Quality Separates You from the Pack
In July 2014, the Washington Post declared, “Almost half of the World actually prefers instant coffee” and the map below confirms this statement:
And the news today is not getting any better. After reading this article in Monday’s Washington Post stating that Americans LIKE to drink bad coffee, and the accompanying statistics concerning consumption of ground coffee, there are several points contained here that unfortunately bear truth. As an example, Maxwell House’s latest ad campaign essentially asks for people to settle for “good” coffee instead of aspiring for “great” coffee.
According to Howard Telford, industry analyst and market researcher who was quoted in the Washington Post, “Only about 8 percent of the coffee beans Americans buy are fresh whole beans… and ground coffee isn’t just outpacing whole bean coffee – it’s increasing its lead, each and every year.”
Yes, it has been pointed out before that sections of the specialty coffee industry have done little to promote convenience and to erode consumer confidence in their own ability to make coffee at home – (see Kevin Knox’s acerbic but astute comments about k-cups in the comment section of August 2014’s Roast Magazine’s Daily Coffee News here) and this graph won’t surprise you.
What do all these statistics mean? There are a lot of people drinking coffee, the demand for great tasting coffee is real, and most of the coffee available does not meet the expectations for an affordable luxury. There are opportunities for each coffee roaster and coffee brand to improve the quality of their coffee, exceed the expectations of their consumers, and build a stronger coffee business.
But what if your concerns are about quality? Convenience aside, we strive to improve coffee programs by maximizing quality and stabilizing consistency. We have spent some time thinking about ways to consistently delivery a distinctive coffee product.
Here are our top 5 things that companies can address to get them on their way to improve coffee quality:
- Establish product specifications and operational standards
- Develop a comprehensive quality control program throughout your operation
- Institute quality assurance testing to verify adherence to specifications, then validate the results
- Audit your supply chain for physical risk and financial competitiveness
- Train your staff on new quality standards and tell your customers about the new improvements
We believe great coffee is not longer an affordable luxury, but an everyday expectation.We embrace quality because we are specialty coffee professionals. Specialty coffee is filled with passion. Exotic flavors, enticing aromatics, intoxicating sweetness, luxurious body – these are what we stay alive for. In your business you may contribute to quality; what will be your quality?
“The bitterness of poor quality remains long after the sweetness of low price is forgotten” – Benjamin Franklin. Gotta love that foresight!
