Cafe Co Essay

Submitted By jotlaa
Words: 2263
Pages: 10
Open Document
Café Co
Café Co is one of the five main players in the ‘coffee house’ industry, which now has more than 6000 stores across the globe, 500 of which are in the UK and Ireland. They employ 7000 staff in the UK alone and serve 35 million customers in their stores across the globe each week.
The coffee industry is particularly robust, with coffee being the second most valuable commodity in the world after oil, with global retail sales estimated to be £39.2 billion. A total of 6.7 million tonnes of coffee were produced annually in 1998-2000, which is forecast to rise to 7 million tonnes by 2010.
The number of coffee bars in the high street has increased considerably in recent years, with the market being dominated by five main players. The ‘coffee house’ business therefore, is very competitive with coffee chains constantly looking for innovative ways of achieving sustainable competitive advantage, to remain ahead of their rivals.
Café Co had enjoyed first mover advantage in the marketplace and had rapidly grown to number three position, which they had retained for 15 years. In recent years, however, they have lost market share to rival competitors who have copied Café Co’s business model and poached key staff to deliver it and subsequently customers had followed. This had resulted in Café Co slipping to the number five position. This loss of market share had forced them to rethink their strategy and a new charismatic chief executive, Ben Thomson, had been appointed in 2005 to turn the business around.
In reviewing Café Co’s current strategy Ben Thomson embarked on an international fact finding tour of their coffee bars to meet staff and customers and get a feel for the nature of the business, together with rival coffee houses to gain an understanding of their source of competitive advantage. He wanted to return Café Co to the number one position in the marketplace. His review identified customers who were loyal to the brand of Café Co but had been enticed away by the experience, the variety of coffee and level of customer service offered by their competitors. His review of human resources found a high level of staff turnover, due to the minimum wage offered and the high percentage of international employees who tended to be employed on short-term contracts. The recent loss of market share and high employee turnover had led to low morale amongst remaining staff, as they felt Café Co’s bars were dated and the range of coffees limited. Ben Thomson’s review of the competitors supported this, as he identified the significance of the ‘coffee drinking experience’ which was delivered through appropriate décor, ambience, variety in the range of products and most importantly of all, the barista or ‘coffee seller’. He identified these as key sources of added value and competitive advantage.
Ben Thomson decided to relaunch Café Co’s business strategy with a new vision: ‘To be the number one coffee house of choice across the globe’ and identified the following mission: Experience Café Co, we don’t just sell coffee we provide customers with an unforgettable experience. This was encapsulated in his value statement: ‘Nowhere else makes you feel this good.’ which he believed should apply to staff as well as customers. He was convinced that the success of coffee bars lay not just in selling coffee as a product, but in selling the ‘coffee house’ experience. To achieve this he felt that Café Co’s human resources would be crucial to the success of his strategy. He recognised that human resources would face a difficult task, as the coffee house industry is traditionally renowned for low pay (minimum wage being the norm) and high employee turnover (50 – 100 per cent being the norm), yet the baristas (coffee sellers) are crucial to the success of the business and the selling of the coffee house experience.
He identified the following priorities:
Business
• To be the number one coffee house across the globe.
• To attract new
Show More

Related Documents: Cafe Co Essay

Cafe de Columbia Essay

Case Study 3- Café de Colombia By Nuri GOKCEK 10.22.2008 1. Problem Identification FNC (Federacion Nacional de Cafeteros de Colombia) is a private legal entity of an associative in a not-for-profit character whose aim is to promote the coffee business of Colombia and raise the living standards of the growers. Since 1960 this organization has accomplished an effective marketing strategy through a well-known copyrighted logo, but there are new challenges right in front of them. Café de Columbia…

Words 939 - Pages 4

Dulwich Hill Summary

taste of the café culture, delectable pastries, and amazing restaurants. This neighbourhood is right on the cusp of big things to come. Dulwich Hill has two shopping precincts with a few shops on Wardell Road, plenty of schools, modern public transport, lovely local parks, and more for anyone who wants to enjoy the best of everything in one sweet suburb. Dulwich Hill Profile Dulwich Hill is fondly referred to as “Dully” by its residents. They refer to this suburb…

Words 891 - Pages 4

panera bread Essay

Company Overview Panera Bread Company is one of the fastest growing bakery-café restaurants in the United States. Panera Bread Company was originally known as the Saint Louis Bread Company, which was a chain of 20 bakery-café located in St. Louis. In 1993, Au Bon Pain Co. purchased Saint Louis Bread Company. In the years following the purchase, Au Bon Pain managers traveled the country and studied the market for fast food and quick service meals and saw growth opportunities in the higher- quality…

Words 714 - Pages 3

Student: Coffee and Café Shop Essay

the reports I find out all of the cafes are very similar due to those similarities we can see that the type of business is very simple to running. Nowadays in Auckland city the coffee is one of important part in people’s life. Almost everybody is drinking coffee in his or her daily life, so I will say the café in Auckland is not only one place for drink coffee but also is a place about health, healing and well-being, even the social life. There is no denying that café plays a very important role in…

Words 806 - Pages 4

Cafe de Coral Marketing Paper

MKT B250 TMA1 Kwok Yiu Hung(Student ID:10919600) Marketing Plan: Café de Coral Group 1. Introduction Background information This marketing plan is base on the quick service restaurant in Hong Kong market and the Café de Coral Group is focus in this plan. The Group was incorporated in October 1968, it is principally engaged in the food and catering industry as largest Chinese quick service restaurant group, maintaining a publicly recognized leadership position in the mass-market, quick…

Words 2252 - Pages 10

Panera Bread Case Study Essay

SITUATION Panera Bread’s intention is “to make Panera Bread a nationally recognized brand name and to be the dominant restaurant operator in the specialty bakery-café segment.” Panera experienced competition from many numerous sources in its trade areas. Their competition was with specialty food, casual dining and quick service cafes, bakeries, and restaurant retailers, including national, regional, and locally owned. The competitive factors included location, environment, customer service, price…

Words 4544 - Pages 19

Situational Analysis 2 Panera Bread Essays

Company Case 2 – Panera Bread Analyzing case study six on page 298 in Marketing Management Knowledge and Skills by J. Paul Peter and Jim Donnelly, we find Panera Bread Company, a signature bakery-café entity. With an attractive menu and a significant dining ambience, Panera Bread was recognized as the nationwide leader in the specialty bread market scoring the highest level of customer loyalty in 2003 among the quick-casual dining restaurants. Founded by Louis Kane and Ron Shaich who spent considerable…

Words 668 - Pages 3

Midterm Exam Essays

are, identify the products and services you produce, and describe the geographical location in which you operate” (entrepreneur.com) Bonnie and Stacy, the co-owners of Custom Coffee & Chocolate, have given thorough consideration to envision how their small business can succeed, and now have a well thought out and agreed upon vision for their cafe. Now that they have the vision for their business in place, and their unique position within the community established, Custom Coffee & Chocolate must take…

Words 871 - Pages 4

Levendary Cafe Essay examples

Levendary Café was born as a small soup, salad and sandwich restaurant. Under the direction of former CEO Howard Leventhal, who stood behind Levendary’s vision of “delighting the customer”, the restaurant was transformed into a multi-billion dollar firm comprised of 3,500 cafés nationwide. Leventhal stated that “Its wholesome soups, salads, and sandwiches using high quality ingredients, and a commitment to service in a comfortable, friendly, environment distinguished Levendary Café from other quick…

Words 1577 - Pages 7

Essay on brief encounter

Laura shows up on the screen which takes her from the stage to a quite boring and bland looking home life. The curtain reveals an great set which the cast alternate depending on which kind of scene is taking place - turning from a railway station café into Laura’s home, a restaurant, a boating lake, the platform and then back again. The film clips and projector images in between scenes that were added were a good feature of the play that drew every body’s attention by providing something different…

Words 1053 - Pages 5