Specialty Coffee Retailer

Specialty Coffee Retailer November 2012

Specialty Coffee Retailer is a publication for owners, managers and employees of retail outlets that sell specialty coffee. Its scope includes best sales practices, supplies, business trends and anything else to assist the small coffee retailer.

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INSIGHT Tea and coffee: 10 differences T EDITORIAL OFFICE 1030 W. Higgins Road, Suite 230 Visit us online: www.specialty-coffee.com E-mail: specialtycoffee@m2media360.com EDITORIAL STAFF Editor pan demetrakakes, editor to devote this space to ten differences between tea and coffee. Tea has a higher profit margin than coffee. As noted in our article "Brewing up hey're adult beverages, (usually) caffeinated and served hot. But how much do coffee and tea really have in common? To kick off our annual Tea Issue, I' PRODUCTION STAFF Art Director Production Manager d like a tea program" on page 16, high-quality tea brewed from loose leaves can cost as little as 5 cents a cup. Tea is consumed at different times of the day. Demand for coffee usually peaks in the morning and tapers off as the day wears on. Tea is more likely to be consumed as part of an aſternoon break, leading to: Tea has a more mellow vibe. Coffee is a jazzed-up beverage, mostly due to the caffeine; people drink it to get going. Tea is more contemplative and soothing. It's no wonder that rituals have sprung up around its consumption. There's more tea to choose from. It's not uncommon for a tea supplier to carry upwards of 200 tea varieties. Paradoxically, it only takes a few selections to start a good tea program in a coffeehouse. Tea shops can be even smaller than coffee shops. One of the attractions of specialty coffee retailing is that it requires relatively little capital to enter, due in large part to the small size of most coffeehouses. Teahouses oſten need even less: How oſten have you heard a teahouse described as "cozy"? Tea shops sell more merchandise. It's not uncommon for a teahouse to sell many times more dry tea for home use than brewed tea for on-premise consumption. Add in the sale of teaware, and you get a situation where most of your sales are not from the drinks you make in-house. Tea requires even more consumer education than coffee. The best coffee shops make exotic varietals accessible to customers through education. It's just as necessary, if not more so, to explain to a customer who's mostly familiar with Lipton teabags why she should get excited about a silver needles tea straight from Fuijan, China. Tea farms are bigger than coffee farms. There are of course many exceptions, but Pan Demetrakakes pan@m2media360.com Kathleen Sage Mary Jo Tomei CIRCULATION STAFF Vice President of Circulation & Collateral Services Joanne Juda-Prainito SALES STAFF Sales Manager List Rental & Reprint Services Brian Grau Cheryl Naughton EXECUTIVE STAFF Group Publisher CONTRIBUTING EDITORS Ed Avis, Jack Groot, Maura Keller, Caroline Rath, Brenda Russell EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD Jason Burton, lab Desiree Farden, Cappuccine Jack Groot, JP's Coffee And Espresso Bar Wes Herman, The Woods Coffee Meghan Hubbs, Equal Exchange Rob Jeffries, North Atlantic Specialty Bag Craig Min, LAMIL Coffee Lon LaFlamme, Dillanos Coffee Roasters Kate LaPoint, Sound Provisions, Inc. Joe Monaghan, La Marzocco Tom Palm, Design & Layout Services Steve Schnitzler, Port City Java® Andi C. Trindle, Atlantic Specialty Coffee Bill Waddington, TeaSource 1030 W. Higgins Road, Suite 230 Park Ridge, IL 60068 Corporate Office: PRESIDENT/CEO VP FINANCE & OPERATIONS the average coffee farm is about two hectares; it's not uncommon to see tea farms of 2,000 or more. This consolidation has certain implications for farmer-related details like sustainability certification. Most tea in America is drunk cold. Some 85 percent of the tea consumed in VP OF CIRCULATION & COLLATERAL SERVICES PRODUCTION & OPERATIONS DIRECTOR Marion Minor Gerald Winkel Joanne Juda-Prainito Mary Jo Tomei America is iced tea. This presents two opportunities for tea retailers: Selling cold- brewed tea from leaves, which can be of higher quality than most premade iced tea; and transitioning customers from cold to hot tea as the seasons roll on. And finally, the most important difference of all: Tea retailing is still a fraction of coffee retailing. Tea sales stand at about $6.5 billion annually, compared with $34.5 billion for coffee. The good news is that, even as coffee is growing, tea sales are growing faster. 4 Specialty Coffee Retailer (ISSN 1077-3460) is published monthly by Bev-Al Communications, 1030 W. Higgins Road, Suite 230, Park Ridge, IL 60068. Copyright© 2012 by Bev-Al Communications Inc. Postmaster please send address corrections to: Specialty Coffee Retailer, P.O. Box 4290, Port Jervis, NY 12771. Periodicals postage paid at Port Jervis, NY and additional mailing offices. SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION AND REQUESTS Subscriptions: $39 for one year, $61 for two years, U.S.; $48 for one year, $72 for two years, Canada; $110 for one year, all other countries (includes airmail postage). Single copies $10 each; PRESS RELEASES: Press releases on supplies, services and new products are welcomed and encouraged. Direct them to Specialty Coffee Retailer. Color print photography is preferred, slides and transparencies are accepted. Specialty Coffee Retailer reserves the right to edit all submissions. Charlie Forman cforman@m2media360.com

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