Cowboy Coffee is full bodied, earthy, and chewy. Just like the cowboys prefer. This blend was a special request and has passed the “taste test” with several people who like a heavy coffee. This coffee will give you a jolt if you need a pick-me-up, is a great choice around the campfire or hunting camp, or pair with a juicy steak hot off the grill and a chocolate fondue.

Let’s get more people in the door and at your drive up window.
1. Join the Chamber of Commerce and include your flyers with promos with the monthly newsletters. Also attend the meetings and mingle. Find out what fellow business people are doing and what their needs are.
2. Tell your potential customers how much they will love your drinks. I recently drove by an apartment building sign that read “You’ll love living here”. The power of suggestion is effective.
3. We are doing a promotion with local businesses to offer better coffee to their employees and customers. After trying samples, the feedback is positive and we have new customers. Samples work and people want good coffee. There is an opportunity for you to increase your sale to local businesses as well. Bring an airpot to a local business and allow them to sample your coffee and create a program to either sell coffee by the pound, by the airpot, or by the cup.
4. Everybody loves coffee tastings. It can be very simple with a variety of coffees offered, information about the coffee farms, and complementary food pairings. Let me know if you need help with this.

Drink of the Day
Macchiato – A dollop of foam from perfectly steamed milk over a rich shot of espresso. Macchiato is Italian for “marked”.

Make it a great week!

Greetings Coffee Crew,

I hope each of you enjoyed a safe Labor Day weekend.  Holidays are sometimes very busy in the coffee business, and my experience is customers are very happy if you are open to serve them.

I am sipping a cup of Safari Blend.  The fruit notes, medium body, and snappy finish are a great example of “an adventure in every cup”.  This coffee is equally great with a piece of chocolate cake or apple slices.  I prefer Safari Blend as a hot drink even though it is tasty as it cools down.

Do you and your staff ask customers if they brew coffee or tea at home?  This is a great opportunity to discuss coffee brewing and storage techniques, and to suggest bean sales.

Our local high school matches seniors with groups of incoming freshman to mentor them and help them adjust to their new school and teacher expectations.

What a great idea for your staff!  Appoint a lead barista to work with new staff members on drink making techniques and to immerse them into your shop culture.  You will be delegating some of your responsibilities, freeing up your time.

Some of the 2010 coffee trends from a recent survey include:

1.        Quality coffee sales continue because consumers are reluctant to substitute for their daily java.

2.       Coffee consumption continues to increase worldwide.

3.       To avoid the “fast food fight”, serve outstanding coffee and carve out your own niche.  The “pretty good” coffee market will be a fight among the big fast food chains.

4.        Starbucks has been the trailblazer in the specialty coffee market in the U.S.  They have opened doors for entrepreneurs to thrive in the specialty coffee business.

5.       Consumers are looking for healthy and sustainable drinks.  Offering low/no calorie flavorings is becoming more popular.  Many shops are not selling bottled water and offer water by the cup.

6.       Ready to drink coffee and teas are popular but are not replacing the specialty drinks prepared by a barista in a coffee shop.

Marketing Idea:

Have an essay contest and pick your topic.  Such as favorite coffee experience, places you have enjoyed a cup of coffee, favorite person to share a cup of java, when did you drink your first cup of coffee, favorite brewing technique, etc.

The prize could be as simple as a prepaid coffee card, free pound of coffee, or something bigger.  Everyone loves a contest and winning a prize.

Make it a great week!

Peggy Sue Ennenga

Good Morning, Coffee Crew ~

What a glorious summer day in Kalispell, Montana!  I hope each of you is experiencing beautiful weather, time to get outside, and a loved one to enjoy it with you.

I am on my second cup of Ethiopia Harrar this morning.  The blueberry aroma is pronounced, has full body, and the aftertaste is chocolaty.  This coffee is easy to pair with several foods: vanilla ice cream, green salad, and of course a chocolate chip cookie.  If you need to make this a “half caff”, add some decaf Brazil before brewing.  Your flavor profile and caffeine intake will be diluted a bit for a mellower cup of java.

An uncomfortable topic for many of us is theft in our businesses.  The reality is that a cash business such as coffee is prevalent for theft from staff.  The impact of each staff member giving 1 free drink per day can amount to several hundred dollars per month from your bottom line.  At an average of $3 per drink per day the total is $100 per month.  Now multiply that number by the shifts/workers each day.  This total can be staggering and yet easy to miss because you might not notice a total of 5 – 10 drinks per day.

A few things you can do to decrease the theft problem are having a written policy regarding daily procedures and termination that is signed by the employees; discuss this during meetings and encourage the staff to watch for theft and report it to you; count cups; track products; use a POS that will assist in this; and cameras.  As the owner or manager, if you are working behind the bar yourself you will know the proper product usage for the sales totals and this is also helpful.  The POS companies will have more ideas and procedures for you if this may be a problem in your business.

Trivia:  I met a gentleman at the Farmer’s Market this summer who shared some of his experiences in Indonesia.  He explained how the Buginese people in Sulawesi/Sumatra have a history of being fierce, warlike, and industrious.  He also told me this is where the myth of the “bugi man” started.  J

Make it a great day!

Peggy Sue Ennenga

Good Morning, Coffee Crew ~~

I am sipping a cup of Costa Rica before I step out the door for the Farmer’s Market today.  It is a bright and brisk coffee with good balance.  Enjoy it with fresh fruit such as mangos and blueberries.  Yum…

The Colombian coffee production numbers for this crop year are greatly reduced.  You have probably heard about the low harvest yields in Colombia, Brazil, and Vietnam.  Rest assured, we have forward contracts to cover our current and projected needs for the next year.  We sign forward contracts with our coffee importer for most of our coffees and do our best to anticipate the needs of our customers.

I was told the comment that as café owners, we are not in the coffee business.  We are in fact, in the barista training business because statistics show turnover is 6 months.  Wow!  I am guessing in today’s economy it would be longer than 6 months with the job shortage.  However, that does put things in perspective.  I do believe we are primarily in the coffee business, yet understand the importance of an efficient and effective training program.

Work like an ant!  I read recently about taking on big projects or achieving insurmountable goals.  I felt inspired by the analogy of “working like an ant”.  Ants take one grain of sand at a time and keep doing the same thing over again until the tunnels are built.  How does this apply to us?

A barista learning how to make drinks doesn’t start doing latte’ art the first day on the job.  They learn how to pull great espresso shots with thick, rich crema.  They also learn how to steam milk differently for a cappuccino or a latte’.  Each detail combined is important in achieving competitive latte’ art.

A shop owner starting a new coffee shop or increasing customers in a tight economy need to sharpen their marketing skills.  This can be a daunting task.  So, the best thing is to create a marketing plan and break it down into manageable tasks.  You would like to increase your drink sales by 100 cups per day, so start with 1, then 2, and you get the idea.

Consumers are cutting coupons more now than they have for several years.  Mail is the preferred source of coupons, followed by email, then newspapers.  Best of all is in person.  One idea that has worked for us is putting a marketing piece with a coupon or discount in the chamber of commerce newsletter.  Most chambers will allow business members to provide inserts for a small fee.  This is cheaper than mailing and reaches thousands of people.

One thing to be careful of is getting stuck in a rut.  You don’t want your customers to expect discounts or coupons so get creative and try something new.

Your customers are very loyal and will refer others to you when they feel you are there to provide the very best cup of coffee and that their satisfaction is your priority.

You are probably all more advanced than me with regard to internet marketing.  It seems that many of you have my space and facebook pages.  Would you like for me to gather your information and create a list to share with each of you?

Have a great weekend,

Peggy Sue Ennenga