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FEATURE CHOCOLATE DRINKING
The Secret Garden Tucked away in a side street of St Albans, lies the Secret Garden, a modern but traditional café serving snacks, meals, cakes, teas, coffees and hot drinks. It attracts a range of clientele including mums with babies, businessmen and elderly people, plus everyone in between, and Saturday tends to be its busiest day when families also visit the café. The Secret Garden installed a Ciocchino machine a year ago and, after a slow start, reports that sales have been growing steadily ever since. “We mainly use Ciocchino for making hot chocolates and mochas, but have regular ‘connoisseurs’ who come in for a Ciocchino espresso which we serve with a biscuit,” explains Kathy Wilkinson, owner of the Secret Garden. “Sometimes we also use it to pour over ice creams or to make desserts. We haven’t tried flavouring the Ciocchino yet, but it’s something we might look to do soon. “During the week we make up a minibatch of Ciocchino every day and this provides approximately 10 servings, at the
48 JUNE 2010
CAFÉ CULTURE
weekend it is double. We charge £1.60 for an espresso ‘shot’ of Ciocchino and £2.20 for a regular hot chocolate – which contains a double serving of Ciocchino made up with the same amount of milk or £2.60 for a grande hot chocolate, and which contains a triple shot of Ciocchino and the same amount of milk. “We use the Keylink supplied tent cards and display large posters on the walls to ensure our customers know about Ciocchino. The dispenser itself is front of
house and clearly visible. Those people who have been abroad and tried continental style sipping chocolate are more familiar with the Ciocchino concept and want to sample it when they get home. “We are very pleased with the machine and the support and service we get from Keylink is also very good. Deliveries of cream and chocolate are always very prompt and sales promotional material is supplied regularly,” she adds.
PROFITABILITY - THE SECRET GARDEN Average net cost per serving
Average cost to customer
Average profit per serving
Average number of servings per week
Average profit per week
Annual average profit
31p
£1.60
1.29p
90
£116
£6,032