In a recent post I looked at the specialty coffee market and provided a bit of a background into what the cafe landscape looked like from a customer identifier perspective. That is, what you can look for when you want quality. You can read more here.
One of the things that was highlighted there, and remains a theme that I really stand behind, is that quality attracts quality. You can look at this in all facets of business, and life for that matter. Take business for example: if you want to build a world class brand then you’d better have a world class team at the epicentre. If you want to have a world class team, then you’d better have world class back of house and systems. If you want world class back of house and systems then you’d better have world class planning and strategy. You can see where this is going.
The same approach goes into fitting the right equipment in a cafe (or in our case coffee cart). In the past, getting your hands on a La Marzocco (for example) was a costly exercise. When you take into account fitting out a cafe and getting all of the ducks lined up to open (and believe me there’s more than a pond-worth), it can be a mean task on the brain for an operator that isn’t seasoned.
Enter the large specialty coffee roaster.
When you’re looking to open a cafe and a reputable brand-name roaster approaches and says “sign up with us—your regular per kilo price is $29/kg, but go with us and sell 30kgs per week and the machine is yours for $30/kg”, a lot of people’s eyes light up. Brand name machine, check. Free grinder, check. Start my cafe with training and all the gear I’ve always wanted, check. That’s pretty damn tempting, and for some it’s really sensible.
Sensible has never really been my cup of tea. Being locked into the one supplier/one product can be right for some people, but it just isn’t for me. I believe in calculated risks: think it out, make a solid plan, and work your arse off to make sure it all comes together. If you take a look at my record you’ll see I’ve never been content with sensible, so this approach goes against my values.
When you take a look at the landscape of Melbourne and Sydney cafes this model—particularly in the inner urban areas—is becoming less and less common among larger scale cafes (those that are doing in excess of 30kgs + per week). I first saw this in 2012 when a Sydney cafe opened called “Sample” (now Sample Coffee—a roaster) by Reuben Marden; an award winning barista and ex-Mecca barista/roaster. The concept was partly Melbourne-inspired and featured weekly rotating coffees from roasters all over Australia. These types of cafe owners hold the power of “who calls the shots” by opting to buy and own their own machines.
In recent times this is due to a few reasons;
1) Equipment finance has never been easier, with 3rd-party aggregator style online brokerage houses or the likes of Silver Chef (if you're reading this with a cafe dream you'd love to realise, check these guys out).
2) The roaring uptake of cafes now wanting customised (the likes of Specht_design and TheCoffeeMan) equipment that breaks outside of the manufacturer mould. Previously these assets would have been largely unobtainable due to their custom nature and the ensuing clash between brand and corporate aesthetic.
3) The rise of services like gumtree/eBay that bring together second hand sellers and buyers, the leaders in what I believe is a burgeoning marketplace economy, and one that doesn’t look set to slow down.
The flow-on effect has been one of immense disruption in the sales model for traditional specialty coffee roasters; the likes of Allpress, Campos, Toby’s Estate, Single Origin & Coffee Supreme.
Enter the cafe owner who wants to “BYOD” (that’s mobile phone speak for Bring Your Own Device). He or she wants to choose what they serve, roasted by who they like, when they like (and there’s so many options to choose from). They’re usually a bit more of a perfectionist and a connoisseur of coffee, charged with serving what they see applicable—tuning their offering through the roaster, origin and brew method to best suit their market’s palette and demand.
Commonly, this type of cafe owner will have his or her pride and joy on their counter (either owned or asset-financed) serving a “standard house blend” (something that their regular ‘capp with one’ customer knows to taste the same day in and out) with a major roaster. Importantly, there’s also a rotating single estate/single origin coffee typically for black coffee drinkers. In the model outlined above (big specialty roaster owns the equipment), having the rotating single origin/guest roaster is something that is simply not on. Contractually, the cafe owner must use the large roaster’s coffee only for both single origins and their regular blend. In the BYOD model the cafe owner is in control, they have more of a “say” on what comes in and goes out and is generally empowered a little more on what they can offer their customers.
What does this mean for the bigger specialty roasters?
It’s pretty simple, make your offering f*cking solid. This is going to depend on what aspects of the market these roasters take on. Certainly for the inner-urban east coast BYOD/guest roaster option is on the tips of the tongues of most cafe owners and it’s a conversation taking place early and up front. It’s a case of “what’s in it for me”, with the larger specialty roaster responding with “are you a good fit for us?” From the brand representation and quality perspective, typical now and more commonly so—what is the value of winning this cafe/account?
The BYOD customer in my opinion prevails. His or her customers get a rotating offering of interesting coffees and cafes are now being identified on their skills to brew coffee and showcase technique and skill as opposed to “let’s go there, they serve Allpress”. The third wave of coffee is here, and the tide is turning.
Their staff impact is significant too, with head baristas and owners now having regular input into what goes through their hoppers. And the cost, well it’s pretty straight forward: if it’s feasible upfront and it’s deemed affordable BYOD, customise it. Tailor it. Hold the negotiating power. With more and more smaller micro roasteries (like Melbourne Micro Roasters and The Maling Room to name just a few) on the rise, as the market grows in strength it will have a commensurate effect on the ordinary cafe owner; empowering them for both choice and price.