A Shot in the Dark

Smart hiring and forecasting ease chain labor costs

By Allison Perlik, Senior Editor -- Restaurants & Institutions, 10/1/2003

If they’re sleepless in Seattle, the espresso boom may be the reason. The city at the epicenter of the 1990s coffee revolution—which convinced consumers to approach coffee with the same reverence and quality expectations as they do wine—is kicking it up a notch with a new emphasis on espresso.

Working to replace customer perceptions that espresso is not for the faint-hearted with greater appreciation of the drink’s subtle if intense flavors, many coffeehouses, cafes and restaurants are promoting the drink straight-up as well as in gentler and more familiar guises (such as cappuccino, which adds steamed milk and froth).

If many consumers have shied away from espresso in the past, so have many operators, daunted by the complexities and labor requirements of espresso machines that prepare one or two servings at a time. Preparing proper espresso also requires staff training. However, several manufacturers and coffee suppliers have introduced espresso brewers that require only the insertion of a pre-measured packet of espresso grounds and the push of a button to create near-perfect drinks. Such simplicity should accelerate espresso appreciation, say operators, and allow more commercial and noncommercial operations to add the beverages to menus.

“There is a significant sea change that started five to 10 years ago and is picking up steam. It’s about consumers learning to appreciate the finer tastes of coffee, and a major component of that shift is espresso,” says Tony Gioia, president and CEO of Seattle-based Tully’s Coffee, which operates 99 cafe/retail stores in California, Idaho, Oregon and Washington. “A lot of companies, including Tully’s, are taking advantage of the dynamic by offering great-tasting espresso drinks in different formats and with a various ingredients.”

Cold Snap
Tully’s this summer promoted its Espresso Spin beverage, a blend of ice and espresso that has been a hot-weather offering for the past several years. This year, Espresso Spin sales were far stronger than in past years, Gioia says, in part because the beverage, created as an afternoon refresher, saw increased sales in mornings. When Tully’s added its own branded ice cream to its cafes late last year, an espresso ice cream shake was one of the first creations offered and has been popular.

“What we see is less a second wave [of the coffee revolution] than a continuation,” he says. “The more customers are exposed to higher-quality coffee—its body, richness, its palate sensation—the more they recognize the differences and want to stay with that high-quality profile.”

Superior espresso does require an investment in special equipment. The upside for foodservice, Gioia notes, is that while coffee drinkers now can buy top-grade drip-coffee beans for home consumption, the vast majority of customers don’t have espresso makers, necessitating a visit to a cafe. “We’re more convenient and the beans we use are unique,” he says. “Espresso has varietals, and different combinations create blends special to every coffeehouse.”

Getting in on the action
Starbucks, the largest coffeehouse chain and a concept originally modeled on Italian cafes, has been on the espresso bandwagon since its beginnings. It now offers 11 different hot espresso drinks and more than a half dozen cold espresso-based beverages.

Earlier this year, Seattle-based Starbucks paid $72 million to AFC Enterprises in Atlanta for the Seattle’s Best Coffee and Torrefazione Italia operations. The 129 Seattle’s Best cafes give Starbucks a presence in the flavored-coffees market, while the 21 Torrefazione Italia units acquired bring greater capabilities to roasting espresso beans.

Espresso also is one of the competitive weapons being used in the battle between major chains. Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, which last year constructed a coffee-roasting plant near its Winston-Salem, N.C., headquarters, is rolling out an expanded beverages program that includes four drip coffees plus espresso, espresso-based beverages and noncoffee frozen drinks. The company expects to have the full-beverage program operational in all its stores by the end of 2004.

Dunkin’ Donuts introduced its line of espresso, cappuccino and latte beverages to a small number of its 3,100 domestic units last month. By next spring it hopes to be pouring espresso in all its stores and is projecting that espresso beans will represent 2% of its total coffee purchases.

The next wave
When you open an independent coffeehouse in Seattle, where even locally based retailer Nordstrom puts espresso bars in its stores, you’d best bring your A game and have a strong selling proposition.

Terri Sullivan does. Her 3-year-old El Diablo Cuban Coffee Co. cafe in the city’s upscale Queen Anne Hill neighborhood draws espresso lovers with the promise of a Cuban-coffee experience they can’t get elsewhere in the coffee-crazy town.

Cuban espresso is made with a regular espresso machine, but different beans and a different roast. The basic drink, called a Cubano, is two shots of espresso over caramelized sugar, served in a demitasse cup. The result, says Sullivan, is “short and dark, and sweet and strong, so it’s highly addictive.”

Though it packs serious punch, the roast for Cuban espresso isn’t darker than for Italian-style espresso. “It’s meant to be brighter and livelier,” she says. “It’s strong, but strong is different from dark.”

The cortadito—a Cubano with the addition of steamed milk—is popular at El Diablo, as is the mocha (cortadito with Mexican or domestic chocolate). “Mexican chocolate has cinnamon in it, so it’s not as sweet but richer,” says Sullivan. “It tastes more decadent.”