNITURE GROUP THE TEA SHED LTD THE WRIGLEY COMPANY LTD TIGHTPAC TORREFAZIONE MOKADOR UNACACC-CI VAIOPAK VARESINA CAFFE VIAGGI - NESTLE… PROFESSIONAL SUPER PREMIUM BEVERAGES VITA COCO W GADSBY & SON LTD. WALKERS SHORTBREAD LTD WEDDERBURN EPOS SYSTEMS WEGA WENLOCK SPRING WILD TRAIL FOODS WILLIAMS REFRIGERATION XTRACS YUM YUM BROS

APRIL 2012 CAFÉ CULTURE 17

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PREVIEW

Caffè Business Timetable Wednesday, 16 May 2012 Time

Title

Speaker

Description

11.15

How to maximise return on your menu

Charles Manners – Turpin Smale

Deciding on what to stock, how you present it and what to charge is a critical part of ensuring the success of your business. In this session you’ll hear from a leading catering consultant about how to create interesting and enticing menu options that will attract customers and ensure you achieve maximum financial return on your menu.

12.15

The Caffè Culture rescue remedy

Richard Hurst, CEO, Pub and Retail Consultants Group

Is your business going through a particularly challenging time? Are you struggling to see how you are going to make money in 2012? This session will lead you through the most common issues currently facing café bar and other hospitality businesses, offering a step-by-step guide to ensuring the future success of your business.

13.15

The business of tea

Bill Gorman, Chairman the UK Tea Council

There is still a huge disparity between the quality of the tea served in many UK café bars vs the quality of the coffee offered. With a phenomenal audience ready and waiting to enjoy a better ‘out of home’ tea experience, Bill Gorman will explain how getting the right tea offering is potentially the single most important thing you can do to grow your business.

14.15

Taking a leap of faith – one site to two

Robert Henry, Another Cup, and Umer Ashraf Malik, Founder and MD, iCafé

Many business owners recognise that in order to make significant money from their café bar business they need to be able to scale their offering from one to multiple outlets. Anyone who has done it also knows that this is often the most challenging time for a growing business.

In this session consultant Robert Henry will guide you through the process with an insight into the operational structures needed to ensure consistency and success. Whilst business owner Umer Ashraf Malik will provide a completely honest account of how he expanded his iCafé business into a thriving chain.

15.15

Story of a start-up

Edwin Harrison, Artisan

In 2011 Edwin and his partner, Magda, decided that the time was right to launch their own café bar business, Artisan in Putney. Since then we have been following their progress via a blog at CaffeCulture.com. In this must attend seminar for anyone who is in the process of starting their own café bar business, Edwin shares invaluable lessons from the first year of operation in a truly honest account of what is involved in creating a successful business in this sector.

Wednesday, 17 May 2012 11.15

The business of tea

Bill Gorman, Chairman the UK Tea Council

There is still a huge disparity between the quality of the tea served in many UK café bars versus the quality of the coffee offered. With a phenomenal audience ready and waiting to enjoy a better ‘out of home’ tea experience, Bill Gorman will explain how getting the right tea offering is potentially the single most important thing you can do to grow your business.

12.15

Seasonal sales – how to utilise high days and holidays to up-sell

Gary McGann, Beyond the Bean

It’s no accident that the major chains start promoting their Christmas food and beverage range almost as soon as the last pumpkin cookie has left the shelves following Halloween. Seasonal product ranges offer a great way to up-sell to both new and existing customers. In this session we’ll take a look at what opportunities exist throughout the year and how you can make the most of each – either by producing your produce or buying in ranges from innovative suppliers.

1.15

The Caffè Culture rescue remedy

Richard Hurst, CEO, Pub and Retail Consultants Group

Is your business going through a particularly challenging time? Are you struggling to see how you are going to make money in 2012? This session will lead you through the most common issues currently facing café bar and other hospitality businesses, offering a step-by-step guide to ensuring the future success of your business.

14.15

UK café bar business trends

John Richardson, The Coffee Boys

Caffè Culture has recently completed a comprehensive survey into the UK’s independent café bar market – examining everything from differing profit margins and the rises and falls in turnover, through to staffing issues and even how much is charged for a latte or espresso in café bars across the UK. In this session John Richardson, business consultant and one half of the Coffee Boys, will offer an insight into the findings and explain exactly what they mean for owners of independent café bar businesses. Each attendee will also be provided with access to a free copy of the report.

15.15

Time to invest – getting the best from your staff

Learn Purple

Despite being one of the most regularly raised issues within the hospitality sector it is alarming how many small businesses still fail to recognise the ability their staff have to make a business succeed or fail. That goes for the student who just works on the weekend, through to your regular full time team members. If you do not effectively recruit, train and motivate your staff you are setting yourself up for failure. In this session you’ll be given a complete guide to getting it right from the outset. You’ll also find out how to inspire and motivate your staff to deliver your brand ethos, even when you can’t offer them much more than minimum wage by way of remuneration for their efforts.

NOTE: This seminar schedule may be subject to change (visit www.caffecultureshow.com for the most up to date information).

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CAFÉ CULTURE

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TEA

Tea time Tea suppliers, and their customers, are paying greater attention to the serving of a widening variety of tea. As we learn here, its preparation impacts upon both its health-promoting properties, as well as the taste of an increasingly sophisticated range for consumers to choose from.

Trends “Black tea continues to be the cornerstone of tea sales in the UK, but saying that, there are also key areas of growth,” says Dorothy Sieber, director of business development and out of home marketing for the Tetley brand.

“Take Redbush, for example. It has enjoyed phenomenal success in retail and this is now being mirrored in the out of home market. Research has shown that consumers are looking for something healthy and different in the afternoon when previously they would have had a coffee. Due to its high antioxidant content and the fact that it is naturally caffeine free, Tetley Redbush fills this gap in the market, and we believe that it has the potential to mimic the exceptional growth that we have seen in green tea over the past few years.”

Offering a decaffeinated black tea is also essential if you want to keep up with the needs of today’s consumers, feel Tetley. Their research has shown that decaf penetration in the UK now exceeds 10% of households, which means that one in 10 of your customers will become frustrated if they can’t get a decaffeinated tea when away from the home, claim the company.

There have also been many studies carried out on what people look for when they purchase tea out of home and the key factor that always comes up is ‘the brand

that they drink at home’, assert Tetley.

“Tea, of course, is very much a personal choice, and we are creatures of habit,” Dorothy Sieber continues. “We rely on tea to contribute to our physiological states and therefore unlike with coffee, we look for a brand with which we are familiar. Serving a branded option is therefore imperative for outlets looking to entice customers through the door when they are away from the home.”

Ethical credentials are also important, so Fairtrade, Rainforest Alliance and other ethical initiatives will continue to be demanded by the end consumer, feel Tetley.

As tea is an import in 99.9% of cases, there is a real need to know that the way in which it is farmed provides tea harvesters with a decent standard of living.

Tetley, for instance, is a member of the Rainforest Alliance and the first Tetley packs to contain 100% tea from Rainforest Alliance Certified™ farms are now available in foodservice. Tetley for Caterers, NonDrip Drawstring packs are the first ones to contain 100% certified tea, since they announced their collaboration with the Rainforest Alliance

back in February last year, and they report that they are on target to hit their commitment for 100% sourcing by 2016.

Longer brew Following Britain’s Favourite Supermarket Foods, which aired on BBC1 on 15 February 2012, Tata Global Beverages (www.tataglobalbeverages.com), which owns the Tetley tea brand, is also now urging caterers to follow recent independent advice to brew the tea for a minimum of three minutes in order to achieve the greatest health benefits for their customers.

“We have long been aware of the health benefits of drinking tea. This new research highlights that combining a traditional black tea, with its strong dark colour, along with a longer brewing process, has even greater benefits,” explains Dorothy Sieber.

“This is crucial information for the caterer, especially those who brew the tea prior to serving to the customer, as it highlights the need to ensure that the tea bag is given the chance to release all the goodness into the mug. For some, this may mean reevaluating the way that they serve tea, and investigating in-cup, or in-pot, options such as

LuLin Teas recommend the use of glass teapots and cups to bring theatre to the serving of tea.

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TEA drawstring and string and tag, which will hand the brewing responsibility to the customer.”

In the television programme, Dr Tim Bond, a tea expert with over 14 years of research into the hot drink market, highlighted that by brewing a tea bag for a longer period, it resulted in an increase of flavonoids (a natural antioxidant found in fruit and vegetables).

Flavonoids work against free radicals, which are basically molecules in your body that are produced during normal cellular processes, and it is the flavonoids in tea which help to delay, or prevent, the damage caused by these free radicals to the cells and tissues, feel many tea experts. Many other studies conducted around the world have also come to a similar conclusion that it is the flavonoids in tea which can help maintain a healthy heart alongside a healthy balanced diet and active lifestyle.

“Many caterers complete the brewing stage when serving tea in different ways.

Some brew in a large quantity and serve the tea from the pot, some brew individual cups and remove the tea bag before handing to the consumer, whilst others leave the tea bag in the cup when serving. By using a product such as Tetley’s drawstring teabag, for example, it allows for the tea bag to be left in the cup once handed to the consumer, thus increasing the amount of time spent brewing.

This gains additional health benefits and allows for the personal preference of the customer when it comes to taste,” adds Dorothy Sieber.

If you stock up on Tetley tea during April, the company have announced that they will reward caterers with a George Foreman grill of your choice. Purchase a minimum of three cases of Tetley 2x1100’s, two cases of Tetley On the Go, or seven cases of Tetley Envelope 250’s and receive a 2/3 portion George Foreman Compact Grill free. If your purchase increases to six cases of Tetley 2x1100’s, four cases of Tetley On the Go, or fifteen cases of Tetley Envelope 250’s then you can claim a 4/5 portion Family Grill. Finally, for those buying in quantities of ten cases of Tetley 2x1100’s, eight cases of Tetley On the Go, or thirty cases of Tetley Envelope 250’s, there is the possibility of claiming a 6/10 portion

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CAFÉ CULTURE

entertaining grill worth £99.99.

All purchases during 1st to 30th April 2012 are eligible for this promotion, and you do not need to purchase all cases in one purchase, say Tetley (contact your local wholesaler for details or simply visit www.tetleyforcaterers.co.uk and return your application form to the freepost address provided, along with proof of purchase, by 31st May 2012).

New teas Teapigs are promoting their Chocolate Flake tea as being the perfect alternative to chocolate eggs this Easter. With only three calories per cup, it's guilt-free, delicious, a bit different and great for slimmers, suggest the company.

A malty blend of Assam tea, it features cocoa beans and flakes of real dark chocolate. "When we think about how many times we've dunked chocolate biscuits into cups of tea it's surprising no-one else has ever thought of this before!” says a teapigs tea taster. teapigs organic matcha is also helping to set the trend for healthy tea drinking in 2012.

100% natural, organic green tea leaves, ground to a very fine powder, matcha is extremely high in antioxidants, raises energy levels and can help boost metabolism, say the company. It is also super versatile and can be drunk as a hot tea or added to cocktails, mocktails and smoothies (www.teapigs.co.uk).

The brand Eilles Tea can claim a tea tradition of more than 130 years. Founded in 1873 by Mr. Joseph Eilles in Bavaria, the brand has come to represent high quality and innovation. Their focus was, and still is, the hospitality industry, including the coffee shop sector.

The Eilles Tea to Go range, for example, offers eight of the most popular flavours, ideal for use by coffee shops, bakeries and delis. The handling is very easy, say the company, since the tea bag is integrated in the lid which fits onto a double wall paper cup. After sufficient steeping time, the tea bag is easily pulled out of the water and stowed underneath the lid. Thus, the tea remains at an ideal taste.

Eilles also provide a large selection of accessories for presentation and serving the tea. There are fine bone China porcelain cups and pots, as well as saucers and vases for the used tea, trend glasses and mugs. To present the different flavours there are various acrylic and wooden displays, as well as metal tins for stowage in British racing green or silver colour. For hot water supply you can choose your right size decorative “Samovar” for either five, eight or 15 litres.

Tea menu cards make a perfect tool to gain the attention and present your tea assortment to your customers, and special

A matcha tea cocktail.

sugar or famous accompaniments such as Walkers shortbread biscuits can help to give the finishing touch for a successful tea experience.

Tea serving “When it comes to how you serve your tea, we would say that there is no outlet in the UK that serves the ‘perfect cup of tea’, and likewise there is no ‘perfect cup of tea drinker’,” says Tetley’s Dorothy Sieber. “We all like our tea differently. There are givens, such as you should always use boiling water and fresh milk, in clean, un-chipped crockery and you should use a decent quality tea bag.

After that, the only way to serve the perfect cup of tea to your customer is to let them decide how much milk, how long it is brewed etc.”

Careful brewing means careful customer service which involves the final decision being made by the customer – it is the only way to get tea service right, feel Tetley. For black tea, this means ensuring that you use boiling water (no cooler than 97oC). Also, make sure that the water is fresh - if it has previously boiled then it will have lost a lot of its oxygen and will make an inferior cuppa.

Secondly, ensure that there is just the teabag and the water in the cup at this stage. Putting milk in first will automatically lower the temperature of the water and also clog up the teabag, meaning that less flavour can flow through.

“Now ask your customer how they like their tea – in the same way that if they ordered a steak, a waitress should ask how they like it cooked, a caterer should enquire as to how their customer likes their tea,” suggests Dorothy Sieber. “Once you have determined this, then pass to the customer for them to add their own milk. This is crucial as too much or little milk can ruin an otherwise good cup of tea. Tetley also recommend semi-skimmed milk as it less fatty and reacts better to the tea.

“The other factor is to have knowledge of the tea you serve. If you have Green tea or Redbush on offer, then the caterer should advise the customer as to how it is normally served, for example without milk. Knowing

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TEA the product will help give the customer confidence in your expertise and your outlet.”

LuLin Teas (www.lulin-teas.com), Chinese tea specialists, source their leaves from local Chinese farmers, because they are handpicked and chemical free, selected for their ethical, quality and environmental standards, and are very keen to make sure outlets are trained and coached when it comes to tea service. Free of charge to their customers, they supply a wealth of knowledge, guidance and training, to cover subjects from developing a balanced tea menu to what pots to use, helping to train staff to cope with today’s increasingly sophisticated customer who will often expect them to know all about the teas being served in some detail.

Everything from the different types of water and ideal temperatures to use, to which are the best tea pots, brewing time, accessories and how to ensure maximum flavour is achieved, affect the final taste and Lulin suggest the following ‘top tips’.

1. Filtered tap or spring water is recommended as it is least likely to affect the flavour of the tea. Mineral water, distilled water and water that is too soft or hard can change the taste.

2. There should be some oxygen present in the water. To prevent the water from

3.

4.

5.

6.

completely losing its oxygen content the water shouldn’t be boiled for too long and it shouldn’t be boiled more than once.

Different loose teas have certain recommended water temperatures, for example, water for delicate Green and White teas such as Silver Needle can be heated to between 65oC and 75oC. Heartier Green and White teas including Long Jing or Gunpowder should have a water temperature of 70oC and 80oC Black tea, Darjeeling and Oolong can be brewed at a higher temperature of between 90oC and 95oC and Puerh can be brewed at over 95oC. Tea pots should be warmed and water discarded before adding the tea. Leaves should always be added to a warmed tea pot before adding water and not the other way round (the only exception to this is Bi Lou Chun where water is added first).

Clay tea pots are most commonly used for Black, Oolong and Puerh. The pots will absorb a little bit of the flavour each time they are used.

It is best that only one type of tea is used for each clay pot. They should also be washed with hot only water and the last brew in the pot - which is often weak - as chemicals from soap can be absorbed into the pot.

7. Glass tea pots are ideal for brewing different types of tea. They also add theatre to the tea as the colour changes, which will help users judge when it is ready.

8. For brewing time, the quantity of the tea used, temperature of water, type of tea and personal taste are all contributing factors.

9. When storing the tea leaves it is recommended that they shouldn’t be exposed to air, water or sunlight, the exception being Puerh because it has live and active bacteria and mould culture present, and so should be stored in a cool, dark area with good air flow, and kept away from other aromas.

10. Tea leaves should be stored in a caddy to help preserve the quality and flavour of the tea.

Accessories can also be used to aid successful tea preparation. These include scoops (which avoid having to touch the tea leaves as oil on the hands can affect the flavour), tongs (for picking up the tea cups, and part of the Chinese tradition of tea making), scrapers (to help move the tea leaves around the pot and for getting the leaves out of the pot once the tea has been finished) and filters (which can be used in place of a tea egg to stop tea leaves from getting into the cup).

ECOSMART The Intelligent Boiler

Marco Beverage Systems Ltd Shire House, Strixton Manor Strixton, Wellingborough, Northants, NN29 7PA. Telephone: 01933 666 488 Fax: 01933 666 968 email: sales@marco-bev.co.uk www.marco-bev.co.uk

www.cafeculturemagazine.co.uk

APRIL 2012 CAFÉ CULTURE 23

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TEA Top-Tea liquor and residue.

Tea story The Anglo-Himalayan Trading Company Limited is a producer and importer of exclusive organic and ethically sourced fine teas from Nepal for the UK market, and the first teas being sold here are under the Top-Tea brand.

The history of tea production in the Himalayan nation of Nepal began in 1863 when the then Prime Minister, Jung Bahadur Rana, visited the UK at the invitation of Queen Victoria. He subsequently spent two years in Europe, mostly in London, and eventually returned to Nepal via a state visit to China. The Chinese Emperor, Hsuan Tsung, gave him gifts of tea seeds and plants, which were planted in Ilam under the supervision of Colonel GajaRaj Singh Thapa.

The first tea estate was established in 1863.

“Our products are grown and produced in Ilam, Eastern Nepal bordering Darjeeling. Only premium quality tea buds and leaves are used from carefully nurtured young tea trees,” says Top-Tea’s Simon Moss.

“Nestled in the lap of the mighty Himalayan range of mountains, our tea, literally from the ‘top of the world’ is grown in mineral rich soil free of pesticides up to 3,000 metres above sea level in unpolluted mountain air. The high altitude slows leaf maturation, which encourages exquisite flavours, interesting nuances and leaves a lasting impression. Leading tea masters have proclaimed Nepalese tea to be the ‘champagne of teas’ – not only top of the world but also top of the class – Top-Tea indeed.”

Top-Tea say that their mission is to make the exquisite, delicate quality Nepalese teas widely available in the UK, and from a percentage of the profits work alongside their partners and the individual farmers on projects such as irrigation, continuance of organic farming, and further improving living standards within

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their community. From these humble beginnings, they envisage the development of economic regeneration, employment opportunities, environmental sustainability, self-reliance, education and training for the farmers and their children.

“In sharp contrast to the other tea growing nations, Nepal’s tea is grown mainly on small, family owned farms whose average size is 2,500sqm,” explains Simon Moss.

“The independent farmer has the option where to sell their produce and to which tea factory or they can process the tea themselves through farmers and professionally run co-operatives.

Through these, thousands of farmers have been helped to create the foundation for economical and socially sustainable small tea gardens. To improve production they have introduced environmental friendly organic and traditional farming methods. With a Code of Conduct covering items from respecting nature and people to good operating processes, they have ensured quality and integrity of product, leading to high levels of customer satisfaction.”

Nepal is truly a country of contrasts and extremes - Everest and jungle, monsoons and drought – where microclimates support a kaleidoscope of plant and animal life. As in much of the developing world, water is of constant concern.

The picking of the first flush of tea leaves in Nepal.

“Our farmers suffer from the lack of rain during the dry seasons. Irrigation is limited and even drinking water is a precious resource,” adds Simon Moss.

“For up to four months of the year water becomes scarce. In support of our farmers and their families we have committed through Rain Harvest Project to help build water collection tanks from the sales of Top Tea. Each water tank costs around £7000, so with every cup of tea made, Top-Tea buyers and drinkers will be helping those families that harvested the leaves that made the beverage.”

Six seasons Being a uniquely special country, Nepal has six distinct seasons Basant (spring), Grishma (early summer), Barkha (summer monsoon), Sharad (early autumn), Hemanta (late autumn) and Shishir (winter). Tea also follows a growing pattern with four distant harvests - First Flush (March to May), Second Flush (June to August), Monsoon (September) and Autumn Flush (October to November).

Tea produced over the seasons varies from the light delicate gold colour of the first flush through to the musky, tangy amber liquor of autumn and Anglo-Himalayan Trading Co says that it will be producing three teas, providing tea that is grown either certified organic or

ethically sustainable in those ranges.

The most popular method of producing tea in Nepal is called CTC or Crush, Tear and Curl. This describes how the healthy, strong and lustrous leaves, once picked, are processed. Carefully fermented and oxidised to preserve flavour, the tea produces a rich, reddish-brown infusion once boiled water is added. Whilst it can be drunk ‘black’ this tea is ideal with milk and sugar, advise Top-Tea. Known also as Orthodox, TopTea’s Traditional Black Tea is fully fermented in a process that involves gently rolling the leaves so they break up. It is during this procedure that natural oxidation takes place turning the green leaves black. This tea is of darkgolden liquor, aromatic and with a deeply delicate taste.

Rich in antioxidants and recognised for its health benefits, our Top Tea’s Green Tea is prepared using the Sencha method. Japanese in origin, this tea of ‘one leaf and bud’ is not fermented but steamed and rolled to maintain the flavour.

Their Green Tea gives the drinker a deep mellow herbal flavour with golden, green liquor.

Designed to cater for the discerning tea drinkers in the both the UK and Europe, with user-friendly high quality and attractive packaging solutions, Top-Tea’s range is available in quantities of 50 tea bags for household consumers, and 550 and 1100 tea bags for the trade.

They also supply loose teas in 200g pouches and are supplying teas through both trade and customer direct via established and acclaimed distributors and wholesalers (for more information call 01225 4235800/07852 108908, or email simon@polymoss.co.uk).

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TEA

Tea experience A former Royal Mail human resources manager, Ann Davis from Doncaster, is the founder of the Tea Experience (www.teaexperience.co.uk), specialists in high quality loose teas, tea ware and gifts, having successfully turned a hobby into a full time business.

Tea guru Ann Davis set up the Tea Experience, originally selling traditional China teapots, after being inspired by a gift from her husband, Paul. The business is expanding and now offers a complete tea drinking experience from imported loose tea to tea ware and gifts.

Recovering from cancer a few years ago, Ann Davis had also been looking for a new direction which would give her the quality of work and lifestyle balance she wanted and so with support from Paul, she established the Tea Experience.

What’s surprising about this new venture is that Ann Davis has transformed herself from being a non-tea drinker to a tea guru, having trained with international tea masters in London.

Importing loose tea from the Far East, Germany and the UK from specialist tea importers and wholesalers, the company ensures consistency of taste and quality for its customers. The husband and wife team have also been lucky enough to travel and work in the Far East, mainly in China, over a number a years. Each trip has provided the opportunity to try a variety of teas which often made them question the quality of what they were drinking at home.

However, the actual turning point was the gift of a Yixing 'purple sand' China teapot. After learning more about them and frequently being asked by friends where they could buy one, the enterprising couple decided to sell these teapots themselves, and it was only natural that a small range of teas was soon added.

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Growth This growing business says that it is always looking for innovative new products to bring to the UK market and its latest launch, an artisan tea, is causing a stir.

The Flowering Tea Bloom - a blossoming beverage handmade to order for the company by an award-winning producer in China - offers top quality blooms ensuring customers get the benefit of both great tasting tea and a stunning floral display too.

The blooms are skilfully made with silver needle green tea, a tea variant with leaves that are long and slender rather than the usual Camilla Sinesis leaves.

This tea also has a very fine coating of silver hairs which give the tea blooms a distinctive greyish appearance before it is infused. The tea leaves are sorted by size and then made into miniature hand sewn bouquets with the dried flowers at the centre. The artisan skill can take up to 10 minutes to make one bloom.

The tea is light and delicate with a whispered hint of the flowers. The Chinese believe that the flowers may also have health benefits, in the same way we drink flower teas in the UK, so combining this with known benefits of green tea this is a refreshing and healthy drink.

“After appreciating the quality of some loose teas versus teabags on our travels, it has become our passion and goal to encourage others to try loose tea,” says Ann Davis on her growing tea business.

“We want our customers to enjoy a whole tea experience from trying the very best quality loose teas in the most beautiful traditional teapots. We are still very small, but I can’t believe that my hobby of selling teapots is now growing into a viable web site business. It’s a very exciting time for us and we are currently investing in new branding and marketing to help build the business further.”

Increasing popularity The Tea Experience report that they are seeing a trend and steady growth in the number of tea drinkers and it is increasing in popularity amongst younger consumers.

Part of this upsurge can be put down to the number of cafés and restaurants now offering a better selection of teas that are more appealing to the younger consumer, who are always willing to try something new and different, feel the company, who note that even some wellknown department stores have a small selection of loose teas now on offer and one of the bigger coffee chains has also

“Tea has also many health benefits, it re-hydrates and there is research supporting it is helpful in the prevention of many diseases as well as containing valuable minerals such as fluoride to help maintain bones and teeth.”

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TEA begun to offer a wider variety of teas, although at this stage in teabag form.

"The rise in popularity is in some part attributed to marketing. Some of the bigger brands are being more adventurous with their tea selections, albeit again in tea bag form, but aligned with their marketing they are encouraging more people to try different teas, which will have a knock on effect on loose teas too,” says Ann Davis.

“At the Tea Experience we are passionate about the supreme quality of loose tea versus the tea bag and would encourage more cafés/restaurants to offer a loose tea selection/experience as consumers become more sophisticated in their tastes. Farmers markets also play their role with more opportunity for consumers to sample and get face to face information about making/quality of teas.

“There are a few specialist tea suppliers (like wine merchants) who know their product and will tend to sell quality at a reasonable price with back up knowledge and support. Staff training is improving so that staff can both make the tea properly and guide clients on the different varieties on offer. Tea is a relatively inexpensive beverage that can be drunk anytime, anywhere with anyone.

The difficult economic climate is also shifting consumer buying habits, so that tea and a slice of cake are preferable to coffee, which may in some way be a factor for the popularity of trying different teas. Tea is very social and is a cheap way to meet up with friends, as consumers have less disposable income to go out for a meal, so tea and cake are seen as a mini treat. Tea has also many health benefits, it re-hydrates and there is research supporting it is helpful in the prevention of many diseases as well as containing valuable minerals such as fluoride to help maintain bones and teeth.”

Tea tactics And how can cafés exploit tea? By targeting younger markets, feel the Tea Experience.

“They tend to have an increasing appetite to explore new things. It also gets them into the habit of making tea and hopefully with a quality product. Tea making master classes/afternoon tea events could also be a way of encouraging consumers to try new teas and attract more footfall,” suggests Ann Davis.

“With more and more consumers looking for a healthy/wellness option, cafés/restaurants should look to promote teas on health aspects and areas such as tea helping to revive you. It’s good for

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“After appreciating the quality of some loose teas versus teabags on our travels, it has become our passion and goal to encourage others to try loose tea,” social occasions – a tea party could be a different start to a hen party and is also something a family can enjoy together.”

In addition, the company feels that we need to see more café staff who know the products and are both enthusiastic and passionate about them (contrast the difference between buying something in a deli where you get personal service and helpful hints, to buying in a supermarket where you have to just rely on the packaging and where the supplier has paid to have the product on the shelf ).

Cafés and restaurants are tuning into the fact that people want more choice and the discerning ones are gradually offering a range of teas and a proper tea menu to help customers choose. Some outlets are also even offering a small selection of loose tea leaf teas which they also sell to customers so that they can take their 'tea experience' home with them.

“We encourage outlets we supply for catering to consider a retail take home version. It gives cafés additional sales and can help foster customer loyalty and they'll go back their for fresh supplies,” adds Ann Davis.

“Fresh, loose tea enables customers to try what appears (can be) more expensive before buying them. The café experience is a sampling session and then they feel they have confidence to buy for home.”

Thus, cafés should train staff properly, feels Ann Davis, in the art of making tea, neither an arduous or complicated process, as well as encouraging a reasonable knowledge about the teas/products they offer customers.

“We find our most successful outlets are those where the staff are involved in the tea buying process, by holding tasting sessions amongst the staff, they choose what they think will work in the outlet,” explains Ann Davis. “This ownership of the product engenders the enthusiasm needed to promote the products and increase sales. It also gives the staff the opportunity to link up what they feel works best with other items on the menu.

Food/drink matching is also a rising trend and this would certainly help staff to marry the right cake to the right tea, for example.”

Given the rising popularity of the traditional afternoon tea, this can only be a good showcase for a café to promote not only great quality tea, food and service, and is an opportunity to create a

"tea experience" which is memorable and which leads to customers enthusiasm and recommendation for the venue, feels Ann Davis. Having a beautiful set table, good china and a decent, well pouring teapot (essential for loose tea or tea bags), good quality tea and a reasonable tea menu to accommodate different tastes, attention and knowledgeable service and, if possible, the provision of a retail opportunity, coupled with competitive and realistic pricing, can build into a real tea experience for café goers.

“Cafés that are serious about selling tea do use good pouring teapots, provide additional hot water jugs and matching china cups. There is a time and place for the builder’s mug and builder’s tea and by and large these are well catered for!” says Ann Davis.

“There is a trend in more upmarket teabags, better quality but at a premium price - a good bet for cafés that perhaps want to start to move from ordinary, everyday teabags. This is a good way to test the water and which also gently moves the customer into trying other varieties and blends.”

There is also an increasing demand for green and white teas, note the Tea Experience, plus blended teas which people sometimes perceive as a healthier option (these include blended green and white teas with fruit or flowers, as well as more traditional infusions with fruit, flowers or herbs). Rooibos tea is slowly making its way into the market, although not with the same impact as yet (being caffeine and tannin free, it is a good alternative to those who like a strong beverage and who cannot tolerate caffeine and tannins).

“Overall for cafés, my advice is don't just think of a cup of tea, think each and every customer visit as their individual ‘tea experience’. Think each step through and execute it each time and you'll foster loyal customers and knowledgeable staff.

Perhaps a question to start asking when you recruit is ‘what's your favourite tea?’ and get the thinking right from the start that you are a serious provider of excellent teas,” concludes Ann Davis.

The Tea Experience top quality loose tea range includes Black, Green, Red and White teas to Wellness teas, as well as Rooibos, Oolong, Chai, Pu-erh and the fascinating flowering teas. Teaware ranges from mugs, pots and tea bowls to Chinese and traditional tea sets.

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UK BARISTA CHAMPIONSHIP

UK Barista Championship 2012 New UKBC prize category A key focus for this year’s SCAE has been to encourage new entrants from around the country and as a result it has introduced a new UKBC prize category for 2012 – Best Newcomer to the UKBC competition, and the current leader is Dan Fellows.

Union Hand-Roasted Coffee has introduced an Origin Trip prize for the winner, and meaning that a working barista who has scored the highest points after the regional heats could see them self heading off to a producing country such as Rwanda, Brazil, Guatemala, Costa Rica or El Salvador. They will meet farmers who supply Union and see first hand a working coffee farm and perhaps even help with a coffee harvest.

“We are hoping to bring a new dynamic to the UKBC by providing our Origin Trip prize,” said Alan Miller from Union Hand-Roast Coffee. “In our day job we support, advise and train many in the coffee industry. With the current upward trend in new businesses to the industry we believe it is important to support new talent, encourage skills development, as well as bring our expertise in our ‘Direct Trade’ sourcing model to a wider audience.”

Marks & Spencer’s Café returned to the competition with first-time entrant Luke Evans, and Alex Passmore who previously entered the South West Heat in 2011.

The company has been running internal coffee competitions for the past six years and says that it is committed to developing and improving its coffee making to get a superior taste. It has coffee champions in each store and in house trainers who continue to monitor standards set by Matthew Algie (suppliers of coffee for the in-house competitions).

South east heat Sang Ho Park from Tapped and Packed in the West End of London, was crowned South East Barista Champion on Sunday 29th January 2012, in the search for the UK’s top barista. Held at The London Newcastle Project Space in East London and organised

by Dunne Frankowski, the first of the six heats set the benchmark for the 2012 UK Barista Championship, with baristas from the region competing against each other to make the finest coffees. Sang Ho took his turn in the first day of the heats, and as well as being awarded overall regional winner, he also collected the prizes for Best Espresso, Best Cappuccino and Best Signature Drink.

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Second place in the heat was given to Matthew Robley-Siemonsma, also from Tapped and Packed, followed by Rummy Keshet, a barista trainer for Darlington’s, the Vauxhall based speciality coffee supplier. All three contestants were required to make four espressos, four cappuccinos and four espresso-based non-alcoholic signature drinks. These drinks were marked by two technical and four sensory judges who assessed the knowledge of the entrants as well as their attention to detail and creativity of their signature drink.

Winner, Sang Ho commented: “This was my second time entering the UK Barista Championship and I have learned a lot since last year, making some good friends along the way. The competition was tough and I was surprised at winning all three drinks categories as well as the overall South East heat. I would like to thank all who have helped me in the build- up to the competition. The UKBC is a great opportunity for baristas to showcase and develop their skills.”

Northern heat In a closely fought contest, judges at the northern heat of the 2012 UK Barista Championship (UKBC), held at Newcastle’s Centre For Life and hosted by Pumphrey’s Coffee, announced Gordon Howell of The Attic (at Harlequin Coffee and Tea House) York as the Northern Barista Champion on Friday, 17 February 2012.

Gordon was followed closely by Stuart Archer of Pumphrey’s Coffee House in Blaydon who finished second and Steven Dyson of Spring Espresso in third place. Both runners up still have a chance of making it to the London semi-finals in April should they be among the top 20 scoring baristas from across the country.

The baristas had 15 minutes to impress a team of judges by serving up espressos, cappuccinos and their own signature espresso. The winner of the Best Espresso went to Gordon, but unlike previous competitors he was not able to sweep the board as Jo Meagher beat him to win the Best Cappuccino award and Best Signature Drink went to Tom Booth.

Gordon used Has Bean’s “Jailbreak” coffee for all three drink categories.

Commenting on his signature drink Gordon said: “I deconstructed the blend to highlight each coffee’s characteristics by preparing the coffees individually as a pourover or

Howard Barwick competing in the Midlands heat.

Picture credit: Image courtesy of Liz Bishop Photography.

Judging in progress at the South West heat Picture credit: Image provided by Maria Dragan.

aeropress. I wanted to give the judges a totally sensory experience with aromas and taste coming together right at the end by folding the ingredients into the espresso.”

Second placed Stuart Lee Archer was enthused by the day’s events, adding: “What a great day! Fantastic coffee, people everywhere you looked. Once again I’ve made friends, become better at what I do and had a brilliant time doing it. I can’t wait for the next one…hopefully the semi finals.

Fingers crossed!”

South West heat Dale Harris from Has Bean Coffee, was crowned South West Barista Champion on Thursday 9 February 2012. Held at The West Country Catering Exhibition organised by Expowest, the second of the six regional heats raised the benchmark for the 2012 UK Barista Championship even further, with baristas from the region competing against each other to make the finest coffees. Dale took his turn in the first day of the heats, and as well as being awarded overall regional winner, also collected the prizes for Best Espresso, Best Cappuccino and Best Signature Drink.

Dale, who travels across the country training baristas in how to get the best out of their coffee, was followed closely by Maxwell Colonna-Dashwood of Colonna and Smalls in Bath, and Dave Jones of Origin Coffee Roasters in south Cornwall. All three contestants were required to make four espressos, four cappuccinos and four

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UK BARISTA CHAMPIONSHIP espresso-based non-alcoholic signature drinks. These drinks were marked by two technical and four sensory judges who assessed the knowledge of the entrants as well as their attention to detail and creativity of their signature drink.

Winner, Dale Harris commented: “I was delighted to win the South West heat where I was competing against some of the best baristas in the country. I kept the same theme running throughout my presentation, using two types of single varietal coffee from Finca Santuario in Cauca, Colombia. I wanted to inspire the judges with my signature drink which, when tasted with ice, brought a delicate tomato acidity to the fore. I train baristas from all over the UK, and I believe the UKBC is a great opportunity for baristas to showcase and develop their skills further.”

Midlands heat Howard Barwick of Opposite Café in Leeds has been announced as the winner of this year’s Midlands heat which took place on 3 March and was held in conjunction with the first ever Norwich Coffee Festival.

Local barista, Alex Sargant from Norwich’s Strangers Coffee House finished second and newcomer, Luke Evans from Marks & Spencer came third. Both runners up still have a chance of making it to the London semi-finals in April should they be among the top 20

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scoring baristas from across the country.

Howard also won the Best Espresso, Best Cappuccino and Best Signature drink awards using Peru Tunki San Jorge coffee roasted by Bury St Edmunds’ based Butterworth and Son during his performance.

Commenting on his win, Howard Barwick said: “I thoroughly enjoyed this year’s heat at the Norwich Coffee Festival, and am very excited to be going forward to the semi-finals of the UIK Barista Championships in April. I was also thrilled to win the awards for all three drinks categories. For my signature drink I wanted to get across the idea that iced espresso is often disappointing – but that it needn’t be. I did this by using a balanced coffee (the Peru Tunki San Jorge) and adding a reduction of sultanas, cranberries and cascara (heated in a syphon) to a glass, before extracting the espresso, and finally adding lemon, lime juice and soda water.”

Four of the Midlands heat entrants have made it into the Top 20 barista leader board including Don Altizo and the heat winner and runners up.

Deadline extended The SCAE UK responded to calls from baristas and the wider community in Northern Ireland to reinstate the heat in this region for 2012, but did not receive any entrants so extended the deadline and

lowered the entry fee. The SCAE UK says that it is keen to spread the word to any barista in the region to enter and together with its hosts, Johnsons Coffee, committed to ensuring the event takes place so that the region can be represented at the semi-finals and finals.

“Having committed to reinstating the heat in Northern Ireland, we were disappointed that there had been no entrants so we extended the entry deadline and hoped that the reduction in the entry fee from £50 to £25 and the prospect of winning the Best Newcomer would encourage baristas in Northern Ireland to enter the competition,” said Kenneth Cooper, SCAE UK co-ordinator, who has now confirmed that the Northern Ireland heat will take place on 20 March.

The Scottish heat, hosted by Matthew Algie, will take place on 16 March at Glasgow Caledonian University.

Final The top scoring baristas will go through to the finals to be held at the London Coffee Festival between 27 and 29 April 2012, when one of them will be crowned UK Barista Champion 2012 and go on to compete in the World Barista Championship in Vienna, Austria, 12-15 June 2012 (for more information on the UK Barista Championship 2012, visit www.scaeuk.com).

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Cake mix In catering for the treating trend, as well as the resurgence in afternoon tea, cafés and coffee shops have good opportunities to capitalise on their cake sales.

Almondy’s latest addition - Toblerone cake.

Treat trend Caterers can maximise the Easter sales season through confectionery-inspired desserts to cater for the ‘treating’ phenomenon that emerges during the Easter period, according to Almondy. The popular Swedish bakers are encouraging caterers to put their faith in well known chocolate brands around the Easter period, a time when customers become more indulgent.

“Easter is the first major holiday period of the year and a golden

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opportunity for caterers to harness the appeal of well loved chocolate brands on their menus and boost consumer spend,” says Andrew Ely, managing director of Almondy.

“Apart from Christmas it’s the time when customers are open to indulgence and are likely to spend more when they eat out – creating a ‘treating’ mentality.

With Easter just around the corner, we’re urging caterers to grasp the opportunity by promoting more confectionery-inspired desserts on their menu.”

In preparation for Easter, Almondy is supporting caterers with the ultimate in chocolate indulgence – their newly launched Almondy Tårta with Toblerone.

The cake style dessert combines an almond base with rich chocolate cream and smooth, milk chocolate mousse generously sprinkled with Toblerone pieces and smothered in milk chocolate.

After thirty years of baking expertise, Almondy now has three almond biscuitbased tårtas to choose from, including the best-selling Almondy Tårta with Daim (a

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CAKES New and exclusive to Squires Kitchen (www.squires-shop.com), colourful Maypoles - a tasty and effective way to decorate cakes, desserts, ice creams and much more - are set to be in demand for cake-makers this year (simply cover the cake with chocolate ganache and line up the Maypoles around the sides, or rest a couple on top of a cupcake or dessert to add a colourful and professionallooking decorative touch).

Daim Bar variant with a classic creamy almond tårta, topped with crunchy almond caramel), as well as a peanut and caramel variety. All are pre-cut into 12 servings to ensure portion control with a slice defrosting in just ten minutes.

“Almondy Tårtas have been developed to deliver great taste for the customer along with the added benefits of being gluten-free, plus total convenience and practicality for the caterer. Brand power is a crucial trend for 2012 with customers increasingly seeking quality and value when dining out, according to market trend research carried out by Peach Factory,” adds Andrew Ely. “We feel that the brand reassurance of our Almondy Toblerone and Almondy Daim, coupled with the fitting seasonality of the Tårta, will help boost consumer spend this Easter.”

Erlenbacher, a European supplier of frozen bakery products in Europe, report that they have now introduced their iconic desserts with reduced sugar. The new range has 30% less sugar than the current

standard range, making it suitable for diabetics. However, the eight new cakes are still ideal for those consumers who may not have such a sweet tooth, or those wanting some guilt-free indulgence, claim the company.

The confectioners only use natural ingredients so no sweeteners or preservatives have been included in their recipes. The new range is also conveniently pre-cut with the round cakes and cream slices coming in 12 portions and the cake slices in 24 portions.

Garnished with dark chocolate rings and chopped walnuts,

Already well known for its retail range of cakes and mixes being sold at Tesco and Sainsbury’s, Mrs Crimble’s is now offering caterers a range of cake products - Giant Choc Macaroon, Jam Coconut Ring, Bakewell Slice (pictured) and Double Choc Brownie (for stockists, call 08451 300 869, or visit www.mrscrimble’s.com).

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Erlenbacher brownies have become a great treat for coffee shop customers, while two popular classics have also been adapted.

The Blueberry & Peach Cream Duo and the Strawberry Cream are now filled with a light cream cheese filling between two fluffy sponges, and chopped strawberries are generously sprinkled over the new lighter strawberry slice, say the company.

Erlenbacher’s Apple & Almond Slices feature a light muffin base topped with dried almond and pink apple pieces, and the Cheese & Crumble Slice has also had its sugar content reduced, but still remains a sweet treat.

In addition, three new 28-cm round cakes have entered the latest reduced sugar range (the Cherry & Butter Crumble Cake, the Cheese & Tangerine Cake and the Multi-Fruit Cake, topped with a mixture of plums, cherries, apple slices and chopped peach coated in cake glaze).

For more information, visit www.erlenbacher.co.uk or call 020 7420 3574.

New or improved Three years ago the Handmade Cake Company launched their Cakes-to-Go range, which has subsequently blossomed to become a significant slice of what they bake today. Now, the extended range (launched this January), is not only a little slimmer and more elegant than before, say the company, but will also be supported by new packaging that clearly showcases the depth of the range whilst providing a little extra wow factor.

Although the new streamlined cakes are undoubtedly easier to hold, the new single portion portfolio will continue to be made in the same traditional way as all the “coffee shop” cakes for which the company has become best known.

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CAKES The new eight-strong family includes, for the first time, a Granola Slice made to exactly the same recipe as the company’s award-winning tray bake and an aptly named Caramel Heaven Slice - a treatstyle jumble of oaty flapjack, caramel, cranberries, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds and plain chocolate chunks.

This is also the first Handmade Cake Company range to display a distinctive ‘handbaked in Berkshire’ icon to remind consumers of all ages and flavour persuasions of the cake baker’s strong royal county roots where it first began baking small batches of delicious cakes some 29 years ago. Recommended retail prices range from £1.40 to £1.75 (www.handmadecake.co.uk).

Their new, improved Cakes-To-Go Range also includes an All Butter Flapjack, Caramel Shortcake, Boston Brownie, Chocolate Fruit & Nut Tiffin, Granola Slice, Cranberry & Sultana Flapjack and Raspberry & Coconut Slice.

Over the last nine years the Handmade Cake Company has received 21 Great Taste Awards and has also become an enterprising exporting success story that now sells its cakes in 11 countries outside of the UK. The skilled cake-makers say that they also remain committed to

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Caramel Heaven has joined the Handmake Cake Company’s Cakesto-Go range.

making only small batches of sumptuous cakes using trusted household recipes and everyday ingredients you’d find in your own fridge or larder, and as was the case 29 years ago, they still stubbornly refuse to dabble with any artificial preservatives, flavourings or colours.

CSM (United Kingdom) Ltd – a supplier of bakery ingredients, frozen and ambient

bakery products – reports that it is always looking for ways to improve their products to provide bakers with the best bakery products on the market, and as part of this continued effort its best selling Craigmillar Carrot Cake Mix is now

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CAKES

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COMMENT

James O'Dwyer, managing director of Just Desserts, a Shipley-based award-winning bakers and pâtissiers to the foodservice and hospitality markets What do you think are the latest trends?

There has been a noticeable shift in our customers buying habits, who now select the more traditional, ‘old fashioned’ handmade sponge cakes, as opposed to the fancy/modern 'Americanised' cakes.

Products such as Victoria Sponge Cake, Coffee and Walnut Cake, Lemon Cake and Carrot Cake are proving to be very popular lines. We are certainly seeing a nostalgia trend as old favourites come back into vogue.

Trends such as local, authenticity and provenance are still very important to consumers who want to know how products are made and where the ingredients come from. We are championing the use of local ingredients and working hard to find more Yorkshire suppliers for our handmade cakes.

Another trend coming to the fore is uplifting food and drink that improve our moods and cakes certainly fit the bill.

The popularity of TV programmes such as Great British Bake Off has really helped to raise the profile of cake and has reminded consumers of what they were missing! I would recommend cafés also consider a ‘take home’ version of the cakes they offer, as an at home treat.

Why do you think more people are treating themselves?

Consumers are looking for small ways in which to treat themselves as the current economic downturn, less disposable cash

for meals out and general malaise spreads across the UK. As consumers can't justify the regular meal out, a coffee and slice of cake is a cheaper alternative and seen as a mini treat.

How would you recommend cafes boost cake sales?

Presentation, promotion and keeping displays interesting and exciting helps drives sales. It's also very important for café owners and staff to know their products and be able to talk to engage with customers to show knowledge, enthusiasm and passion.

We would also recommend that staff are well trained and are involved in the buying process, as they are more likely to wax lyrical and enthuse about the products they have been involved in selecting. It's also vital to ensure cakes are kept fresh and keep customers excited. Trying new lines so regular customers can taste something new is also key to increasing sales. With tea seeing a great revival, it might also be worth cafés looking at introducing tea/cake matching and even hosting events to encourage consumers to try different teas and cakes.

Offer coffee/cake and tea/cake promotions, and always recommend that your customers save room for some cake!

Have separate desserts boards/menus, as these often prove to increase cake sales.

new and improved.

“Within the development of this popular mix we wanted to ensure that we kept all the features and elements of the

Cake display Now simply known as Artis (www.artisuk.com), the cutlery, tableware, glassware and barware supplier recently unveiled a multitude of new product ranges at Hotelympia, including a new cake stand range to help bring diversity and choice to the growing afternoon tea market.

This latest range offers a dramatic way for outlets to serve afternoon tea offerings, or

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”

mix that customers liked and then improve wherever possible,” says David Astles, marketing manager at CSM United Kingdom Ltd.

“Customer feedback on this product has always been positive with customers expressing their favour of the good volume and handling of baked cake. In order to get the best possible appraisal of the mix and thereby be able to develop the product to its best potential, we decided to benchmark this against competitors’ products and improve the Craigmillar mix using the latest in ingredient technology available.”

Following these developments the new improved mix now offers increased moistness for a more pleasurable eating experience and a richer caramel brown colour, together with the already appreciated lightly spiced flavour. When trialled on a tasting panel of expert customers the improved mix was a huge hit, and still offers all the firm favourites from the previous mix such as good volume, excellent slice-ability and handling.

Easy to use, by simply adding water, grated carrot and oil, this versatile mix can be used on its own to make traditional carrot cake slices or with its good volume, the mix is ideal for making loaf cakes, suggest CSM. Bakers might also like to add a decorative fruit or nut topping to finished cakes or to add further variety Craigmillar Carrot Cake Mix is the perfect base to accept inclusions such as nuts and fruit.

“With retail sales of carrot cake increasing, it is clear that carrot cake is a favourite with children and adults alike.

Many bakers have found additional sales success with carrot cake muffins and even wedding cakes!” adds David Astles. “There are some great inspiring recipes available on our new product brochure so take a look, and try something unique to offer your customers.”

canapés, direct to the table, and features unusual designs in natural slate, along with stainless steel designs in both contemporary and classic designs. Sizes range from a single serving, ‘Tea for One’ design, to large, three tiered versions. Prices range from £37.50 for the three tiered Slate Round stand to £125.00 for the Ferris Wheel stainless steel food stand.

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PREVIEW

London Coffee Festival This April 27-29 will see the return of the London Coffee Festival (LCF), UK Coffee Week’s flagship event, to The Old Truman Brewery in London’s trendy East End. Artisan café The festival launched last year to great acclaim, attracting over 100 food and drink exhibitors, the likes of Seda, La Cimbali and La Marzocco as festival sponsors as well as 7,500 visitors across both the trade and consumer markets.

This year the London Coffee Festival will see over 12,000 coffee lovers and foodies, professional baristas, coffee shop owners and top decisionmakers all attending the event over the three day festival period, say the event’s organisers, Allegra Events.

Several exciting additions have been made to the festival line-up this year, including pop up coffee shop “The True Artisan Café”, in association with La Marzocco, where 18 of the best coffee shops and roasters across London will be invited to take over the café for a three hour slot to serve their chosen LCF speciality drink.

Nude Espresso, Small Batch Coffee Company, Sacred, Taylor St. Baristas and Allpress Espresso amongst many others will all be taking part. The True Artisan Café will also raise money for Project Waterfall, the charitable component of the festival which aims to deliver clean water projects in coffee producing countries.

“We had some great feedback from last year’s event and taking on board what both consumer and trade visitors want from their festival experience, we’ve created exciting new interactive features. Visitors will be able to taste, enjoy and learn about great coffee as well as find out about the latest products on the market”, says Ludovic Rossignol, head of events for Allegra Events.

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value for trade attendees and connect key trade visitors with exhibitors.

The programme will give trade visitors the opportunity to enhance, personalise and add value to their visit through a series of workshops, seminars, product tastings and other VIP experiences, which they get to choose.

Key experiences already confirmed include coffee tasting and food pairing, coffee equipment workshops (including pressure profiling), tea tasting sessions, home brewing master classes, coffee roasting workshops, a talk about the influence of atmospheric factors on coffee perception, our annual ethical debate, and many more.

On top of these exclusive demonstrations and behind the scenes opportunities VIP trade visitors will receive an exclusive goodie bag and gain access to a specially reserved UK Barista Championships viewing area.

For more information about the festival, to host an experience at your stand or find out how to be part of the VIP visitor programme contact Sara White on swhite@allegra.co.uk.

Other exciting new features for 2012 include The Sensory Sessions by La Cimbali, The Roastery on Tour by Union Hand Roasted, The Tea Garden, The Chocolate Factory

and the Street Food & Artisan Markets.

Trade day The festival will also commence with The Trade Day on Friday 27 April and this year will see the introduction of the VIP Trade Day Experience - a visit enhancement programme designed to maximise visit

Barista championships This year the festival is also set to play host to the UK Barista Championships (UKBC) 2012 finals on 27 to 28 April where 20 of the UK’s finest baristas, including Tapped and Packed’s own Sang Ho Park (winner of the London Heat and top of the leader board after four heats), will all battle it out to be crowned UK Barista Champion 2012.

“The UKBC is expected to attract leading figures from the coffee shop trade and coffee fanatics alike,” adds Ludovic Rossignol. “The London Coffee Festival is well placed to provide the ideal event space to raise the profile of the UKBC and promote the competition to a 12,000 strong audience”.

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Youri Vlag of training company and coffee supplier, Limini Coffee (www.liminicoffee.co.uk), tackles some of your questions and queries about your own barista skills, and offers some top tips to help you make high quality beverages.

TALK

Barista talk

RISTA A B

What is the difference between a compact and a normal size two group espresso machine?

Is the boiler size different?

A compact espresso machine usually has a five litre compared to a 10 litre boiler. This boiler is placed often vertically inside the machine giving the compact espresso machine a much smaller footprint. The width of a La Spaziale two group espresso machine, for example is 77cm (compared to its compact version which is only 58cm in width).

This different size boiler has some great advantages such as a small footprint and less power consumption, but it also gives you some things to think about.

Does a compact use less power?

Yes. Because a compact has a smaller boiler it often uses a lot less power. Most compact espresso machines can run off a standard 13Amp power plug.

This is because the maximum use 3000W. 3000W/240v is 12.5 Amps, so a 13Amp single phase power supply is fine. In other words, it’s just a standard power supply. Good news!

This is great for the environment which is something we should all be thinking about, but who knows, in the future we will probably be able to run an espresso machine from water power alone! I suspect we will be hearing more about that over the next five years.

Can a compact handle busy queues?

Yes, no problem at all. This might surprise you! Although, of

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course, it does depend on what you use it for.

As you now know, the main difference is the smaller boiler.

Because you have a smaller boiler you also have less storage for steam. If you use your compact machine for lots of hot water and you steam for very large cups then it might struggle. If, however, your cups are not super big, and you don't draw hot water from the machine then it will handle busy times just fine. You could make coffee just as quickly on a compact as on a normal size machine.

When it comes to making more coffees at the same time, it is the amount of groups that make the difference. A three group machine can handle more coffees than a two group at the same time, but it is not necessarily true that a normal size two group can handle more coffees at the same time then a compact two group machine.

Every time you draw hot water from your boiler your steam pressure will drop. This is because you increase the space for steam - more space with the same amount of steam means less pressure. The boiler will also fill again with cold water which will cool down your boiler water. If you take out too much hot water - let's say two big pots of tea - then the steam pressure can drop below 0.5 bar and your boiler will fill with a large amount of cold water. This is not really a problem if you give the machine time to come back to

‘Normal’ (left) and compact (right) versions of La Spaziale (top) and La Cimbali (bottom) espresso machines. temperature. If, however, you do not give the machine time to recover then your coffee will not be as good as it will have been made with too low a temperature, and you might well struggle in steaming your milk as you have no pressure.

Anything else?

A compact machine is often controlled by a pressurestat and not a thermostat. Some normal sized espresso machines use both and are therefore very accurate in controlling the temperature. A pressurestat

basically means that it will try to regulate the temperature by measuring the pressure inside the boiler. A thermostat accurately measures the temperature. Temperature control is very important as a variation in brewing temperature will cause variations in the flavour of your shots.

You should note, though, that the brewing water is not coming from your boiler. But maybe more on brewing temperature and temperature control next time?

If you have a barista-related query that would like answered, then please email clare@jandmgroup.co.uk, or write in with details of your name, location of your café and question to Café Culture, Association House, 18c Moor Street, Chepstow, NP16 5DB and Café Culture magazine will endeavour to source a reply for you!

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MARKETING

Local

and social Neil Cartwright of Million Marketing (a digital agency specialising in location, proximity and vicinity marketing) offers some basic guidance on how independent outlets can best maintain a social networking site, and Jill Willis (owner of Essex-based café business, Taste, and author of Start and Run a Sandwich and Coffee Shop) outlines how she has gone from deploying classic, local marketing activities to now fully embracing the role that social networking sites such as Facebook can offer.

Social media phenomenon Social media is the production, consumption and exchange (sharing) of information through social interactions and platforms and takes place online.

Originally, the Internet was a means by which information could be shared and sourced, but the advent of sites such as Google back in 1998 enabled search engine optimisation so that visitors could be driven to particular web sites on a pay-perclick (PPC) basis, depending on what words and topics they were searching for.

With ‘prospects’ (potential customers) now increasingly searching for reviewbased comment or blog-based opinions, search engines are focusing more than ever before on web sites with social content, as these are likely to be the places where up to the minute, review-type opinions and discussions are taking place on a daily, if not hourly, basis. Thus, the opportunity for marketers to create ‘buzz’ around their products was created, in turn raising awareness and generating leads which translated into actual customers, eventually helping to build a brand or product loyalty as customers in effect become product champions or ‘fans’ (the coffee chain, Starbucks, for example, has in the region of 30,000,000 followers on Facebook).

Before getting involved in social marketing, it is important that you decide on your social media identity and how you want to represent your business. Will you be using a company name, or brand, or individual? What kind of information will

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you use in your social media campaign, and what are your aims? These are just some of the questions to ask yourself in order make your social media campaign targeted and productive. In addition, you might want to be able to monitor the progress and responses to your social media presence, in which case, social media monitoring software, some of which can be subscribed to on a monthly basis, could also be a wise investment.

NEIL CARTWRIGHT (Million Marketing, www.millionmedia.com) Unless you have been spent the previous five years living in a remote jungle, it probably hasn’t escaped your attention that a web site called Facebook has become extremely popular recently! Sites like Twitter, You Tube and Trip Advisor have also risen in prominence to become some of the most popular destinations online.

How does a café owner take advantage of these sites to reach their customers and in the process, hopefully attract new ones?

In my experience of working with large brands and chains, one of the aspects which frustrates me is the control they want to exert over their local branches. For instance, many of them don’t allow their local stores to create their own Facebook pages, preferring to drive their customers to a page controlled by the head office. In a world where PR and perception are so important, it’s understandable why the head office doesn’t want a junior member of staff posting a ‘dubious’ photo or

comment on their business’s Facebook page. However, I think this is where local operators have a potential advantage over the multiples.

On Facebook in particular people would much rather be reading news that relates to them rather than the latest promotion from the big chain’s PR department. They want to know which of their friends has been to your outlet, or even if any of their friends are there right now. They want local reviews or recommendations. They want to know if they can book their gathering with you and may want to read about other people’s experiences first. Or, you can be involved with the local community by running special offers on local dates – the summer fair, an Easter festival, for example.

Only a café owner with control over their own page can get involved at such a precise, local level and begin building and developing a community in this way. In the same way that you gradually get to know your most valuable customers, you can begin building relationships with your customers online and in ways that can help you spread your message by word-ofmouth.

Given this potential advantage local, independent outlets have over the high street chains, what are the key things an owner needs to know? What are the important guides when writing on Facebook? What can you do to increase customer participation? How should you respond to negative comments? How can you build your marketing and attract new customers?

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MARKETING A guide to writing on Facebook One of the keys to getting the best from sites such as Facebook is to remember they are called ‘social media’ for a very good reason – because people like to talk, share opinions and learn new things about the people and places local to them. And just like having a good evening conversation over a meal and a bottle of wine, those views will differ wildly between people.

So, just as you would quickly get bored if your friends tried to constantly sell you things, customers don’t like to receive constant messages of “buy, buy, buy!”. Ok, they know you’re a business, but there must be a balance, otherwise they will simply turn off your site.

You need to make the conversation twoway by asking questions so customers get an opportunity to post their own comments, take part in polls, and simply air their opinions. You should keep your comments clear so they’re not open to misinterpretation. For this reason too, avoid sarcasm or anything which relies upon someone knowing you to understand the meaning.

Maintain a friendly, positive and happy feeling to your posts - these are the emotions you want people to associate you with. You may be feeling angry about a totally unrelated issue, but it is unlikely that people will want to read about it on your café’s Facebook page.

If you find it difficult to maintain a rapport on Facebook then you are not alone!

However, perhaps there is someone within your restaurant who can do it. And here, don’t fall in to the trap of thinking Facebook is only for young people. Facebook’s own statistics have revealed that a huge number of older people are very active users (hint add them as a ‘Page Admin’ to avoid giving them the main login details to the account and meaning you can remove them whenever necessary). Finally, if you try social media and find you really don’t think it’s right for you, then consider hiding your profile so you don’t have a page that quickly goes out of date or can be hit by spammers.

How to increase customer participation In addition to posting questions and updates about your outlet, you could vary the posts so they ask for opinions, build awareness of local issues or invite comments and ideas.

For instance, you could ask people what beverages they’d like to see that you don’t already do? Would they like to see coffee cocktails on your drinks menu? Or maybe, what do they think of, say, local council plans to create a new one-way system in your town?

Think about common interests you may have with your customers – food, recipes,

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new beverage ideas, for example. Keep an eye out for opportunities to post videos or information about these subjects since you know your customers are more than likely to be interested in them. The objective is to get them talking about issues that relate to your restaurant. After all, a true community share interests and are not focused purely on one thing.

There is another substantial reason to post and engage with your customers. Every time one of your customers interacts with your Facebook page this triggers an update on their news feed, which in turn is seen by their Facebook friends. This can quickly spread news to your local community about a new promotion you are doing if a lot of people click ‘like’ on your post or page.

How to respond to negative comments Unfortunately, when working in social media you will inevitably at some point have to deal with negative comments in addition to the many positive ones. This could be because people have different opinions on how food should be cooked/served/presented. Or, maybe they had a bad experience due to something beyond your control. However, they may purely like winding people up – this is now commonly called ‘trolling’.

Your restaurant should be aware of any negative comments and how to handle them since they could adversely harm your business and reputation. The first thing is to avoid getting in to an argument at all costs.

If someone is voicing his or her opinion, then it may be difficult to change their mind using Facebook. If they had a bad experience then it’s better to apologise, or tell them you will investigate.

If you are unlucky enough to attract a troll then an argument is precisely what they want. So keep your answer short and concise and try not to ramble. Remember your answers will be read by potential customers and if not thought out, could reflect badly on you. Point out that you have had many happy customers but respect their opinion and even thank them for sharing it so you can continue to improve. If they had a bad experience due to one of your staff then you can tell them you will give the staff more training to avoid it happening again. Bear in mind, a respectful and honest answer can help turn the situation around for you since it demonstrates how seriously you take the complete satisfaction of your customers.

How to build marketing and attract new customers A major positive advantage of social media is that it is free to use for both you and your customer. This means that you can be very creative in thinking of ways to reach your

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MARKETING audience. You can try running a competition on your Facebook for people who like your page. Use a webdoc (www.webdoc.com) to create a page on your Facebook that only reveals the question once they have ‘liked’ your page.

Or, you can ask people to re-tweet your post and in return you will choose one of them for a free meal or money off their next visit. If you’re comfortable in front of a camera why not post a video on YouTube, then embed it in to your Facebook? Many videos on YouTube receive nearly a million views.

You could show people how your barista makes a coffee, any special recipes or unique features about your café. You can easily set up a poll on Facebook to ask your customers a question – for example, for a Valentine’s Day Special, what type of cake would people like to see added to the menu? Approaching the day itself you could offer people a special deal to visit and try the new cake decided upon by your customers.

An easy way to engage your customers is photo tagging. If you have your customer’s permission then post photos from birthdays, say, on to your Facebook. People like to tag themselves in photos and this will be added to their news feeds. The result is lots of people coming to your page to see their photo and also lots of other happy smiling faces in your café!

Social media tools such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Trip Advisor all offer substantial benefits to café owners who can reach their customers quickly and cheaply.

There are some best practice guidelines to follow when writing content, which you can use to build up a community around your restaurant. Have a pre-planned strategy for dealing with negative comments, and look out for opportunities to promote your restaurant with fun and compelling ideas.

Having been to a few conferences lately I’m amazed how social media is sometimes presented as a “Dark Art”. It’s not. Much of it is simply common sense and only requires you to think how you would like to have a conversation with your customers in your restaurant.

JILL WILLIS (Taste, www.tastesfresh.com) Travel back to 1650, and I have no doubt that the owner of the Grand in Oxford, one of England’s first coffee houses, would tell you that being ‘social’ with your customers is vital.

That’s because successful independent traders have always recognised the need to ‘get to know’ their customers, become part of their daily routine, and in some cases even become a genuine friend.

Fast forward to 2012 and we may be

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bombarded with marketing, advertising, a never ending high street packed with choice, and voucher deals coming out of our ears, but really, at the core, nothing has changed. Customers still appreciate personal service and they want to feel that you really do care.

Local marketing Marketing communications have played a critical role in the growth of my own café business, Taste. We (my husband, Richard, and I) started off in 2006, and since then have not spent a single penny on paid for advertising.

Instead, we have focused on talking directly to our local customer base, through local marketing, and have used a combination of street marketing, customer newsletters, media relations and ‘stunts’.

This approach was perfect for us. After all, a sandwich bar/coffee shop is the very epitome of ‘local’, with its customers usually coming from within a three minute walk radius.

Through competitions, weekly emails, a lively web site, street leafleting/sampling, giveaways and promotions, regular local press coverage, regular local award wins and creative ‘A’ boards, we have attracted interest from a broad customer base of shoppers and workers.

The success we achieved, and continue to achieve, is based on the fact that we plan ahead and give ourselves time to create interesting and attention grabbing material, and not on a massive marketing budget or back office team of marketing professionals.

The key is to have a marketing diary.

Within that diary you should map out all of the potential dates that may give you a chance to shout about how great you are,

showcase what you are best at, and attract customers through the door. There are literally hundreds of ‘external’ events (not created by you).

Chinese New Year, Father’s Day, Mothering Sunday, Valentine’s Day, St. David’s Day, the list goes on and on. Are there interesting coffee or food specials you can link in with these events, price promotions you could run etc?

Then there are also the ‘internal’ events (created by you) - a new spring menu, a new winter menu, the anniversary of opening, or a campaign to promote a particular menu item, for example.

Once you start filling in your marketing diary you’ll find that in no time at all you have something to talk about virtually every week of the year. Then it’s simply a case of deciding how you’ll market what’s going on to your local customer base.

Channels For the smaller campaigns you may choose to communicate via a low cost, tried and tested combination of in café signage, window boards, pavement A boards, email newsletter and web site update. However for the larger, higher impact campaigns you may decide that it’s also worth investing in the design and printing of leaflets, balloons, posters, T shirts etc.

To give yourself plenty of planning time, try to work at least six weeks ahead of yourself, this way if you decide a campaign has the potential to really make an impact you have the time you need to create plenty

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MARKETING

of supporting collateral, talk to local journalists and really maximise your exposure.

For example, I’ve just finished work on our spring menu launch campaign. Due to go live after Easter, I began working on it in January. I’ve therefore had plenty of time to think about creative and exciting marketing tricks to grab our customers’ attention.

The focus of my attention is now firmly on the Olympics, and I am aiming to have our marketing campaign finished no later than the middle of May. Social networking Our social networking had, until recently, not been quite as formal or planned as we might have liked! It came from our natural relationship with our customers, a chat over the counter, say, or banter with the queue.

I would personally tell customers of a new coffee I thought they might like to try, or get into a quick conversation about the wonders of our homemade coleslaw. I would do quick straw poles with regulars, to find out what their favourite sandwich specials that week were… you get the idea.

This is of course the joy of an independent café. The owner is the face of the brand, he/she is the business, and customers respond to that wonderfully. But what happens when the owner begins to find it difficult to have that personal relationship with each and every customer through the door? Or, when customers (keen to save money) begin to visit slightly less frequently?

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That close bond, the tie between customer and café, begins to weaken. This is when customer loyalty could be lost, and this is why I love the new social media channels.

Personally, I joined Facebook around 2009 as a way of keeping in touch with people. Like most users, I would upload pictures, post dull status updates and check out what old school friends were up to. I seem to remember creating a Taste Facebook page back then, but never did anything with it.

Early last year it became clear to me that not putting Facebook to good use for the business was crazy. After all, as Facebook says on its homepage, it helps you connect and share with the people in your life. Is this not exactly what every good café owner should be doing? Is this not exactly what the owner of the Grand back in 1650 would have been doing?

Be organised After much research and deliberation I decided that for my business Facebook was sufficient. I see the benefits of Twitter, but I feel that there would be masses of pointless duplication if we were to use both. Also, in my opinion, Twitter works best if you are a (or create a) personality (think Fry/Sugar/Ross, for instance).

Getting started is simple and does not require massive investment. However, you do need to give it some thought before you get going. You need to link in your social networking with your overall marketing plan if it is to have real benefit. You also need to have a clear idea of the ‘tone’ of voice you’ll use. Namely, what style is appropriate and best reflects your café’s brand. Ideally you should have some professional stock photography and JPEG graphics (of vouchers, for example) that you can upload and use in status updates.

Set some time aside - to be effective you do need to be posting status updates etc. at least three times per week. What I find

fantastic is that I can use my smart phone to manage my Taste Facebook page, and can talk to customers, post updates and publish promotional vouchers whilst doing my children’s breakfast, steaming a latte, or paying cash in at the bank!

My advice would be to start by seeing what the big boys are doing. Take a few weeks to follow and consider what the likes of Greggs, Pret, Costa and their ilk are doing on Facebook, and think about the style they take and the way they communicate.

Once you do decide to get started, the key is to try to build the number of followers you have quickly so as to create a sense of community. Consider running a competition, something that to enter all your customers simply have to do is ‘like’ your Facebook Page, or ‘follow’ you on Twitter. Then you choose a winner, and they are treated to a free lunch for a week, for example.

You can also consider ‘Facebook’ or ‘Twitter only’ promotions. For example, a free coffee with every muffin bought, but only for customers who ‘like’ you or ‘follow’ you.

The possibilities are endless, and when you consider there are no printing costs, and you can communicate directly with your customer in a very personal and intimate way, it’s a no-brainer.

Just remember though, most importantly of all, it’s about being ‘social’. This is not an open door to go hawking your goods unashamedly. Engagement is a two way thing, and you have to give your social media followers’ reason to come back to you, even if they are not spending money.

Get your social networking right and you will see the results in cold hard cash, and will see your customers enthused and recommending your café (without you having to pay for publicity). Make it part of the marketing mix, a new facet, and it will be incredibly cost-effective and successful (to find out more about Taste, including the Taste Franchise opportunities available to aspiring café owners nationwide, visit www.tastesfresh.com).

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REVIEW

Hotelympia highlights Hotelympia 2012 welcomed over 33,000 attendees to London's ExCeL (visitor attendance is independently verified by the ABC and pending audit is up by 4% on the previous event, report the show’s organisers). Several well known café sector equipment suppliers used the show to promote new and existing products, and the event played host to several SCAE competitions, including one devoted to latte art.

Fracino’s Roastilino.

Positive signs “It was a really positive show with some keen buyers spending money. We sold several machines straight off the stand, and feel that independents in particular are keen to spend money on the right products,” commented Cimbali UK’s sales and marketing manager, Matt Tuffee.

"This was our third time at Hotelympia and it has been by far the best yet,” said Duncan Harris from Fords Food Equipment.

“We launched two new machinery ranges that have helped to treble the serious enquiries into Fords Food.”

"It was an excellent event,” added David Riley of Hobart UK. “We received a good level of enquiries and a really positive response from visitors. It was a great opportunity to meet a high standard of professional buyers and the new layout really helped attract a different type of visitor to the stand.”

Equipment showcase Fracino showcased its Cybercino bean-tocup machine, the Piccino (a semi-domestic cappuccino machine) and their more recent Roastilino, a coffee roaster and say that they will be launching a brand new traditional machine in the spring.

The Cybercino can produce 200 espresso or 120 cappuccino drinks every hour at the touch of a button, while the Piccino coffee machine brings the taste of real coffee into the home. Stylish and easy to use, it can also be customised via a wide range of different colours. The company also highighted its awardwinning Roastilino – an innovative counter

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top coffee roaster which can help coffee bars and venues promote their barista’s artistry and coffee making excellence, feel the firm.

Beverage equipment expert, Instanta, announced that it is now offering its customers even more value for money, but with no compromise on quality, by adding a range of new features to its value range

of autofill water boilers. The Instanta value range is designed for those on a budget who are willing to accept a slightly lower specification than the award winning premium models, explained the company.

Each model has a large internal filter, able to cope with a capacity of up to 13000 litres and that can remove chlorine, taste and odour in the water, while reducing the formation of lime-scale, an aspect that is being recognised as being worthy of greater consideration in the café sector, according to Instanta’s Nick Neal.

“A special filter counter measures throughput and warns via the display when the filter cartridge needs replacing,” explained Nick Neal. “Now slightly larger, the 1501F and 3001F value models feature upgraded electronics and fault diagnostics, as well as accurate temperature control, adjustable via the main control panel. At the same time it monitors heater operation.”

Instanta has also introduced a compact 1000C designed for small office kitchens where space is of a premium. Capable of producing 27 litres, or 162 cups, of hot water per hour, the Instanta value range offers a substantial initial draw off and an impressive hourly output at a highly competitive price.

In addition, the company has updated its range of British built counter top stainless steel autofill water boilers with a stylish new look, upgraded electronics and a host of new features, including a more user-friendly seven day timer, and a large internal filter, which can be replaced easily from the front of the unit, to reduce

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REVIEW

The Ugolini Minigel. chlorine, taste and odour, while inhibiting lime-scale formation. The new filter counter measures throughput while a display signals time for a cartridge replacement and can be adjusted to suit variable water hardness.

There’s an improved diagnostic system tailored for both customers and engineers alike, plus a multi sensor backup system which virtually eliminates lime-scale failure by giving several weeks prior warning (visit www.instanta.com).

Hotelympia saw Jestic’s cold division on show for the first time. This division will supply equipment exclusively designed to make artisan gelato, pasteurised products, soft-serve ice cream, yoghurt, frozen drinks and other cold desserts. With production comes the need for product display, and Jestic point out that they can now offer stand alone cabinets for ice cream, pastry and chocolate along with modular and bespoke countering systems.

With the recent addition of the Irinox brand to its portfolio, the company can also supply a complete range of blast chillers, shock freezers, and specialised refrigeration solutions (the brands currently represented by Jestic’s cold division include Ugolini, Frigomat, Irinox and Cof).

The stylish looking Ugolini Minigel was on the Jestic stand, and can be used for making and dispensing ice cream and is the smallest ever machine capable of making an outstanding quality soft serve ice cream and much more, claim the company.

With a foot print of just 20cm (w) x 48cm (d) and weighing in at only 25kg, the Minigel is certain to appeal to small café outlets and offers multi-product flexibility (soft ice cream, frozen yoghurt, milkshakes, smoothies, cocktails and

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slush). Features include a small footprint, an overnight storage facility, a standard 13amp plug and it is easy to clean with a six litre bowl and comes with a month’s parts and labour warranty (www.jestic.co.uk/product/minigel).

Carpigiani showcased its new EVD (Ergonomic Versatile Dynamic) soft serve range of equipment which boasts a revolutionary design featuring a unique movable dispensing head and low noise refrigeration, and all in a space-optimising floor standing unit.

The EVD range consists of two models – EVD 1 for single flavours, and EVD 3 for double flavours. Both models are ideal for self service and for outlets where quick and easy desserts are a popular choice, say the company. The EVD 3, the larger of the two models, allows for two flavours to be served, either separately or a mixture of both, making it ideal for standard cone ice creams, or for impressive ice creambased cakes and deserts.

An ‘empty’ hopper alarm to warn users when only 0.2 litres of mix remains and touchpad control panel at eye level allows for the speedy selection of programmes with intuitive icons making the commands easy to use. A promotional panel allows for customer personalisation such as promotional images and messages, and there’s a convenient large worktop with room for bowls, trays, and toppings, meaning that no other areas are needed for these accessories, which makes working more efficient.

Weighing 320kg, the EDV 3 stands at 178cm (h) x 50cm (w) x 86cm (d). A range of additional accessories including cone dispensers and sprinkle cups that can be attached to either side of the unit are also available, together with the ability to move the height of the dispensing unit and the ability to mix and match flavours (www.carpigiani.co.uk).

Also on the stand was the new Carpigiani “Freeze & Go” machine – a single cylinder (500ml), compact, counter-top machine that allows for the high quality production of ice cream and sorbet in just five minutes! Featuring unique cylinder design, rapid extraction of the cylinder to serve the ice cream and air-cooled condensation, the machine incorporates all of Carpigiani’s advanced technology in only 50cm (260mm width, 530mm depth, 530mm height; 30kg net weight), making it the perfect addition to busy outlets where space is limited, suggest the company.

With a 5kg hourly production cycle, the Freeze & Go machine allows ice cream and sorbets to be made quickly and easily in just three simple steps by simply pouring the chilled mix into the

machine’s cylinder, then starting the machine to begin the freezing process after which, the ice cream is then ready to serve when the ‘beep’ sounds (additional cylinders are available to increase ice cream assortment).

In 2005 Bravilor entered into what has proven to be a very successful partnership with Rex Royal to sell its SCS range of bean to cup machines in the UK and now, 2012 will see Bravilor extending this range to include three machines – the S200, S300 and S500 – revealed the company.

The heart of all three machines is the newest generation of patented brewing unit. These technically advanced components guarantee long-lasting quality, efficiency and low maintenance.

But, whilst many components - including the grinders - have been brought up to date, the Rex Royal tradition of manufacturing long-lasting, robust and high precision products remains, say the company.

A notable feature of the S Series is the option between the touch and touch lite user interface, both offering configurable drink selections and the touch boasting a graphical LCD display enabling both interfaces provide a simple and enjoyable user experience.

“Bravilor and Rex Royal have enjoyed a long relationship in mainland Europe and, more recently, a partnership here in the UK,” said Keith Baldwin, Bravilor UK’s MD. “The addition of these three new machines will further cement that relationship.”

Bravilor's new Espresso machine

APRIL 2012 CAFÉ CULTURE 43

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REVIEW from brands consumers love and trust, including coffees from Rainforest Alliance CertifiedTM farms, freshly brewed tea and hot chocolate.

For 2012, operators will also be able to offer a two step cappuccino – a blend of creamer and Carte Noire Expresso - and at 220ml, the largest drink in the range.

Yum Yum Brothers Food Company, a new business, say they will be aiming to develop and markets food products for

Exhibiting for the first time at Hotelympia, Filberts Fine Foods brought their range of air roasted nuts and seeds snacks, as well as their popular Dorset Drizzles to the show.

Café fayre Following a successful launch in 2011, Bessant & Drury’s Fine Ice-Cream Company showcased their coconut milk based dessert. With the taste, texture and appearance of a premium ice-cream, yet totally dairy free the product is now listed at more than 70 retailers around the UK and comes in four flavours; chocolate, vanilla, strawberry and lemon.

“Our vision is to become a preferred choice for ice-cream lovers regardless of its dairyfree status. The product is aimed at the mainstream, premium market, with its superior taste and positioning all setting the scene for a luxury dessert,” said cofounder Steve Bessant.

Bondi Chai Tea Latte was launched at the show. Bondi Chai is a creamy-smooth blend of milk, black tea, honey, vanilla and exotic 'comfort' spices.

Because it’s a powder, Bondi Chai is very versatile and easy to use and stores in its foil packs for at least two years, say its makers.

It is also a gold medal winning chai latte, having so far won five gold and a silver medal at the 2008, 2009 and 2010 Royal Hobart Fine Food Awards in Australia and at an average of 35p a serve to the café owner, Bondi Chai claim that it is one of the lowest priced chai lattes with gross yield on a 1kg pack being at least double the yield of any

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other powdered chai latte, claim the company.

Specialist supplier of luxury coffee systems, Café du Monde, launched a range of original coffees and speciality teas under the brand name Chez Toi. The new range is ideal for restaurant and hotel lounge service, say the company.

Following a successful national retail launch in 2011 which saw Charbrew (brainchild of North West entrepreneur, Adam Soliman) launch into 400 Sainsbury’s stores, the British brand has revealed its new range of fresh, full tasting teas targeted at food service, and appealing to the younger tea drinker. Charbrew’s new food service range includes favourites English breakfast, Earl Grey, Green Tea, Camomile, Chai Tea and Peppermint and became available as a bespoke line with 3663 and will launch with Caterfood.

Kenco Singles, the table-top hot drinks solution known for its full range of hot beverages, is re-launching this year, with a fresh new look and new products. The brewer has had a complete makeover, say Kraft Foods, giving it a reduced footprint and contemporary, stylish look without compromising on reliability or ease of use.

The ideal solution for workplaces or busy self-service cafés and restaurants, it enables operators to serve a wide range of hot beverages

both the food service and retail sectors, having initially created a range of bars, slices, ‘bites’ and muffins which are ideal for either nibbling on the move, or sharing with family and friends, suggest the company. There are currently two ranges – Ndulge (an indulgent range of bars, muffins and bites packed full of the finest ingredients) and Oh My Goodness (combinations of cereals, honeys and different varieties of fruits to produce healthy nourishing snacks).

Last minute latte art!

It was Peter Attridge (far right) who ultimately triumphed by coming first, with Nikolaos Georgakos (far left) in second place (Peter Attridge will now go on to represent Great Britain at the World Latte Art Championships).

Liina Nutman (pictured centre above) of Chepstow, who is a coffee trainer for Coffee #1 based in South Wales and the South West of England, decided to compete in the recent SCAE Latte Art Championships just a week before the event!

The competition took place at Hotelympia, ExCel in London on Thursday, 1 March, with a number of baristas showcasing their capabilities and flare.

Competitors had to show their latte pouring skills in two rounds. First, they were challenged to come up with the most creative pattern. In 10 minutes of ‘stage time’, the competitors could pour as many drinks as they could, but only present one as their eventual entry.

“In the second round you had six minutes to present two free poured lattes and two signature patterns against the photo you've displayed,” said Liina Nutman. “It was then left to the judges to assess the similarity between a photo and the artwork displayed on the day, the technical skill

and the flavour achieved.

“Thus, it was with only a few hours of dedicated practising, my ‘dragon’ design that I then went on to win the best pattern in the first round, and that helped me to claim a third place overall. It was my second attempt and I've enjoyed the day even more than the last time. It's great fun, however it takes a lot of concentration and a steady hand, and really puts your nerves to the test!

“Everyone at the event was very friendly and welcoming and have inspired me to really go for it next year. I'm already looking foward to next year’s competition, and have an array of winning designs lined up.”

Liina Nutman’s Walesinspired dragon design latte art.

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Introducing

Vouchercloud Café Society members can now take advantage of a great new marketing tool following agreement between the Café Society and Vouchercloud, rated the UK’s leading consumer voucher app by the Sunday Times, Sun and Daily Telegraph with over 1.3 million downloads.

Promotions Vouchercloud enables businesses to run voucher promotions over mobile phones, providing consumers with an instant incentive visit their outlet. Furthermore, because it is localised, even individual cafés and coffee shops can use it as a means of promotion – and you can change the promotions from weekto-week, month-tomonth or even day-today. You can also control how many vouchers each person gets with each voucher campaign as well as how many in total can be redeemed. With every redemption you also receive a digital receipt.

For the consumer, the apps are free to download, free to use and deliver a fantastic range of money-saving offers from popular national brands, such as Odeon and Vue cinemas to Debenhams, as well as local businesses.

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Using GPS technology, Vouchercloud instantly identifies the deals nearest to where the consumer is located when they are out and about. Alternatively, they can choose any location they will be travelling to in the UK to check out what’s on offer.

Food, drink, entertainment, leisure, travel professional services and shopping – they're all there, with new ones added every day. So there is a real benefit.

User friendly Vouchercloud is also extremely user friendly and using the app is as easy as 1, 2, 3…

1) Consumers simply browse for an offer by category or using the search facility.

2) Then they read the terms and conditions, and 3) When in store, press the USE VOUCHER button, show the next screen when paying and press SHOW CODE when prompted to do so.

The voucher use is then recorded through the system.

Benefits In setting up an arrangement with Vouchercloud, the Society has agreed a 12.5% discount for members off the annual rate for a business to use the system. For a small café, this brings the annual cost down from £199 + VAT to £174 + VAT. Any members wishing to take up this offer (or get more information on it) should contact Tony Lorimer at the Society on 01291 636333 (tony@cafesociety.org.uk) to obtain the special discount code.

APRIL 2012 CAFÉ CULTURE 45

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FEE F O

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INIC

If you have a coffee machine-related question that you would like answered, then why not email clare@jandmgroup.co.uk or write in with details of the name, location of your café and question to Café Culture, Association House, 18c Moor Street, Chepstow, NP16 5DB and Café Culture magazine will endeavour to source an answer for you!

The Coffee Clinic Here, Glenn James of maintenance company Coffix (www.coffix.com), responds to some of your frequently asked questions and concerns about the day to day use and smooth running of coffee machines by offering some practical advice and guidance.

Question I’m hoping that you can help me out as I'm getting some conflicting stories about water softeners. We are based in Wisbech and recently purchased a two group coffee machine. We had it installed by a local engineer who advised us that we didn’t need to use a water softener. I visited a trade show a couple of weeks ago, and most of the filter companies advised very strongly that we fit a softener. Are the filter companies just trying to make money or is our engineer not very knowledgeable? Please can you help shed some light on this for us.

Alan Gray Wisbech, Cambridgeshire

Question I’m starting up a coffee company in the UK roasting our own coffee beans. We are looking at setting up in either London or Manchester, and we are looking at using the best green beans we can source and using two Probat roasters.

We are a tad concerned though, as we were intending on importing our own coffee machines into the UK, but we have just found out that they are brought in by another company that has an exclusivity contract.

We supply machines with our coffee on a free on loan basis in Turkey, but over here that seems a pretty small market. Is there a market in your opinion for this is to be the mainstay of our business?

Mehmut Aziza (Olud Deniz, Turkey) Answer Good luck is my personal opinion. It’s a great idea, as in Australia where I’m from, that’s the way most of the

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Answer I would be putting one on straight away! I’m not sure why the engineer said not to as your area is one very hard water area. My choice would be to fit a CTU (calcium treatment unit).

They come in different sizes but my suggestion would be a 10 litre CTU if you are only running the espresso machine on it and change it every six months, or if you’re running a water boiler - or if your using the machine’s hot water for tea - then I'd fit an 18 litre CTU. These need changing every six or 12 months, depending on usage. You can buy a counter for these that will show you how many litres of water have passed through the unit.

machinery is supplied to the cafés. In the UK there are a few companies that will do it, but they mostly use reconditioned kit before they even think of offering new equipment. A couple of companies that I have known do try it straight off from the start, but two of

them are no longer in business unfortunately. If you have the financial backing to invest heavily in the start up then I think you could have a very good 'USP' business. I wish you all the best and if you need any more help please feel free to contact me.

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NEW PRODUCTS

Gruppo Cimbali: 100 years of passion for coffee

Coffeelate are manufacturers of luxury confectionery and drink products The Coffeelate coffee chocolate bar is blended with Caribbean spices to be deliciously enjoyed with coffee. While Coffeelate Espresso melted in hot milk, stirred and served to your customers is enjoyed as a refreshing drink.

Coffeelate is now an approved supplier of Holiday Inn. They launched last November and have been present in trade shows where the Coffeelate Bar product has received very positive comments and reviews.

Their recent show at Hotelympia was equally positive as major brands like Holiday Inn and Radisson Blu expressed strong interest in the product as a tasty innovation. Their target market is HORECA. The product is currently being sold in some coffee shops in London and Glasgow.

Coffeelate are looking to sell in cafés, hotels, retailers, restaurants.

Richard Nieto, former CEO of West Cornwall Pasty, is chairman of Coffeelate (call 0208 144 0439 or visit www.coffeelate.co.uk).

The 100th anniversary of Gruppo Cimbali represents a very prestigious milestone: 100 years of history, events, and developments. It is a story of success, individuals, designs, and achievements and started in 1912 when Giuseppe Cimbali opened his coppersmith shop in Milan. A few decades later, Carlo Ernesto Valente opened a coffee machine making factory in Milan. Faema was born.

Since then, La Cimbali and Faema have contributed to Italy’s industrial development throughout the 20th century, exporting their culture and passion for espresso and cappuccino around the world. The most important technological advances in the

Little Green Book set to explode paper myths International Paper has launched its very own ‘The Little Green Book’ in an effort to dispel some of the myths that surround the paper industry and its contribution to environmental sustainability.

It aims to inform its readers of key facts about how sustainable the paper industry really is without relying on industry jargon, technical terminology or marketing speak, and is part of a series produced by International Paper aimed at making it easier for people to understand some of the key facts relating to the paper industry.

The first surprise in the book is that the paper and pulp industry’s contribution to environmental

Brew bar ‘brouhaha’ at Hotelympia Brew bars are the latest coffee trend to arrive in coffee shops and Marco Beverage Systems recreated one on its stand at Hotelympia.

They feature the individual cup by cup brewing of coffee – usually single estate and originals - using a variety of different brewing methods, such as cafetières, Haribo, Chemex, Aeropress or Hario dripper.

Baristas were invited to the stand to try out the different brew methods and to see for themselves the versatility of Marco under-counter and countertop water boilers including the iconic Über boiler itself.

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coffee machine industry - as well as the most prestigious awards for designs by Fratelli Castiglioni, Sottsass, and Giugiaro - all belong to Cimbali and Faema.

Gruppo Cimbali wants to kick off its 100th anniversary celebrations by unveiling the logo which symbolises 100 years of authentic passion for coffee; a logo which will accompany all the Gruppo Cimbali initiatives planned for 2012 (call 0208 238 7100, or visit www.cimbali.co.uk).

Although quite diverse, these different ways of brewing coffee have at least one thing in common - the variable temperature of the water required to brew them optimally.

With Marco’s specialist Über boiler, the water temperature was strictly controlled on a cup by cup basis (call 01933 666488 or visit www.marco-bev.co.uk).

sustainability is, in fact, very high.

International Paper has a policy of planting more trees than it harvests so driving the growth of the forests as it feeds the demand for paper (to request a complimentary copy, visit www.ipfoodservice.co.uk or call 01606 552537).

Snowbird hots up sausage range Snowbird foods has added a new Pork & Mustard variety to its highly successful, top quality Gourmet Plus range of sausages. It has a minimum meat content of 85% and is flavoured with sweet yet piquant wholegrain mustard.

Minced, mixed and filled into natural casings to create a firm, meaty texture and the distinctive plump crescent shape, the new flavour will enhance the existing range which includes favourites like Olde English, Pork & Cider, Scotch Beef and Hot American.

Part of the VION Food Group, Snowbird cooks the sausages to an attractive

golden brown in the factory, enabling them to be microwaved from frozen in seconds or oven baked in batches. A full range of weights and sizes is available from 12.5g cocktails through 30g chipolatas, to standard 60g sausages (call 020 8805 9222 or visit www.snowbirdfoods.co.uk).

FEBRUARY 2010 CAFÉ CULTURE 47

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OPINION

Independents in the driving seat?

As today’s coffee consumer continues to develop an increasingly higher expectation about the quality and taste of the coffee they enjoy, be it in a specialist coffee shop or a high street food outlet, the independently owned sector leading the ‘third wave of coffee’ appears to be taking advantage of coffee equipment advances more readily than the larger chains, and so keeping ahead of their branded competition, observes Sanremo’s Andrew Tucker.

Individual While the skills gap between the national branded chains and the independent sector has without doubt narrowed, it is evident that the one key area in which the independent sector most often maintains a significant advantage is the investment in the latest and best in coffee machinery.

It is important to bear in mind that larger chains are often more constrained by contractual agreements, as well as having to uphold their brand integrity, while independents are more agile and flexible and therefore able to take swifter advantage of improvements in equipment.

It is also likely that the independents feel the intensity of the competition around them, and therefore seek every opportunity to give the coffee they serve an edge by watching developments closely, seeing the value of investing in state of the art equipment. It is also true to say that the less conventional design of many up to the minute coffee machines has historically been more likely to be designed into an independent coffee house, seeking to provide a more unique and friendlier environment in which to enjoy a cup of coffee.

Of course, larger companies are not blind to this and in the London area in particular, we have seen some

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of the large brands now experimenting with more ‘independent style’ stores.

Skilled However, I feel that much of the independent advantage that is driving what is labelled ‘the third wave of coffee’, is in the standard of equipment being used. For example, a key element in good coffee making is about ensuring that the ground coffee is brewed at the correct temperature.

While many baristas have learnt to work with varying temperature machines, only the most skilled can obtain consistent results from many traditional machines, and so variability has been a constant wrestle for many years across the coffee sector.

Now, with machines using advances like the Sanremo TCS (a temperature control stability facility) system, staff with more or less any skill level can achieve consistent espresso results. As a result,

the base of the drink has a far greater chance of being consistent so that all drinks, whether prepared perfectly or not, will taste consistently nice!

Of course, higher skilled baristas in independents will continue to extract specific nuances and flavour profiles from their coffees which previously would have been almost impossible to plan and manage with any certainty, but my opinion is that the importance of this sort of technological advance for larger chains is the consistency.

Observant customers These days, espresso machines also don’t have to look like steel boxes, either.

For example, I have seen one high street situation where the coffee, staff and competitive situation remained the same, but 12 months after installing a Sanremo Verona with our TCS option, they saw sales of

coffee improve dramatically.

Interestingly, their food sales, while up a little, remained broadly similar to the previous year but it was the coffee sales that saw an improvement.

Indeed, the owner said she believed that it was the strong visual statement of having a distinctive-looking espresso machine which was one of the two key factors which accounted for this increase, as many customers had noticed and commented on the machine. Secondly, she also reported that the number of customers giving praise for the coffee increased considerably.

From an operator’s point of view, of course, be it a chain or an independent coffee house, it’s not just about the quality of the coffee and the look of the machine, but also about the reliability of the machine and confidence in a strong service back up too. Therefore, we have gone to great lengths to develop a contractual service back up structure to reflect this requirement.

As the independent coffee houses continue to drive the market, it seems that national operators seem to be just beginning to wake up to the advantages and benefits of reviewing their own coffee making facilities to ensure they, too, can keep up the consistency and integrity of their brands, and compete successfully in this fierce and rapidly growing market.

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RECIPE

Recipe ideas Oat drop scones Mornflake have brought out some new recipe ideas which utilise their traditional Superfast Oats, Mornflake Organic Oats and Mornflake Oatmeal products.

Ingredients 100g (4 oz) Mornflake Superfast or organic oats A pinch of salt 1 egg 300 ml (1/2pint) milk 25g (1 oz) butter, melted Method 1. Mix the oats and salt in a bowl and make a well in the centre.

2. Break the egg into the well and add the milk gradually, as for making a batter.

3. Stir in melted butter and allow to stand for 1 hour.

4. Cook spoonfuls of the batter in a preheated lightly greased non-stick pan for about three minutes each side or until golden.

5. Why not serve hot with bacon and eggs for breakfast?

For more recipe ideas such as how to make Chocolate Macaroons (pictured right), Gingerbread and Fruit Loaf, visit www.mornflake.com/recipes.aspx

Join us for the

Tickets

The Café Society

(including lunch and win e)

£98 + VAT Tables £980 + VAT

Awards 2012 Luncheon at the Roof Gardens, 99 Kensington High St, London, on Thursday 24th May 2012 The Awards will by presented by last year’s Café Society Award winner

Peter Dore-Smith, from Kaffeine

www.cafeculturemagazine.co.uk

See pages 14-15 for more details

The seven award categories are: • • • • • •

The Café Society Award The Café Innovation Award The Café Design Award The Café Food Award New Product Award Café/Coffee Bar Chain Award • Café/Coffee Bar Independent Award

APRIL 2012 CAFÉ CULTURE 49

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INDEX

Café Society Suppliers Index Beyond the Bean Ltd. Unit 6, Cala Trading Estate Ashton Vale Road, Ashton Vale Bristol BS3 2HA Contact: Paul Maxwell Tel: 0117 953 3522 Fax: 0117 953 3422 Email: info@beyondthebean.com Web: www.beyondthebean.com Café Boutique 25 Dale Road, Stanton by Dale Derbyshire DE7 4QF Contact: Greg Campher Tel: 0800 028 3175 Fax: 0800 471 5205 Email: hello@cafeboutique.co.uk Web: www.ipanemaespresso.co.uk Coffix Unit 25 Hill Lane Close, Markfield Leicester LE67 9PY Contact: Glenn James Tel: 01530 242800 Mobile: 07790 402144 Email: info@coffix.com Web: www.coffix.com

Edgcumbe Tea and Coffee Co Ltd. Wicks House, Ford Lane, Arundel West Sussex BN18 0DF Contact: Alice Rendle Tel: 01243 555775 Email: sales@edgcumbes.co.uk Web: www.edgcumbes.co.uk

Rapido Coffee Services The Garden House, Sugnall Eccleshall, Stafford, Staffordshire ST21 6NF Contact: David Wiggins Tel: 01785 851348 Fax: 01785 859388 Email: sales@cappuccino-rapido.com Web: www.cappuccino-rapido.com

Erlenbacher Backwaren gmbh Wasserweg 39, 64521 Groß-Gerau GERMANY Tel: +49 6152 / 803-0 Fax: +49 6152 / 803-347 Email: erlenbacher@de.nestle.com Web: www.erlenbacher.com

Sugar & Spice The Old Bakehouse, Bakers Yard Ardington OX12 8PS Contact: Martin Popple Tel: 01235 835194 Fax: 01235 862212 Email: info@sugarandspicebakery.co.uk Web: www.sugarandspicebakery.co.uk

London School of Coffee 2 Princeton Mews, London KT2 6PT Contact: Gayle Reed Tel: 0208 4397 981 Email: info@londonschoolofcoffee.com Web: www.londonschoolofcoffee.com

Technomic Inc. Knowledge Center, 300 S Riverside Plaza, Suite 1200, Chicago, Illinois IL 60606 Contact: Patrick Noone Tel: +01 205 991 1234 Fax: +01 205 980 3770 Email: pnoone@technomic.com Web: www.technomic.com

Nelson Catering Equipment Unit 1, Rowley Industrial Park Acton, London W3 8BH Contact: John Nelson Tel: 0208 993 6199 Email: john@nelsoncatering.co.uk Web: www.nelsondishwashers.co.uk

United Coffee 2 Bradbourne Drive , Tilbrook Milton Keynes MK7 8AT Contact: Elaine Higginson Tel: 01908 275 520 Fax: 01908 648 444 Email: info@firstchoicecoffee.com Web: www.unitedcoffeeuk.com

magazine SUBSCRIBE NOW CAFÉ CULTURE is published six times a year and currently distributed at the promotional subscription price of £55 per annum (£95 outside the UK).

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CHECKOUTS

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* available subject to conditions on certain models.

SAVE WITH E: info@coffix.com Tel: 0845 257 4316 Mob: 07790 402144

W: www.coffix .com

Pennine are coffee suppliers and have the widest range of products for the Office, Cafe, Restaurant and Hotel trades

Pennine Tea and Coffee Ltd, 6-8 Hall Street, Halifax, quote West Yorkshire, HX1 5AY ccf

01422 347734

sales@pennineteaandcoffee.co.uk www.pennineteaandcoffee.co.uk

SAVE: £’s - Up to 30% Discount* SAVE: £’s on Electricity Usage SAVE: £’s on Water Consumption FREE: Help picking the right model FREE: Site Survey (Obligation Free!)

EASY FINANCE OPTIONS AVAILABLE

NELSON DISH & GLASSWASHING MACHINES

CALL FREE

0800 592 833

Top Quality Kit – Rock Bottom Prices As New - Used for 4 weeks only Freezer Stainless - Blizzard UCF140 (x 2)

£296

Refrigerator Stainless - Blizzard UCR140 (x2)

£290

Slim Multideck Display 1500mm - Frostech Stainless

£1,890

Heated Display - Hatco Dual Slant (Counter top)

£1,790 £520

Electric Convention Oven - Movilfrit CH43 Coffee Machine (stainless) Markus 2 group takeaway inc. Knock out drawer and Waterfilter

£1,990

Prices + VAT. Mostly under warranty until October 2012.

Individual items or complete package. Buyer collects – Cumbria

Alastair or Angela

01352 754100

TO ADVERTISE CALL PAUL STEER TEL NO: 01291 636342

www.cafeculturemagazine.co.uk

APRIL 2012 CAFÉ CULTURE 51

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