Comments on: Are they running a dating service?

By: neil

neil — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 04:18:49 +0000

Didn’t President Suharto enjoy a few cash incentives? It seems like the thin edge of the wedge to me.

By: Ed

Ed — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 08:50:17 +0000

Jack,
I gather that the accomodation is a big part of the equation and the area is quite wealthy and already drawing a big crowd. they just need to sustain it.

Gobbler, I believe Grinders has. Con Christopoulos at The European, Supper Club etc dumped them to import his own machines and coffee. I believe Raymond capaldi at fenix is a new convert to good coffee – Veneziano. I think parts of the now split the Van Handel empire may have switched to possibly Di Bella. There is hope! Flick over to my Journalism site and the top two articles are aboutsome of the newer roasters. Probably worth a whole post on its own this.

By: the-gobbler

the-gobbler — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 02:47:12 +0000

Despite all the freebies I think customers will seek out the best coffee & the best places that serve it.
Curiously hasn’t Grinders become delasse now that Coca Cola Amatil own it? I dont know if the product is any different but their IS a perception that it has.
On making money from coffee my sister started roasting beans about 7 years ago because she couldn’t get freshly roasted beans to supply her cafe in her rural town in Sth Aust. Now all she does is coffee its taken up to now just to get a profile & make a decent living from.

By: stickyfingers

stickyfingers — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 01:24:45 +0000

Back on the coffee thread, I have friends who make very good money from coffee. Location, a signature blend and a few (rare as hens teeth) good barristas on the team are apparently key to their businesses.

My apologies, in my clumsily written comment I meant to infer that the need for coffee companies to offer incentives may have arisen to overcome the negative perceptions of proprietors. Those who may be reluctant to add a barrista to the staff, pay for coffee machines/servicing and the general accoutrements that go with good coffee service, might be more open to kickbacks, free equipment, cups, and street furniture.

By: Jack

Jack — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 13:36:54 +0000

Hi All
Its funny we are talking about destination dining and what will make people travel to Dunkeld to dine on Dans food. I recently dined at Mugaritz in Spain (check out my review if your keen), Dans ‘claim to fame’ head chef role and was very surprised that they were so quiet on a Thursday lunch, and from what I understand, lunch is the bigger dining service than dinner. It was a Thursday lunch, and they probably did 20 people, they would have easily had more people working there, than dining that service.
So, my question is, if Mugaritz (number 7 ranked in the world) can’t pull more guests and it’s only 20 minutes from San Sebastian, then what hope does sleepy Dunkeld have with a definatively more limited population and access to ‘food tourists’?
Jack

NB You definately can make some decent $ from coffee, you just need to be busy, a good barista can make up to about 8 coffees a minute, multiply that by $3 and the numbers start to make sense… considering the cost to make a coffee is at the most about 50c and you pay a barista about $20 an hour…

By: Ed

Ed — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 08:02:09 +0000

If anybody wants to check my Dan Hunter profile i've posted it in my online portfolio Here. True, Kitchenhand, there is nothng wrong with cash incentives although the real problem is the number of places that are tied up with onerous contracts on machines and grinders. Stickyfingers, although booze makes a lot of money so does decent coffee. While a good blend make cost $6-8 to buy as green beans it will sell for $30-40 a kilo it can yield net fro a cafe $200.

By: stickyfingers

stickyfingers — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 05:48:51 +0000

Mr Stickyfingers has been frequenting a certain successful pub for at least 20years. According to the publican ‘there is no money to be made in selling coffee, as compared to selling grog’ so he doesn’t offer it, even with meals. In his opinion the coffee drinker lingers for a long time with minimum spend, so given that, perhaps enticements offered by companies like Vittoria are warranted.

By: kitchen hand

kitchen hand — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 04:59:39 +0000

There’s nothing wrong with cash incentives. Every company has its marketing positioning and right now there’s about a billion coffee merchants plugging their wares. If Vittoria has the market sewn up, good luck to them. It’s business at the end of the day. If I don’t like the coffee, I tell the waiter. The restaurant will get the message if enough people complain.

By: johanna

johanna — Sun, 30 Sep 2007 23:37:30 +0000

I’ve heard that Vittoria offer cash incentives to restaurants to use their brand…

By: Ed

Ed — Sun, 30 Sep 2007 23:33:38 +0000

I think that tastes in Europe are just as parochial and there are just as many people eating to be seen rather than really appreciating the food. Perhaps Nobu on Park Lane in London is a bad example but is a venue that has more to do with fashion than anything else. Fahionable restaurants book up for months because they have become the vogue. The same goes for Paris or Madrid. To our benefit is the fact that Australian cuisine is young and that be are a melting pot of cultures bringing their various food traditions making Australia much richer culturally than many European cities foodwise.