This is an expansive episode about the price of coffee at this inflection point in the market and how it is impacting different actors along the coffee value chain.

We talk to our friend Stuart Ritson, the European manager of Osito coffee. Stuart has worked in the coffee industry for 14 years in roles spanning barista to wholesale manager for Workshop coffee and then European sales director for Cafe Imports and now Osito coffee. This experience gives him a wealth of knowledge that he has shared with us here.

Stuart introduces what the C-market is, why it exists and who uses it. We then look at the impact of higher prices and volatility on the value chain. We consider pragmatic solutions for roasters and cafe operators to mitigate the impact of higher prices and hopefully improve their businesses.

Tibor and Andrew finish 2024, season 1 of the CKH podcast, reflecting on trends in the South East Asian coffee industry and why we should be paying close attention to what they are doing in other parts of the world.

We also discuss trends for 2025, C-price, latte art patterns and more.

Watch the video on Spotify or on the coffee knowledge hub

Guidance for buying, selling, starting and operating a café business

Insights from John Richardson

Whether you are buying, selling or operating a café business, you need to understand what drives the sellable value of that business. The Café Expert, John Richardson shares his knowledge – defining a sellable business, understanding leases, all the variables to consider in valuing a business and what to consider as a buyer, or seller in single and multi-site businesses. 

The insights shared could save both time and money, it is essential learning for anyone working in café businesses. For those considering starting their own cafe, it is also worth listening because you should start with the end in mind.

We spoke about many topics in this interview and edited it mercilessly but it is still a long one. During the last 30 minutes with John we go into specific details and summarise how to create sellable value.

Tibor and I also do a wrap up at the end, reflecting on what John has said and hypothesising which cafes we would buy, if we were buying a business.

Find out more about John:

https://thecafeexpert.com

https://www.instagram.com/thecafeexpert/

If you’re a café operator struggling with rising costs and declining revenue, this episode of the Coffee Knowledge Hub Podcast is just what you need. We sit down with John Richardson, The Café Expert, to dive into the numbers and explore practical strategies to boost your margins. This episode is packed with actionable advice that you can start implementing right away.

With over 30 years of experience, John has founded, sold, and consulted on hundreds of successful businesses, helping them grow and thrive.

12 cups explainer: https://thecafeexpert.com/numbers/

Contact John:

Free cafe and coffee shop owners Facebook group.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/cafeandcoffeeshopprofits/

Instagram

https://www.instagram.com/thecafeexpert/

Chapters:

0:00 - John's professional history, defining COGS and labour costs

41:00 - 12 cup model

44:00 - Wastage impact on profit as a percentage

46:50 - Increase revenue

51:00 - Evaluating the ‘we need more staff conversation

58:25 - Operational complexity

1:01.30 Top 10/bottom 10

1:09 - Improving variable costs

124:50 - Avoiding being overwhelmed

Paul’s voice has that croaky sound which is the product of long hours of work at the expense of sleep. While the cafe has dominated his time, he has also needed to continue working on the core business and his additional coaching work. At least he is not bored :)

In this episode we talked about the first month of opening of the cafe. Did it go as expected? Were our predictions accurate?

This is the final part of our series following Paul's journey in opening the cafe. You can start at episode 1 of the series to get the full picture of what it is like to open a cafe. His journey is unique in that it is his business and his location, but it is not unusual to face all the challenges that Paul has had to overcome. If you are considering opening a cafe, you can learn from Paul's experience as he describes it here.

You can watch the video on the coffee knowledge here: https://community.coffeeknowledgehub.com/c/podcast/

For quick reference here is the series:

1. Episode 1 - https://open.spotify.com/episode/4KxgQt8U1QFkmAWbxCGj7y?si=933419074b40414a
2. Episode 2 -https://open.spotify.com/episode/11XWKFdAe9U3ROwgXQGS8y?si=b5eed848711349b5
3. Episode 3 - https://open.spotify.com/episode/4Zp1zVKO2Wwq6umsWae7ke?si=a44ec30d77a44c42
4. Episode 4 - https://open.spotify.com/episode/5ER1vGgDg7L3ZcWVK5IUuv?si=fe363cdf1fb344eb
5. Episode 5 - https://open.spotify.com/episode/1Zwvwm4TWhDoCuUEPZkXs8?si=446526a68bcc4564
6. Episode 6 - https://open.spotify.com/episode/3nWehMJLJ1AIfWIu2hWT9V?si=5f504c49c27c48db

Imagine going to a trade show on tractors and being served coffee that is better than any coffee you have had before. Or rocking up to a wedding in a field and being served coffee that is as good as your favourite local cafe. 

In this conversation with Esther Maasdam, co-founder of Manhattan coffee roasters and founder of her eponymous events business: Esther Maasdam coffee connoisseur, we talk about how she has been bringing specialty coffee to the people at events for the past 20 years. 

For many people operating coffee businesses, there are requests to serve coffee at events, but the reality of doing this versus the expectations of the customer are often completely misaligned. There is a specialist skillset to set up a bespoke coffee service, that incorporates events management but also the skills of a coffee technician, barista and cafe operator. It is no wonder, so few people and companies in the world can do this well. 

• Bringing great coffee to people
• Providing great work for baristas - fun, quality coffee
• Brand implications for Manhattan coffee at events - attracts baristas and promotes the Manhattan brand
• Resilience - the essential trait of an events coordinator
• Power of deduction
• Technical knowledge
• War stories 
• Pricing events
• Events is not about making the best espresso in the world, it is about getting people excited
• Recruiting baristas and skillset of an events barista
• Growing the brand - building from always present to entrusting others.
• Service models - speed and experience
• The menu at events
• Coffee on the bar
• A Manhattan coffee shop?

https://esthermaasdam.com

https://manhattancoffeeroasters.com

Since launching the sustainability reporting course from the Chain Collaborative we have been curious about the real world impact of sustainability reports. Why would a company invest time and money in creating one, what are the pros and cons of doing it. 

Micah Sherer, our friend at Skylark Coffee in Brighton, UK has been writing their transparency report since launching nearly 5 years ago and it has had a big impact on their growth and on communicating the mission and values of Skylark coffee to their community. 

This episode was co-hosted by Nora Burkey to bring subject matter expertise. Andrew’s research was all done by doing the course, so if he sounds like he knows what he is talking about, it is all thanks to Nora. 

We discuss:

• What are sustainability reports and their different variations - impact, transparency, sustainability
• Tangible benefits of reports
• Holding yourself accountable
• Where are the biggest margins in the coffee supply chain
• Who are sustainability reports for
• Considerations in data collection - transparency versus ethics in verifying supply chains
• How do you vet the ethics of the companies you buy from
• Skylarks growth as a result of reporting

Websites:

https://community.coffeeknowledgehub.com/c/sustainability-reporting-by-the-chain-collaborative

https://thechaincollaborative.org

https://skylark.coffee/pages/transparency

https://www.probaristas.com/

Social handles

https://www.instagram.com/skylark.coffee/#

https://www.instagram.com/thechaincollaborative/#

https://www.instagram.com/ProBaristas

Mentions:

Micah mentioned the charity under which Skylark operates - One Church Brighton. We also spoke with Ben Szobody about the great work that Pro Baristas do in episode 5 of this podcast. Pro baristas is one of the projects coordinated by One Church Brighton. https://open.spotify.com/episode/0ENVmjgfVWI2XnvpDkVDqY?si=8bce5e1313c640e0

This is the last episode recorded before Paul opened the doors to his cafe for the first time on October 5. 

We discussed his menu, opening hours, vision for the cafe and its impact on different stakeholders and we did some predictions for sales in the first month. 

Tibor and Andrew have started sharing their reflections on the conversation after the recordings, so stay tuned to hear our post interview thoughts. 

In the 5th instalment of our podcast series following Paul Ross as he opens the bricks and mortar home of Special Guests Coffee, we hear about progress with recruitment and shop fitting. We now have a tentative opening date and the pressure is on to finish the build out and get all the equipment in on time. Will it be opening on International Coffee day, we shall have to wait and see. 

Amongst other things in this episode we discussed POS systems, POS stands for point of sale. There are a lot of systems on the market with POS and it is an important consideration in a cafe space because it directly impacts the customer experience, administration burden, reporting and timeliness of information. At the same time, many systems have more features than a cafe actually needs. 

Bonus video on the coffee knowledge hub - sneak preview of the cafe

www.coffeeknowledgehub.com

Our conversation includes insights into:

1. Growing from one to three cafes.
2. The benefits of co-roasting
3. The Importance of systems and processes

The theme that runs through the interview is people - designing an experience for all the people who are touched by the business, whether it is the people from whom Dagger coffee source products, to the way people are recruited and supported who work in the business and also the customer experience. It is evident that everything is designed as a personal experience.

This was a lovely conversation with and , we hope you enjoy it.

A bit about Dagmar:

Dagmar Geerlings is the founder of Dagger coffee in Utrecht, Netherlands, which she started in 2017. 

She found her way into coffee during her undergraduate studies in User experience design. Then had a gap year in Melbourne, Australia where she worked at Seven Seeds, a highly regarded café and roasting business, before returning to the Netherlands to complete a Masters. Her masters in the multisensory experience of taste, exploring how sound impacts taste and her undergraduate studies have influenced her cafe business in multiple ways. 

Dagger coffee, has 3 sites and source and roast their own coffee which is also available via their webshop. 

Find out more:

https://www.instagram.com/daggercoffee/?hl=nl

https://www.facebook.com/Daggercoffee/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/dagmargeerlings/