I have watched Whittard's for many years as I have seen them as very much a direct competitior to my business as tea and coffee specialists. In the early days they were a tight outfit with a well presented quality product line.
Over the years though the focus has increasingly been on presentation and not enough time I believe spent on content. Surely if you are a specialist in this market you should be recognised for being outstanding at what you do. There should be no comparison between what you offer and what is on offer at the local supermarket; sadly for Whittard great packaging is now everywhere, which means that the contents needs to be outstanding - it isn't and so their customers voted with their feet. In our line of business a one off purchase isn't good enough, you need repeat business to survive.
The person I feel sadest for is Giles Hilton, Mr. Whittard if you like. He is a great individual with an unparalleled knowledge in the tea business. But even Giles couldn't stop Whittard's losing its soul. Even Howard Schultz of Starbuck's fame has higlighted the problems of losing your soul. People become dispassionate about your business and move on.
I believe there is room for a Whittard type business but it has to be driven by someone with a passion for the products they sell, and people who are in it for the long run. Can that ever be achieved by a bunch of private equity types? I doubt it - when all your focus is on the bottom line, and maximizing your cash flow to the detriment of others, you forget what this business is all about. It's about people and relationships around the globe. It's about doing something that benefits all, not just a handful of financiers.
Will anyone work that one out ? We'll see
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Monday, December 22, 2008
Christmas sales 2008
As I write this blog we're down to a couple of days before Christmas and it's gone mad here! I say mad now, however we've had a couple of truly crazy weeks, and it begs the question, recession what recession? Talking to some of my colleagues here in Jersey they too are having a bumper time; we're not sure if it's the last hurrah before 2009 and deep gloom or whether actually the press have really overblown the situation.
I believe the key is to be niche. Know your stuff and offer great quality, great value and great customer service. The people being hit appear to be the generalists, the stores who try to sell everything from waste bins to DVD's. Stuff that everybody and their auntie is selling and is found in every department store and internet site. You have to be different, you have to be original, you have to pay attention, it doesn't happen overnight and it can take years of doing the right thing.
It will be in my view those businesses who "stick to the knitting" who I believe will ride out this recession stronger and fitter and better placed than many of their over borrowed, over leveraged competitors.
So what's selling?, well right now Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee is doing well at a cool £105.00 per kilo! A special gift for the ultimate coffee lover. Stove top espresso machines have also been flying out in far greater quantities than in previous years. The demand for upmarket chocolate has also been good. The Chocolate Alchemist has come good this year.
With regard to the higher priced machines, the traditional espresso machine has struggled in the £150 - £300 price bracket. The Jura bean to cup coffee machines after an initial flurry in early December have slowed; interestingly the the only Jura machine we are being asked for is the ENA5 which has become a real star in the home.
Nespresso has come in for real criticism in our store, having found them initially very convenient a number of people have given up on them because they find it a pain to keep having to order off the internet - they forget and then can't use the machine with anything else. The price of the capsules is high, and the waste factor to some is unacceptable. But hayho I'm sure Nespresso are still selling capsules in their millions.
What is also interesting is people's interest in trying different coffees. A few years ago there was little appetite to try something different, now if you offer great quality, customers are really up for experimenting. Again I think being a specialist coffee roaster really helps here, and in particular staff knowledge of the product. It must be a real challenge to sell Ethiopian Harrar off the supermarket shelf on the strength of what it says on the packet.
It's interesting that in an age where you can find everything out on the internet or on a shelf talker, people still prefer dealing with people, that's why truly great customer service will always win.
Happy Christmas and prosperous New Year
I believe the key is to be niche. Know your stuff and offer great quality, great value and great customer service. The people being hit appear to be the generalists, the stores who try to sell everything from waste bins to DVD's. Stuff that everybody and their auntie is selling and is found in every department store and internet site. You have to be different, you have to be original, you have to pay attention, it doesn't happen overnight and it can take years of doing the right thing.
It will be in my view those businesses who "stick to the knitting" who I believe will ride out this recession stronger and fitter and better placed than many of their over borrowed, over leveraged competitors.
So what's selling?, well right now Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee is doing well at a cool £105.00 per kilo! A special gift for the ultimate coffee lover. Stove top espresso machines have also been flying out in far greater quantities than in previous years. The demand for upmarket chocolate has also been good. The Chocolate Alchemist has come good this year.
With regard to the higher priced machines, the traditional espresso machine has struggled in the £150 - £300 price bracket. The Jura bean to cup coffee machines after an initial flurry in early December have slowed; interestingly the the only Jura machine we are being asked for is the ENA5 which has become a real star in the home.
Nespresso has come in for real criticism in our store, having found them initially very convenient a number of people have given up on them because they find it a pain to keep having to order off the internet - they forget and then can't use the machine with anything else. The price of the capsules is high, and the waste factor to some is unacceptable. But hayho I'm sure Nespresso are still selling capsules in their millions.
What is also interesting is people's interest in trying different coffees. A few years ago there was little appetite to try something different, now if you offer great quality, customers are really up for experimenting. Again I think being a specialist coffee roaster really helps here, and in particular staff knowledge of the product. It must be a real challenge to sell Ethiopian Harrar off the supermarket shelf on the strength of what it says on the packet.
It's interesting that in an age where you can find everything out on the internet or on a shelf talker, people still prefer dealing with people, that's why truly great customer service will always win.
Happy Christmas and prosperous New Year
Frozen Coffee Beans
This one's a first for me and it's always interesting to hear what "real coffee drinkers" do with our coffee!
I had a conversation some months ago with this customer who was regularly travelling backwards and forwards to Spain (we'll call him Chris). He was telling me that he couldn't find any coffee locally that tasted as good as this Spanish coffee which was dark roasted to the point of being carbonised. He felt that it made great coffee and wondered why we didn't sell such a coffee.
My reaction was not quite of horror, but "mild" surprise that he could enjoy a coffee that had all it's individuality roasted out of it. For all I knew it could be the cheapest coffee in the world, nobody would know. Being a business that only stocks speciality coffee I tried to explain the intricacies of what we offered. Anyway he went away and I didn't see him for a number of months.
A week ago I happened to be in our shop and there he was buying our Bologne Espresso coffee. I jokingly said have you run out of your Spanish coffee? To which he replied that since our conversation he had been buying our coffee non stop. Having given him my views on dark roasted Spanish coffee he had decided to change to us.
The secret though to our coffee tasting great for him though is that he brews the coffee from frozen. Apparently he takes our beans home and immediately puts them in the freezer. When he goes to make his coffee in a stove top espresso maker, he grinds the frozen beans and then brews the coffee immediately. He tells me that this gives the best coffee taste ever. He's tried not freezing the beans but says that the flavour isn't nearly as good.
It just goes to show you, even after 20 years in the business you can still learn from your customers idiosyncrasies!
I had a conversation some months ago with this customer who was regularly travelling backwards and forwards to Spain (we'll call him Chris). He was telling me that he couldn't find any coffee locally that tasted as good as this Spanish coffee which was dark roasted to the point of being carbonised. He felt that it made great coffee and wondered why we didn't sell such a coffee.
My reaction was not quite of horror, but "mild" surprise that he could enjoy a coffee that had all it's individuality roasted out of it. For all I knew it could be the cheapest coffee in the world, nobody would know. Being a business that only stocks speciality coffee I tried to explain the intricacies of what we offered. Anyway he went away and I didn't see him for a number of months.
A week ago I happened to be in our shop and there he was buying our Bologne Espresso coffee. I jokingly said have you run out of your Spanish coffee? To which he replied that since our conversation he had been buying our coffee non stop. Having given him my views on dark roasted Spanish coffee he had decided to change to us.
The secret though to our coffee tasting great for him though is that he brews the coffee from frozen. Apparently he takes our beans home and immediately puts them in the freezer. When he goes to make his coffee in a stove top espresso maker, he grinds the frozen beans and then brews the coffee immediately. He tells me that this gives the best coffee taste ever. He's tried not freezing the beans but says that the flavour isn't nearly as good.
It just goes to show you, even after 20 years in the business you can still learn from your customers idiosyncrasies!
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