GUEST COLUMN l COFFEE
COFFEE CONSULTANT AND LEADING COFFEE TRAINER TIM STURK HIGHLIGHTS THE VITAL ROLE THAT GREAT QUALITY COFFEE PLAYS IN TODAY'S CATERING ENVIRONMENT.
WHAT’S IN YOUR CUP?
Coffee is a huge contributor to your business's bottom line with enormous potential to grow footfall, sales and profits. practices. That statement alone should resonate with many operators. A decent chef knows when they have got it wrong and will not serve a dodgy dish to a customer. A decent barista also knows when the coffee is not right and will most likely not serve it and remake it. The alternative is the barista who knowingly serves a poor-quality coffee because either he is ‘too busy’, doesn’t know how to fix it or is being pressured by his line manager/boss to just ‘get the coffees out’.
Put simply, coffee is one of the biggest contributors to your
There are two types of baristas (or employees for that matter):
bottom line! The potential to grow profits solely from coffee is
the ‘don’t knows’ and the ‘don’t cares’. The ‘don’t knows’ can
enormous – but realising that potential really depends on just
be taught, the ‘don’t cares’… well it is your business, you will
one factor: quality in the cup. That may sound like an old story
have to decide who you want to employ. Any business hoping to
but it is amazing just how often it is overlooked, and how simple
maximise its potential is spending the time, energy and money
it is to make a great-tasting cup of coffee. Conversely, it is just
on their food service to ensure it is the best that it can be. I
as easy to make a poor tasting cup that will never encourage a
appreciate that there will always be variable levels of quality
second visit.
based on cost/price of menu, but really, this is the difference between fast food and Michelin-starred food. However, both
Let’s get one thing straight: coffee is food. I saw an ad this morning
levels of service start with the exact same health, safety and
claiming that ‘barista quality’ coffee was coming to UK drive-thru
hygiene standards – those are non-negotiable.
outlets. What exactly is ‘barista quality’? This is marketing speak/ spin trying to confuse consumers and capitalise on their fascination
What varies as you climb the ladder will be quality of ingredients,
with all things barista.
decor of the premises, quality and levels of staff training, long term business vision vs short term business vision. Short term
Anyone who makes coffee can be called a barista because it
vision (taking money) focuses on cramming the till full of money
is actually the Italian word for bartender! There is no training
today, without any forethought to tomorrow. Long term (making
required to be a barista. Just as there is no training required
money) vision focuses on what the business will look like in one,
to be called a chef. We do not talk of food being ‘chef quality’
two or five years down the road.
because consumers would laugh at us. But it seems with coffee, consumers are often happy to be led down the most popular
What kind of business are you?
path towards the biggest voices. What we do know is that a skilled, well-trained, passionate barista
Tim Sturk is Director of Coffee Education
– or chef – can make their ingredients sing!
at Cherry Coffee Training and is an official trainer working regularly with Booker's
I reiterate, coffee is food, and it should be handled with care and
team. Tim is an industry leader in coffee
attention, with an eye towards proper health, safety and hygiene
training, development and education.
APRIL 2022
Mar-Apr Issue 3.indd 65
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