Archive for coffee

The Numbers Are In

June 10, 2009 at 5:51 am · Filed under coffee, food, life, news, restaurants, Uncategorized ·Tagged ,

Those Zagat people, Nina, Tim, and their army of contributors, are at it again! Instead of an eponymous city guidebook, they asked over 6,000 people to rate their favorite fast food establishments: The Survey ranked 103 chains from surveyors who order fast food at least 11 times a month! Wendy’s was the overall Mega-Chain winner, and the West Coast’s popular In-N-Out Burger took top honors for a food chain with fewer than 5,000 outlets. Trust me, when you grab a burger at one of its locations in 4 states (CA, NV, UT, or AZ), you’ll understand what the fuss is about! They earned top honors for Best Burger, too.

Maybe Starbucks is the real winner of the survey as it grabbed top honors in the Quick Refreshment Category as the most popular spot, and the company earned major bragging rights for Best Coffee even though they have been attacked by every barista and quick coffee shop within its sights.

McDonald’s, which is working hard to earn a coffee title, managed top numbers for Best French Fries, Best breakfast, Best Drive-Thru, and Best Value. The latter category is doubly important this year at all levels of food purchasing–everyone is looking for value.

Were there surprises? Not necessarily, but in the full-service category, I love the fact that the International House of Pancakes, IHOP, top_store_1won Best Breakfast and Chuck E. Cheese still wins the Most Child-Friendly category.

The more things change; the more they stay the same!

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Victory for This War

June 9, 2009 at 8:40 am · Filed under coffee, food, grocer, life, wine ·Tagged , , , ,

clubPackThe concept has come full circle, and a Mighty Circle it is! Remember when grocers scoffed at big box retailers/markets and said who needs a case of this or 15 rolls of toilet paper? Well, take a look around you, the case mentality has come to the grocer’s aisles and seems to have found a permanent home.

Grocers are saying “two can play this game.” Their logic is quite simple: Eliminate the big box discounters by playing their game of offering case value. Whatever it gets called, and commonly it seems to be “club pack/pak”, the consumer benefits handsomely from this type of turnaround. For those who want to limit their shopping trips (yes, gas is climbing way up there, again), they can postpone trips to the big discounters and use the same mentality to stock up at the grocers. At least that’s what grocers believe!

Most of the national brands have entered the coupon fray-field by doubling and tripling cents off, something not available at big boxers. The big guys like Costco understand the value of coupons and send out whole books of discounts, good for an approximate 4-week period. Some, like Sam’s Club, publish welcome ads in the newspapers (assuming people still buy newspapers) in the hopes of welcoming new members. 

Grocers, on the other hand, combine all the concepts to demonstrate the modern definition of one-stop shopping. The competition is good for all of us. Look at Wegmans, as you recall my favorite grocer. They now aggressively market savings with club packs, a sizable list of wines under $10, and price-cutting that does the math for you. (As in, if a two-pound bag of onions costs $1.69, that’s .85 a pound. Then the calorie info: 60 calories a cup and a large onion is 3 cups). Maybe they’ll find someone to accompany you down the aisles, and then you won’t have to think at all! 

They have large comparison shopping boards at the entrance and throughout the store that list 4-5 products and show how Wegmans beats the competition. Their newest strategy is the $6 meal–one entree and two sides–as in bbq chicken breast with roasted red potatoes and harvest vegetables, or…many options.

Some of the local farmers are starting to bring their product to market, and Wegmans has inked a number of deals. Locavores unite: It’s a shopping possibility.

All of this to convince us that we can live at one store; one that has morphed into a combo: Great retailer, smart discounter, great service and product, and a big boxer.

This is a match we win.

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Now We’re Talking Good News

June 5, 2009 at 5:23 am · Filed under coffee, life, news ·Tagged , , , , ,

ciaobella_flash3Seems like the sweets are on the top of my radar. Yesterday it was donuts; today gelato. In my book, not just any gelato but Ciao Bella. The New York treat has made its way across the country and onto restaurant menus and in freezer aisles (Costco, Harris Teeter, Safeway, and Whole Foods). YES.

What makes the gelatos and sorbets so delicious is the process (hand-made) and the intensity of  flavors. If it says espresso (triple), you’re talking about my favorite drink transformed into my favorite flavor. This is the real McCoy. Since a trip to Italy is off most agendas for this summer, we can just follow the Ciao Bella sampling tour where their Discover-Savor-Share 2009 travel mobile plans to hand out one million free samples of their favorite desserts. 
As long as you are on the East or West Coast, you may get a chance for this mouth-exploding taste sample. They started the tour-scoop promotion concept last year on the East Coast and managed to hand out 100,000 free scoops of gelato and sorbet. The cool part about their sample logic is customers get an individual serving in a fitted cup with the spoon tucked right under the lid. Saves time and demonstrates a practical approach to scooping.

Check the website for locations. The month of June has them moving North from North Carolina into southern Virginia. Plan ahead  as the promotion continues through September. If you can’t wait to greet the truck, then try out the pints or gelato bars at grocers or free-standing locations in New York City or California.

Let’s help them reach their one million scoop goal!

Ciao.

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Coffee And…Why Not Doughnuts?

June 4, 2009 at 11:09 am · Filed under coffee, life, news, Pairings ·Tagged

I’m clueless. There’s little wrong with the coffee+doughnut equation (no matter how you spell the treat). On a regular day, especially a rainy one, the combo of hot coffee and a circle sweet bring an instant smile. On sunnier, warmer days, an iced coffee and a doughnut–you get the picture.

Now, regardless of weather, and this is no cruel calendar joke, tomorrow, Friday, the 5th of June is a calendar keeper–it’s National Doughnut Day.  This is no made-up holiday but one that traces its roots back to 1938. If you’re more interested in the food possibilities, plan ahead and do your own personal best taste test. The options are not limited to the national brands, check with your local bakery and entice them to join in on the fun. In the meantime, consider these two specials:

–Dunkin’ Donuts (see the spelling) will let the customer choose any donut with the purchase of any beverage. 

–Krispy Kreme thinks you might want to get a drink, but they are enticing with free doughnuts, no purchase necessary.

Hmm, imagine those will be some impressive lines! 

What a perfect combo: A Friday and a free treat. Sweet.

Walk to the doughnut store; there’s less guilt.

Enjoy.promoSmallDoughnutDay09

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Score One for Starbucks

May 10, 2009 at 4:03 am · Filed under coffee, life ·Tagged ,

starbucksicedOK, I’ve been pretty harsh with the revivalist techniques at Starbucks and still have plenty of complaints–slow service and chatty baristas not paying attention to their product. Today, I give them a win.

Let me just answer your question: Yes, I still go to Starbucks, but I know what to order–nothing fancy. Nothing costly. The plain seasonal Jane: an iced unsweetened grande coffee, or as the guy behind me added to his order, lite ice. Hmm. Always a one-upmanship–he was right. Maybe one of the better buys: $1.95.

Anyway Starbucks offers the flexibility as in no two people order the same–everyone personalizes it, and the staff just repeats the order. That is a process they understand.

Heard from a friend yesterday who had an obviously nightmarish coffee exchange that bordered on ridiculous. Looked at Dunkin’ Donuts menu board as she was treating herself to a much needed and long-missed latte and then had an are you kidding me exchange. I’ll have a decaf lite latte, please. Make that iced. Counter guy says, $4.19 (before tax); customer says, board says $3.19. He says that’s for hot. She says, so? He says a buck more for iced. Are you kidding? Nope. Ice does not cost a dollar. Yep. They went back and forth–he won, she bought. BOO.

That whole exchange is ridiculous. Ice is water and water in a product just makes more water–the melting coefficient is that the company would save on the amount of coffee they were pouring. Most disappointing part of this exchange is she purchased it.

I had to see it to believe it. Walked in today and bingo, same experience, but a new more polished explanation–we add more milk, it’s different. Yes, it is different; unnecessary, a waste of money. I knew what to do: I left.

Just for the record they do sell a 95 cent iced coffee, but it is a pre-made product with sugar. Not the same.

Lose a customer; tell a million people–that’s a win. Figure they owe her more than goodwill since she’ll avoid them and order her iced latte and add her own milk from the counter containers.

Dunkin’ Donuts, you are wrong.

So ridiculous.

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The New Starbucks–Again

May 7, 2009 at 5:28 am · Filed under coffee, news ·Tagged ,

When does reinvention get old? I’ve been wondering about Starbucks for months now…sbuxI’ve written about the reinventions, but everytime I think I am over it or the news is old, more comes in. They have been at war with McD’s and Dunkin’ and everyone else who owns a coffee cup. They were number one and have been beating back the grounds to get back on top.

Maybe it was the economy that started the downward spiral.  Maybe it was the cost of a cup itself or the sloppy training. Lots of maybes but no solid answers. Meanwhile everyone with a coffee machine seems out to get them. Starbucks responds with an almost endless list of promotions. Today they may have the ultimate shoot oneself in the foot move: Coupons for products at grocery stores. I do remember they tried a version of that a few years back when they introduced ice cream. Now they plan to issue coupons (starting May 11) for ice cream, cold beverages, and packaged coffee. You can have your Starbucks in multiple places is what the coupons are supposed to be saying. Maybe they are saying, buy us, please. They credit their Starbucks idea website with this suggestion. They obviously ignored my comment that said the pairings are a problem.

I still frequent several Starbucks; after all, they answer the meet up question in a city without too much coffee competition in the neighborhoods (not talking the business district).

I just want them to get it right. I want to be able to walk in the newly formatted, friendlier space and be greeted by a staff that knows how to make a real cappuccino, a macchiato–how the foam matters. Check out Macchiato in New York City for that answer.

Show me.

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How Big of A Knife Do You Need?

April 23, 2009 at 6:00 pm · Filed under coffee, dining out, life ·Tagged , ,

cleaverJust a regular steak knife does not seem big enough to slash prices at many steak restaurants. Morton’s, The Palm, Ruth’s Chris, and Sullivan’s have all advertised promotions. The one from The Palm today may prove the most shocking as it demonstrates how much money they are now willing to accept to get you in the door.

If you are an email subscriber or a member of their frequent guest club, your inbox greeted you with a coupon offer valid until the end of May: “Our Biggest & Best Filet Mignon Dinner Offer.” The $39 a person promotion includes a starter, a 14 oz Filet, a Filet Mignon Oscar, or a wild Alaskan Halibut Filet and a choice of a side.

The continual flow of offers from The Palm parallels my earlier inbox overload of promotions from Starbucks. When they keep on coming, it feels just like a banner headline: We’ve got a problem, and here is today’s solution. Does it fill tables or coffee cups? You hope so for their sakes, but when you read between the promotional lines, you have to wonder.

Another company looking at ways to fill tables is Chicago-based Lettuce Entertain You which is once again offering triple points for their members when they dine out this coming Monday, April 27. Are triple points the right incentive or was this promotion so successful that it will be repeated monthly?

Promotions have found a friend in email lists. If you want a dining out deal, then sharing your email address with your favorite restaurant may be the smartest strategy of the moment. We haven’t even received the bulk of May promotions yet.

Just you wait.

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Winner and Still Champion

March 5, 2009 at 9:55 pm · Filed under coffee, life ·Tagged , ,

illyHardly a day goes by without some annoying health report about how one drink or another is good/bad for you. Last week it was wine kills women. The next day wine saves you from esophageal cancer. Take your pick. Pretty simple answer for me!

Then there are the good/bad coffee studies which get broken down into sub-categories of caffeine or no-caffeine. I am a full throttle triple espresso gal who occasionally. to make people happy, makes a double decaf espresso. These studies indicate how too much coffee can be a problem and then follow it with a note how coffee staves off strokes. Same week.

Now, here’s a good one: coffee consumption surpasses sales of soft drinks. Maybe it’s the cold winter and hot java wrapper combination or just the soothing affect of warm coffee dripping into a cup. Maybe it’s the aromatic smell that wafts through the house with its cheerful wake-up. Maybe it’s none of those, and it’s just that a good cup of coffee tastes great.

So if young people are drinking more coffee, maybe it’s because there is so much variety; so many types of coffees available. Wait, we could be talking about the number of soft drink or vitamin-enchanced beverages. Think the answer is simple: young people know a good drink when they see one. They are just joining the national beverage club which trends towards more coffee.

Make mine a triple espresso, please.

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Still NOT Quite Right

March 4, 2009 at 3:09 pm · Filed under Advertisers, coffee, Pairings ·Tagged

OK, remember me, I said you could pull it out. Well, I was almost right, and almost only counts in horseshoes. For Starbucks to borrow a word from the food and wine world and come up with an affordable “pairing” is the good news. The bad is the insensitive, limited thinking approach.

It is true that bacon, sausage, and ham sandwiches may sound like the universe of sandwiches to many people. NOT everyone eats pork products. The new pairing promotion offers a 12-oz tall brewed coffee and a choice of a pork off-shoot sandwich. Or a tall latte and a slice of coffee cake or oatmeal. What happens if you want an egg sandwich, a turkey sandwich, or any number of other non-pork possibilities?

Seriously, who is doing your market research? The concept is good; the estarbucksxecution is a killer.

Think. Make the changes.

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Lovin’ It–Bull’s Eye

February 19, 2009 at 4:12 pm · Filed under Advertisers, coffee, Economy, restaurants ·Tagged , ,

Wednesday’s food section insert got my attention with an interesting surprise. An unexpected insert. One that made me wonder if it was just a lost one that got restuffed from Sunday’s ad sections. No. Something new, something better.

A whole new way to view our current economic environment. Thank you, Target. Yes, Target which traditionally has a sizable insert on Sundays had a new direction insert yesterday called “a new day. new ways to save.” A true Target Bull’s Eye Winner!

Target

Target

Each page showed the old world, for instance, room service and the new one, a smiling young face holding a tray with cereal bowls and orange juice–touting “the new room service.” Very clever. Each page had a new approach to a lifestyle we once patronized but currently needs major reworking. How about a trip to the spa–old world! Target world:  a terry robe with skin care products and makeup.

The ad gets the point across: life does not have to stop. We just have to approach the familiar a little differently. Love the reinvention; actually love shopping at Target in any economic environment!

Look at the world of dining. Lots of mid-tier chains such as TGI Friday’s, Marie Callender’s, Chili’s, and Ruby Tuesday are offering a variety of specials to their e-mail subscribers. Sign up. Each has a little different approach, and I believe the concept will spread to your favorite spot.

More expensive dining places throughout the country get it, and are offering similar promotions. People need to treat themselves. Maybe at different price points, but they need to dine out. It’s the real trickle-down effect.

Yet, the all-time winner this week is Tom Colicchio, chef and owner of the Craft food empire and well-known celebrity chef from Bravo’s “Top Chef”. Last week he rolled out his latest dining strategy in New York:  smaller plates and lower prices in the front room of craftsteak, calling the new mid-week enterprise, halfsteak. The line of people waiting to get in, said it all. We appreciate these changes; what’s next?

Yes, we are all in this together. Every business needs to rethink its business model to accommodate people and get them in the door for multiple visits. That way the business survives as a business, and the dining, shopping public responds by purchasing.

This will work.

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