LONDON, (Reuters)

Service key to coffee profits, trainer says By Begona Quesada LONDON, (Reuters)

17:20 07July2003 Service key to coffee profits, trainer says
By Begona Quesada
LONDON, (Reuters) - The amount of money a cafe makes from selling coffee could depend more on how much time each cup takes to brew and the type of cup used than on the quality of the coffee itself, according to coffee service industry trainer Hugh Gilmartin.
Gilmartin, considered a guru in the business, said on Monday that the current crisis in world coffee prices and its damage to the quality of beans as farmers decide against major investment in their crops, was a different issue.
"But it would be highlighted much more if coffee was prepared properly. You can have the best coffee in the world and if you brew it by the average standards in the U.K. it doesn't make much difference," he said in a telephone interview.
"People are talking a lot about the quality of the coffee bean, but you are taking for granted that they know how to brew it," he added.

International coffee prices hit historic lows in late 2001 and have recovered slightly since then.
Gilmartin, who trains and advises coffee entrepreneurs in Europe and the United States, said the trick to make the most money out of a cup of coffee -- the product with the highest margin in the restaurant business-- was to prepare it properly and not to buy the cheapest beans.
"Whenever you talk about making money out of coffee, you've got to consider it's not about a commodity, it's not about purchasing coffee from your supplier, it's not about a machine, but about how you create that experience when the consumer comes to buy the coffee," Gilmartin said.
"You have to focus on taste, so you have to brew it properly, but you also taste with your eyes. You need to make sure it looks good and you provide a good service," said Gilmartin.

Gilmartin said the quality of the beans was a factor to be taken into account, but the consumer's expectations and the amount of money he or she would be ready to pay would also depend on the smile that should accompany the sale of a cup of coffee.
"A good barista (coffee expert) would make your coffee to your individual taste," he said.

Gilmartin said the coffee market's future lay in beans from distinct origins, milled and roasted separately depending on where they came from, in the same way that the wine industry treats its grapes.
"The exciting trend at the moment is single origin and I think this is where the world of coffee is going to go in the next 10 years," he said.
For now, flavour coffees using vanilla, strawberry, chocolate or other sweet tastes, are the avant-garde in the sophisticated European market.
These sweeter coffees should contribute to increased consumption, as many potential drinkers are discouraged by coffee's usual bitter taste, he said. They should contribute in the longer term to a more educated, demanding consumer of coffee.
"Coffee is a cuisine, as opposed to a commodity. You don't have the waiters making the starters in a restaurant, so why do you have them making the coffee," Gilmartin said.

((Reporting by Begona Quesada, editing by Anthony Barker. begona.quesada@reuters.com; Reuters Messaging: begona.quesada.reuters.com@reuters.net; +44 (0)207 542 8058))
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