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.
Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/60649
STATE TE OF TH THE INDUSTRY Roasting palettes for all palates Darkness profiles, prices and supply concerns are some of the issues facing roasters. BY PAN DEMETRAKAKES A brought increased attention to roasting profi les. And roasters are coping with the vagaries of an increasingly volatile market, where expanding demand and price swings have implications for the very defi nition of specialty coff ee. Almost throughout the modern history of specialty coff ee Th e rollout of high-profi le light roasts to the mass market has re dark days ahead for the roasting industry? Or are things lightening up? a diff erence, in roast coloration as to making a consumer happy, as there is to what bean origin it is." Viewed in this light, Starbucks' introduction of Blonde retailing, dark roasts have ruled, for one simple reason: Starbucks. Th e coff ee giant earned derisory nicknames (from competitors) like "Charbucks" or "Starburnt" for its highly successful tactic of acclimating consumers to dark roasts. Roasting coff ee very dark has two basic advantages: it confers a bitter note that many consumers consider "sophisticated, it evens out the fl avor, hiding imperfections. But Starbucks made a move toward the lighter side with the " and introduction, late last year, of Blonde, a light-roasted Arabica. In January, its main competitor, Caribou, followed suit with the rollout of Starlight. Kevin Daw, CEO of Heritage Coff ee, a roaster based in got to sell what you believe in," he says. "Starbucks has gone beyond selling what they initially believed in and succeeded with. Now they are so large, this is necessary to gain market share. " COME TO THE LIGHT Some coff ee industry players think the introduction of Blonde and Starlight are signs of a gravitation away from dark roasts—one led by coff ee cognoscenti, especially young ones. Verner Earls, sales and marketing director for Chauvin s got their preferences. Th e biggest thing is, you've is simply an attempt to take market share from Dunkin' and McDonald's. Daw says it wouldn't surprise him if Dunkin' began heavy promotion of a darker roast product. "Everyone' London, Ontario, says the introduction of Blonde and Starlight is simply a sign of the major chains wanting to spread their appeal. Up to this point, Daw says, roasting profi les have formed part of the identity of the major coff ee retail chains—so much so that he uses them as a way to gauge people's preferences. When acquaintances ask him to recommend a coff ee, "the Coff ee Co. in St. Louis, says he was recently in a local "third wave" coff eehouse that sells no food, only coff ee without syrups or any other fl avorings. He calls that "unheard of" in St. Louis, which he describes as a decade behind the West Coast in terms of coff ee trends. Th is shop's proprietor was interested only in light roasts. "It's the younger barista set that I think is bringing about this change," Earls says. "Th ey're not wanting stuff as dark-roasted. fi rst thing I ask every single person who asks me that question in turn is, 'What's your preference—Starbucks or Dunkin' Donuts?'" he says. "And that leads me right down the path of what's going to make them happy. Th ere's as much of a diff erence, or more of 10 | April 2012 • www.specialty-coffee.com Th ey want to taste the nuances of the bean. And once you've roast any bean to a certain degree of darkness, you begin to taste the roast profi le and not the characteristics of the coff ee. However, Mike Caruso, owner of Caruso's Coff ee, Brecksville, " Ohio, says dark roasting will always be prominent in specialty coff ee. While it' s true that dark roasting can hide imperfections, As light roasts get more mainstream attention, roasters face more pressure to offer a full spectrum of roast profiles. Photo courtesy of SCAA/Roasters Guild Retreat