How's Business ?

My business isn't doing to bad. We run a local route business in Roanoke, Va and host an online Retail coffee store (www.HCcoffee.com) and our sales are slowly creeping back up. This is certainly a tough time for any business and i hope that you all see progress soon.

A couple benefits that have placed us ahead of the curve is:
1. We run multiple businesses that supplement each other (Coffee service, Water Service, and Vending Service)
2. We were fortunate enough to see the recession coming and was able to pay off almost all of our debt
3. We pinch pennies where ever we can.
4. We constantly run promotions for our salesmen to help encourage them to up-sale to existing customers
5. Heavy emphasis on New account promotions to encourage our sales force to get out there and knock on doors

I hope this is helpful to someone.
 
Yeah it really depends on what you become associated with. Some people have success with their very own coffee shop while others like myself join up and coming companies with established executives. I suppose it is all personal preference and depends on how much money you have to invest as well as what kind of a risk you are looking to take. I cannot really speak for coffee shops, but I know that my company has really been trying to diversify itself and has recently developed customizable insurance plans for its distributors. So I guess with the coffee business it depends on what is the best fit for you as well as what you need at the time.
 
Success cannot be quantified in amounts of dollars and cents. It's determined by impact and longevity.

How do you or your company affect the industry as a whole, as a sector, etc. Are you innovative and moving the industry forward, or are you moving it sideways or backwards. Do others within the industry engage you and seek your advice or opinion as relates to either the craft of coffee or the business of coffee?

And when you move on, will you have created an indelible mark, or even better, a rhythmic ripple that quietly envelops and extends with no one knowing.

Those who define success purely in terms of dollars and cents often lack the understanding and vision to measure anything else. Truth is, those who define their success by other means often have the largest financial success. It's because the monetary success is a result rather than a goal. The correct perspective leads to better longevity.
 
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From a business service I read, "the saving rate as a share of disposable income is negative 7%"

As such, the balance of probability is that we are headed for recession as increased thrift has ALWAYS been associated with one.
 
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Money flowing into credit, out of commodities

A staggering amount of money is flowing into credit as investors switch gears amid changing market conditions.
Despite headwinds in Europe, investors now view much of the world’s debt as relatively safe, prompting them to put money into securities such U.S. Treasuries and emerging market bonds, according to data compiled by Société Générale. That’s quite the reversal from the trend we saw at this time last year, when everyone was exiting credit to make a play in equity markets.

At the same time, investors are now fleeing commodities at a rapid pace. Looking back one year, six straight months of net inflows into commodities has been followed by drastic outflows in five of the last six months.
 
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from Bloomberg

Coffee may drop as much as 23 percent next year as Brazil, the world’s largest producer, prepares to harvest a bumper crop, Illycaffe SpA Chief Executive Officer Andrea Illy said.



Coffee may fall to between $1.80 and $2 a pound next year as the South American country harvests as much as 58 million bags
 
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European banks have been given the option of selling assets rather than increasing capital.

Meaning less money in the system.
 
We are doing well. We have spread our business into three distinct revenue streams: cafes, wholesale and retail coffee beans and machines. The machine sales in Indonesia and Malaysia/Singapore are slow, but picking up. Wholesale/retail coffee sales are up about 35% over last year. Cafe business is very good- we are opening our 8th cafe in a few weeks. Our Sydney operation is somewhat struggling, but I think this is due to other reasons, not economic ones. Overall 2011 has been a great year and we have some really ambitious plans for 2012 (4 new outlets in 3 new countries and 2 new outlets in countries we already do business). Cant complain- I still love work, still love coffee...just have problems trying to get everything done- hence my absence from all the coffee sites I used to frequent so frequently!
 
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We have also been venturing into the retail coffee (cafe) side of the business.

We are cheap and think we are smarter than the experts/consultants so we have been doing our own work as far as traffic studies, area demographics etc.

One thing I have notice is that mediocre shops in good locations can do well ....better than good shops in mediocre locations. It has been time consuming as all heck, though.
 
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Record robusta harvests in Vietnam and Brazil and potentially the biggest jump in Indonesian output in 16 years are boosting supplies of the coffee used to make espressos just as slowing economic growth threatens demand.
Production may climb for a fourth year, gaining 2.3% to 55.98 million bags (3.36 million metric tons) in 2011-2012, Rabobank International predicts. More supply will create the biggest glut in at least four years, according to Macquarie Group Ltd. Prices that already fell 8% this year will drop a further 9% to US$1,750 a ton by June 30, the lowest level since October 2010, the median estimate in a Bloomberg survey of 13 traders showed.
Robusta surged 62% in London trading in 2010 as record demand created the first shortages in at least three years, according to Macquarie. Supply is now expanding amid mounting concern that Europe’s debt crisis will derail the global economy. Coffee sales fell for the first time in seven years in 2009 as nations contended with recessions, according to Euromonitor International Ltd., a London-based research group.
“We have record world production and I’m not optimistic on demand,” said Judith Ganes-Chase, a former Merrill Lynch & Co. analyst who is now the president of Katonah, New York-based J. Ganes Consulting LLC. “We’ll probably need to say goodbye to the bull market for a while.”
 
wmark: why did Starbucks pull out of certain foreign markets? Relatively "weak" flavor? And in the US, do you find that the demand for Starbuck's is elastic? They seem to be able to consistently command high prices more that the other popular chain I remember...Carribou (sp?). I personally have no idea how they manage it. Also, what do you think about the McConald's McCafe push?
 
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I am assuming you are talking about Starbucks withdrawal from Australia ? If so, I guess they misread the market for their product. I don't know much about Starbucks but they are a marketing machine!

I was in Colombia years ago when they were testing McCafe. In Colombia, it was quite good but the setup was a little different than it is up here in North America. In Canada their product is roasted by an Toronto area roaster, that until they lost the contract, roasted for Tim Horton's.
 
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