What makes a good coffee? Is it the region and the skilled hands of the farmer from which the coffee “beans” come from? Is it the roaster, that transforms the green beans into toasted and aromatic coffee ready to brew? Or could it be the friendly staff and the comfortable atmosphere of your local neighborhood coffee shop? Marketing and advertising, product development and consumer relations all played vital roles in getting successful coffee chains off the ground.
Coffee has been a valuable international trade commodity stretching back as far as the 1800’s (second in value to oil). In 2009 coffee as a global commodity was valued at over $42.5 billion dollars with 40% of the it considered gourmet or “specialty”. These numbers have increased roughly 12% in the last 6 years with the popularity of specialty coffee on the rise. Coffee shops can be divided into two categories, chain and specialty. To be considered specialty, at least 55% of sales must come directly from the sale of coffee.
So where does the terroir of coffee come from and how does this terroir affect the coffee market? From our visit to Olympia Coffee Roasters, we found that the development of flavor within coffee comes mainly in three steps, processing, the varietal, and lastly its taste of place (terroir). For many, what can make or break a coffee shop’s success is not the quality of the coffee but the niche in which they are trying to fill or the atmosphere they are trying to provide. For me, the terroir of coffee is in the marketing, advertising, and consumer relations.
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