Alternative Sweeteners
So, I recently made the decision to eliminate Splenda, Sweet N Low, and Equal from our cafe. I didn't really expect the kind of explosive reactions some of our regulars ended up having. I think that packet sweeteners are gross and have huge carbon footprints (anti-thetical to our philosophy) but I want them to be able to have /something/ !!
Both Stevia and Xylitol seem exorbitantly expensive... Any other ideas?
Both Stevia and Xylitol seem exorbitantly expensive... Any other ideas?
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Jason Shipley on
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Ill be interested to hear about your experience I'm too scared of a revolt to try it in our cafe
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Permalink Reply by Jay Caragay on
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I don't know about you, but when you break down the cost of any individual packaged sweeteners, they all seem exorbitantly expensive to me.
You'll have to decide if you're ready to weather the storm by taking away what your customers have come to expect and/or pay for the exorbitantly expensive Stevia or Xylitol. Are these other sweeteners any less of a carbon footprint than the others?
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Permalink Reply by Bryan Wray on
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Buy in bulk... put in a shaker... ta da!
Pretty sure the only bulk Splenda is the baking stuff, but I've never looked into it (upon typing that I did, and it looks like you can buy the non-baking kind in a bulk box too), but whatever, they can figure it out.
Raw sugar is easy to come by in a bulk box, and obviously so is granulated white sugar.
Slap some labels on there and you're good to go!
-bry
Jay Caragay said:I don't know about you, but when you break down the cost of any individual packaged sweeteners, they all seem exorbitantly expensive to me.
You'll have to decide if you're ready to weather the storm by taking away what your customers have come to expect and/or pay for the exorbitantly expensive Stevia or Xylitol. Are these other sweeteners any less of a carbon footprint than the others?
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Permalink Reply by Andy Atkinson on
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Kind of a stray from the real question of the original post, but to those thinking of eliminating ONLY the artificial sweeteners...
IMHO I think that if you are going to attempt to eliminate all alternative sweeteners and not eliminate regular sugars and sweeteners along with it, you are inadvertently making a statement about a certain demographic. There are people who need to use artificial sweeteners due to health reasons (ie diabetics), if you chose to continue carrying "condiment counter" sugars while eliminating the artificial sweeteners you are very much alienating those who require the artificial stuff. Though you aren't doing it with those intentions, you are in some way saying that the people who can consume regular sugars are more important to your business.
If you are going to make the move, I really feel you need to remove all sweeteners, real sugars and artificial.
I have found a nice balance with carrying only artificial sweetener (in my case Splenda). I would say give them all a taste test with your products, find what you think works better than the others, and choose based on taste.
Just some food for thought.
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Permalink Reply by Joshua Dommermuth on
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Jay, you are absolutely right. I guess I am really masking my own response to the taste of artificial sweeteners. I should probably just take the least of all evils road and carry Splenda until those people grow extra limbs.
Bryan, will do! Yeah if I can shaker it then cost goes down, etc.
Andy, Yeah a lot of thought went into this, but I am uniquely qualified to talk about it. I went refined sugar free about 9 years ago. So, yeah, I don't really have any appreciation for the sweet + coffee people. (I know I just opened a worm bag.) But I love them all! I don't want to alienate anyone ... I just don't want to fund the chemical food companies.
For the record: We have shakers of white sugar and evaporated cane juice on the condiment bar. We also have agave syrup behind the bar for regulars we love.
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Permalink Reply by Rand Flory on
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At our kiosk, we offer three sweeteners: (1) raw sugar, (2) stevia, and (3) agave. All are added at the time of service. There is no condiment bar. Stevia and agave are extra-cost items, as they should be.
We feel that this makes both philosophical and business sense. While this may or may not work out well in other business models, we plan to continue our current offerings when we open our sit-down coffee shop.
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Permalink Reply by Micah Metheny on
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We have used a sweetener in our shop called "truvia". This sweetener is made from the extract of a plant yet still has zero calories like artificial sweetener. Finding a sweetener substitution is not going to be the issue. Those artificial sweeteners are addictive and people are hooked on them. It is going to look more like an invention than a product change. Good luck.
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Permalink Reply by Alex C. McGregor on
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hahaha, and what do you tell the regulars you don't love?
Joshua Dommermuth said:Jay, you are absolutely right. I guess I am really masking my own response to the taste of artificial sweeteners. I should probably just take the least of all evils road and carry Splenda until those people grow extra limbs.
Bryan, will do! Yeah if I can shaker it then cost goes down, etc.
Andy, Yeah a lot of thought went into this, but I am uniquely qualified to talk about it. I went refined sugar free about 9 years ago. So, yeah, I don't really have any appreciation for the sweet + coffee people. (I know I just opened a worm bag.) But I love them all! I don't want to alienate anyone ... I just don't want to fund the chemical food companies.
For the record: We have shakers of white sugar and evaporated cane juice on the condiment bar. We also have agave syrup behind the bar for regulars we love.
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Permalink Reply by N. Freeman on
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When traveling and visiting a coffee bar, I look for Splenda. If they don't have it I have my wife get me a packet of Splenda from her purse. With our machines we have bulk Splenda, sugar and honey packets available. We buy a large box of bulk Splenda at Sams Club and it last very well as we dispense it directly into the cup before running the espresso.
If you cut a condiment because of the carbon footprint, then you should cut the milk drinks for the volume of milk you use per drink has a larger footprint from cow excretions and these chemical gases have a direct and immediate effect. In addition the food raised to feed these animals require tractors, thrashers, and trucks which all give off carbons.
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