Yes, you may be asking, “What’s this cartoon front cover all about?” Well, the story goes back about fifteen years, when I owned a cow themed café on the Mid North Coast of New South Wales. The theme was black and white Friesian cows. We needed a logo to go with the business name, “The Udder Cow Café”, so I called on long-time friend and illustrator Grant Tulloch. What I did not realise back then was that my request for this logo started a lifetime pursuit for Grant, using the humble cow in his drawing to fight against bullying amongst children.
As life would have it, I recently caught up with Grant again and was amazed to hear how his work has been at the forefront of bullying education programs in schools around Australia, using his unique cartooning talents to spread the message to children and teachers. We have now offered Grant the front cover of Café Culture to provide some exposure for his talent and to put him in front of some of our corporate readers, who may want to get involved in this unique education program. Like most artists, Grant is a great illustrator but has struggled to secure sponsorship dollars to complete his work. So, if your business would like to get behind a feel good and very important program, please contact Café Culture and we will put you in contact with Grant directly.
I was recently asked to speak at a Beer Conference in reference to the growth of the Australian café and coffee industry and the key trend changes that have happened over the last 100 years affecting our industry successes. During my research, it was interesting to find who and what were the instigators of change in our exciting industry. I looked closely at key world incidents and found that war, politics and business were behind many of our social coffee drinking habits to date. When I looked forward at the future industry predictions, I was a little disturbed at what I found to be the key drivers in our business now and who the makers of change are.
The problem I see at the moment is that there is a one percent movement within the industry that seems to be calling all the trendsetting shots. We are listening as a whole to a very small portion of the industry, which could be dangerous to future growth in this business. I applaud the “One Percenters” for their job of being a successful model for new business to strive towards; however, the numbers that will make it to their level will be minimal, because of the complexity of these third wave operators. I have always been an advocate for the creation of a successful café model, and it is the main reason as to why I created Café Culture Magazine – to assist in educating the whole marketplace and to stamp out failure.
I have been guilty, like so many others, of only being impressed by the elite few, and it is time to look now at the next top twenty percent of our industry as the real trendsetters if we want sustainable future growth. I recently talked to some small successful café chains and discovered that their businesses are quietly achieving good growth by giving quality café service in a real consumer space, without complicating the market perception.
“What does the future Australian café model look like?” is the question we are all asking. I think quality of coffee presentation will still be vital, but we will now have to be backed up with a better food offering and much better customer service techniques. Many trendy café businesses have forgotten about the importance of service in their quest to be and look “cool”. A focus towards consumer needs will have to be realigned with the real café model. There are still many consumers out there who don’t really understand the intricacies in coffee sourcing, production and service and actually don’t really care. What they want is a well made coffee served with a smile. Simple!
Educating a market does take time, and I think the café structure that sticks to a simple formula of giving simple quality service techniques and introducing change at a slow pace will have good longevity.
Another key factor for cafés nationally is to ensure that they are designed as great meeting spaces, that will endure the test of time. The Australian café design must not fall into the same trap where trendy bars and top end restaurants have found themselves. Trend movement can wipe you out very quickly. It’s very expensive to stay the coolest kid on the block forever, as trends change and you try to keep up.
It feels great to have completed another successful Café Biz earlier this year and to now make way for some other exciting events in Australia. Thanks to all who supported and attended the show.
We are privileged in Australia to host the grand prix of world coffee events this year, with the annual World Barista Championships to be held in May. I hope the industry gets behind this and makes the pilgrimage to Melbourne to see the industry’s finest compete.
You may notice the shot of Stefano Manfredi and myself that was taken at the launch of his new coffee blends recently in Sydney, at his Star City restaurant “Balla”. It was another successful collaboration with superstar coffee roaster Wayne Archer from Douwe Egberts. Café Culture love being invited to these industry events so we can keep our readers fully informed; plus, we get to sample some pretty good food and coffee.
