See the story here: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=ak9TzJ6qnNMM&refer=us It’s a California thing, …but really? A while back, California passed a law that Café Managers cannot be salaried in retail chains due to lack of administ
Read more…I am very new to the coffee business, I have been selling green coffee beans to home roasters for about a year and a half. I just started learning how to cup. I have a day job in information technology. My dream job is to become a coffee buyer. I lik
Read more…Anyone have any luck with making your own chocolate for your cafe. We are experimenting with making our own for mochas. Hot, cold and blended. I can find raw cacao powder online, and then sweeten, but wanted to post something up on the bx to see if a
Read more…Hey everyone. We have the classic problem of customers coming in, spending $1.50 on a cup of coffee, and then setting up their office at one of our tables for the next 5 hours. A couple of them even have the audacity to complain when the connection g
Read more…I am working towards opening a coffee shop and I am trying to figure out the amount of supplies I will be needing. Could anyone share their experience with me?
Read more…I'd like to hear from anyone involved in or looking at working a mobile type espresso or coffee business. It is a section of the industry that is widely unexploited with untraditional oportunities for the North American soils. Italy, France,Greece an
Read more…Is the role of the Barista or the expectations of the Barista different in the various cultures and countries globally? Related to customer service, drinks preparation skills, product knowledge, and other skills and tasks assigned, is the Baristas r
Read more…I'm interested to hear people's feedback on their revenue impact for seasons. Specifically, I've noted a 30% decline in revenue's at my shop from October of last year until now. Most of the decline has occurred in the last 2-4 weeks. I can assume muc
Read more…Yeah, I know it isn't. It doesn't grow in Italy. Gaggia machines may have been Italian originally, but what is it that makes big brand coffee shops insist that they are "truly Italian about coffee" or serve "the best espresso this side of Milan."? Is
Read more…Director of Café Operations Do you like a hearty mug of coffee for breakfast, an afternoon cappuccino, or a dessert espresso? Would you like to lead and develop a growing chain of upscale cafés in an upbeat fun multimedia entertainment retail enviro
Read more…So, I've been thinking about a way to share cafe management tips and tricks, documents. etc. Wouldn't it be nice if we all had access to inventory documents, ordering sheets, scheduling spreadsheets, great ways to save money, training tests, checklis
Read more…I feel it is both difficult & expensive for independent cafes to consitently come up with effective marketing strategies to compete with the giants. First, I recognize that my competition is not only the chains such as $tarbux, but also McDonalds, We
Read more…By now I am sure you have heard about or read about Starbucks new promotion to offer an 8-ounce cup of brewed coffee for $1, with free refills. The idea is to capture more drip brew customers from their rivals. Currently this promotion is running in
Read more…We just opened our shop in November and we thought we had made a good decision on the POS system we chose. But we have had a lot of problems with it. So we need to figure out how we can return it. I would like to get feedback from other coffee shop o
Read more…What is your policy/procedure if you have an employee that leaves your business for the summer and wants to come back in the fall when school starts up again. This is based upon the employee leaving on good terms?
Read more…Training is the cornerstone of any successful coffee business. You can use the best coffee available, have the best possible location, and buy top of the line equipment, but without proper instruction on preparation methods, there is no guarantee of
Read more…I just thought I'd throw it out there for discussion and debate. I'll be sharing ideas and philosophies that have worked for us. How about those shares of Starbucks? Trading at about 18 right now. There was a pretty hot debate on the morning drive r
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