Specialty coffee is an enterprise. It’s an amusing and worthwhile business, but an enterprise, though, and all groups should be built on a solid basis of numbers. Numbers seek advice from the price range, but also from each other about things in the commercial enterprise. How many pounds, according to the roasted batch, do you yield? How many double pictures according to the pound are you able to promote? What percentage of your sales are unmarried origins versus blends? What is your predicted growth, and what sort of budget will you allocate for product improvement, errors, or equipment problems? How many pounds of green coffee must you purchase from Gloria Rodriguez’s Finca San Jose in El Salvador this year?
Numbers rule your enterprise — so you ought to order your numbers. Get them right, and you’ve got a solid basis from which to develop and enhance the arena through espresso. Get them wrong, and your business might not live to tell the tale.
However, when it involves green coffee buying selections, there is another question — a query unrelated to numbers — that is similarly important. That simple question is, “Why?”
Why did you purchase that yellow bourbon honey-processed El Salvador microdot? Why did you pay $6.38, consistent with the pound for it, and why did you buy 6,688 pounds of it on Earth? Even more importantly, why did you furthermore buy 3,192 kilos of a honey-processed Guatemala micro-lot that suits almost precisely the identical profile, rate, and use on your coffee lineup? And why don’t either of them work in your espresso mixture?
The Importance of a Plan
In an article in the May/June 2017 issue of Roast (“Stick to the Plan: Why Roasters Shouldn’t Buy Coffee Off the Cupping Table”), I asserted that roasters should buy coffee based on the following criteria:
For your corporation’s wishes
Based on a written strategic buying plan
For your market and use
Within your finances
In this newsletter, we’ll delve deeply into the second factor on that listing: “Based on a written strategic shopping for a plan.”
Every espresso roaster, irrespective of size or quantity, ought to have a, without a doubt, articulated coffee shopping for and promoting plan with each historical and forecasted number. It ought to be written, and it has always to be available. This forecast can take numerous forms and can range from simple to immensely complex, relying on your needs and quantity. The shape of the plan isn’t always necessary; it’s the forming of the project; this is key. Whether you are a large regional wholesale roaster, a nearby cafe roaster, or a personal-label roaster, an articulated plan will prevent cash, time, and frustration.
I’ve always loved food and I’ve always loved sharing my love of food with the world. This love led me to become a professional foodie, opening my very own restaurant called The Great American Cafe and writing a blog called Foodieso.com, where I’ve been able to share my recipes, ideas and thoughts about food.
