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  • Don't do themselves any favours

    Some Cafe's don't do themselves any favours.
    There's a cafe that used to have really high standards before the original owners sold it.
    The bean was good (not as good as Andy's - but OK.)
    Since the sale I notice a lot of very old roast bean on the shelves - think mid-October.
    I bought a small amount of the latest roast date to keep me going and on inspection it is a darker roast and slightly oily (all their bean is slightly oily).
    Now - Andy's bean comes to me through Aust. Post from Melbourne and it is always nice and dry when it gets here.
    What is wrong with these people? Don't they understand that any real aficionado doesn't want bean that is a month old?
    If they can't sell the stuff then tell the supplier to stop sending it. Seems simple to me.

  • #2
    Originally posted by Rocky View Post
    If they can't sell the stuff then tell the supplier to stop sending it. Seems simple to me.
    Maybe they're contractually obligated to buy a certain amount of beans from the supplier, so they may not have a choice in the matter?

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    • #3
      Probably why I'm not in business, because if a supplier tried to lock me into a contract that committed me to take a given amount of bean a month (or any perishable, the consumption of which might be expected to fluctuate,) I'd look for another supplier.

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      • #4
        Originally posted by Rocky View Post
        Some Cafe's don't do themselves any favours.
        There's a cafe that used to have really high standards before the original owners sold it.
        The bean was good (not as good as Andy's - but OK.)
        Since the sale I notice a lot of very old roast bean on the shelves - think mid-October.
        I bought a small amount of the latest roast date to keep me going and on inspection it is a darker roast and slightly oily (all their bean is slightly oily).
        Now - Andy's bean comes to me through Aust. Post from Melbourne and it is always nice and dry when it gets here.
        What is wrong with these people? Don't they understand that any real aficionado doesn't want bean that is a month old?
        If they can't sell the stuff then tell the supplier to stop sending it. Seems simple to me.
        The problem with this line of thinking is that if a business caters to only the aficionado, where in most cases the aficionado is a small percentage of the business then the business will not be in business for long.

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        • #5
          Originally posted by Lootee View Post
          The problem with this line of thinking is that if a business caters to only the aficionado, where in most cases the aficionado is a small percentage of the business then the business will not be in business for long.
          I'm not sure you're on the money... this is closer to selling groceries that are past their use by date.

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          • #6
            Smart cafes sell the retail beans out of the exact same stock that they use for their coffee making. The turnover means that the beans they sell are fresh.

            There's a place near work that doesn't get this simple principle. They stick the bags of retail beans up on the shelf, don't rotate them and they are months old.

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            • #7
              You've got it in one, Herzog. Too many varieties and all bagged and on the shelf.
              Their coffee across the counter used to be the best in town but they never seemed to manage their roasted bean stock well.
              Always seemed to have a lot of it in big bags behind the counter getting stale and oily.
              It's just a shame to lose the option to walk in off the street and buy a bag of fresh quality bean.
              If I were running the cafe, I would just have a big sign up saying "Ask us to bag your favourite fresh bean on the spot" and a list of varieties/quantities/prices.

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              • #8
                Andy is on hols so I'm back trying to get fresh bean out of these guys.
                Ton of old bean (FN plus on the shelves) nice and oily.
                First advice from the new management was new bean coming in on Monday. Didn't arrive.
                Then it was Wednesday (we will text you)
                Next it was "Gee, could be Thursday but if not then won't be this week, might be next week."
                I just don't get it. If my supplier mucked me around like that I would get a new supplier. The bean is not THAT good.
                I would want to know what variety, how much and when, so I could keep my customers informed. This is 'bread and butter'.
                Had a coffee while I was there - indicated the ceramic cup I wanted to 'drink-in' and promptly got served as a take-away, wasting two paper cups which I immediately poured into a ceramic cup.
                They have had a chance - I am an ex-customer.

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                • #9
                  Are there many alternatives where you are?

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                  • #10
                    Lots of cafes. All using their own bean. Nothing as good as Coffee Snobs and hard to know when some of it was roasted.
                    I have been using the joint referred to for years as a local alternative but it has always been a production to get it fresh, and it has always been poorly stored and a bit oily. Also unreliable Re supply of particular varieties.
                    The bagged/dated bean just sits on the shelf until it is sold. OK during business hours when the A/C is on but no good in this climate during the 12 hours when it is off.
                    Most people who buy bean are obviously not discriminating up here in the sticks.
                    I am going to have to start trying other cafes, one by one.

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                    • #11
                      I don't think the supplier was stuffing them around, it is the classic "string the customer along".

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                      • #12
                        It seems a bit like "stringing the customer along". I suppose there has to be a critical mass of coffee drinkers who care enough for these people to seek better suppliers/ take more care with what they order.

                        we had a ripper specialty cafe in the Dandenongs. It only lasted one year. They had a fairly good following who believed in what they did, (turned me into a coffee snob single handedly!) In the end, it wasn't enough I guess. And since then coffee in the hills has had nothing particularly good at all. It seems we still don't want it.

                        In a nearby town, I went into a bakery that had at least 50 kilo bags of beans. I'd say they had stocked up for a while. Buy in bulk and save.

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                        • #13
                          The new philosophy of it is better to ask for forgiveness then permission is true with many Businesses of today, that may work with some people but not me. I support local, but honesty, integrity and services gets my money.

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                          • #14
                            The cafe involved has an interesting history. It started out as one of a handful of like-branded outlets for a remote roasting operation.
                            The quality of the coffee in the cafe was outstanding and the knowledge and passion of the staff excellent.
                            The bean was very good although never stored properly in the cafe, and always a bit oily regardless of roast date.
                            Always a bit of a lottery getting a particular bean or one 'just roasted'. No real excuse for this IMHO.
                            a few years ago the roastery divested themselves of their Cafes but continued to supply the bean.
                            The local outfit was purchased by passionate new owners who re-branded and kept the standard up.
                            A further change of ownership has just occurred and I notice a drop in all the critical scales.
                            I was being kind by suggesting it was a supplier issue. Ultimately as I inferred previously, the management must take responsibility for all the standards.
                            If your supply chain doesn't work then you need to fix that, and avoid a loss of customer confidence.
                            It is a shame when you have something that is as good as anything nationally, and then the quality drops.

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                            • #15
                              We have a cafe in the main street of our town, established about 10 years ago, the original owners made excellent espresso, served very good food and the people serving went out of their way to be pleasant, the cafe was always packed, a few years back they sold out, the new owners changed the name, had no concept of good coffee and the food degraded in a similar manner, the place went from a thriving business to a ghost cafe within months.

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