Episodes
Sunday Feb 26, 2017
MCF: The Business of Brewing Vol. 3
Sunday Feb 26, 2017
Sunday Feb 26, 2017
Sadly, this week marks the last installment of 2016 Manchester Coffee Fest’s “The Business of Brewing”. As Sam Tawil (Bold St) and Claire Wallace (Brew Lab) join the panel of Tim Bosworth (Hoxton North), Pete Gibson (Grindsmith), and Alison Bell (BLK Coffee Heaton), the conversation turns more to the idea of “northern nuance” – what is different about running a coffee business in “the north”? Together, they examine the roles that food, space, staff, and service all play in building a successful coffee business, coming to the conclusion that whilst it is harder and harder to be perceived as “unique”, there are actually lots of little ways to differentiate your business from others’. Moreover, that even if they were given the opportunity to change something fundamental about their business when it was first getting off the ground, that maybe things progressed just as they should have…!
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Pssst! We've got an exciting announcement to make! The Cup North dream team have invited us back to Manchester Coffee Fest again this year, taking place the first weekend in November at Victoria Warehouse. You can find more information about the TT program here, but we think you'd have a lot more fun checking out their shiny new website!
Sunday Feb 19, 2017
No. 74
Sunday Feb 19, 2017
Sunday Feb 19, 2017
No. 74 is here and, guess what! Steve isn’t just talking to himself this week—Jenn’s managed to wrangle her way back onto the podcast only to accidentally lead the conversation down an unanticipated path. Obviously certification is a hot topic right now – we’ve announced an event with The Barista League in Gothenburg this March on that very subject – but this definitely wasn’t meant to turn into the newly written “Trusted Trade” manifesto, a dissection of coffee buying narratives, or a laundry list of transparency report frustrations. Ooops?
Monday Feb 13, 2017
MCF: The Business of Brewing Vol. 2
Monday Feb 13, 2017
Monday Feb 13, 2017
This week, we return to Manchester with our second instalment of “The Business of Brewing”, featuring Timothy Bosworth (Hoxton North), Peter Gibson (Grindsmiths), and Alison Bell (BLK Coffee Heaton), each of whom have had very different experiences opening their own shops. From setting up pre-trend outside of London (Tim) to opening doors at the height of the trend (Alison) and from semi-permanent premises to brick-and-mortar shops (Pete), these three guests showcase vast differences in approach to build a specialty coffee business in the UK. Together, they consider how their initial business plan and model has changed since they first opened their doors, why just saying “yes” and figuring out “how” afterwards can lead to bigger and better things, the invaluable contribution of family and community support, how to roll with disappointments, the importance of letting some things go, and why “customer service” needs to be replaced with “customer engagement” if we want to maintain successful businesses.
Monday Feb 06, 2017
No. 73
Monday Feb 06, 2017
Monday Feb 06, 2017
This time of the year is always full of origin travel for green buyers, and Steve’s diary is no different—he’s just completed a two week jaunt to El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica. Most will be familiar with the impact of leaf rust in Central America, but new pressures—significantly popular demand for particular varietals—stand to impact production and coffee quality long term. Like all of these origin monologues so far, the rough goes with the smooth—whilst there are good things happening in every corner, there are also a lot of red flags to heed as we enter a critical juncture for the future of specialty coffee.