I was wondering when someone would post something like this- many of the other forums around the place have been debating and discussing the effect of the recession in the US for a while now. In brief we hslow down in coffee sales, first 1/2 was also good for machine sales. However, obviously we are like on the very end of the tail of this thing- meaning the slow down globally has not reached us yet.
Interestingly, reading about the great depression recently, coffee was one of the very few sectors that did not suffer a slum in the 1930's. Iwould not say coffee is recssion proof- but I guess those of us who drink coffee (and pay for it) probablywould cut back on other luxuries before going cold turkey. But 1 thing that we may see, and maybe ourcoffeebarn has hit the nail on the head here- perhaps docket averages will drop a bit.
One interesting debate I have been following on another website is about whether now is a good time to be opening a cafe/coffee shop- especially with all the negative data pointing to higher unemployment, equity issues, dropping retail sales, foreclosures....etc. The Starbucks closures (600 in the US and 2/3rds of all stores in Australia) has got many potential investors and/or opperators nervous. Their (Sbux) poor second 1/4 results have also fuelled the fire. However... I think many of that companies problems are related more to opperational issues and perhaps consumer changes than to the economy. At the same time as SBUX was announcing its first 1/4ly loss since 1994, Peets Coffee was announcing a solid profit and increase in sales.
I guess, hopefully rightly,that most of us are still doing fine with coffee and cafe sales- fine meaning growth not stagnant. I would think that yes, the equiptment side of the business may be a little flat at present- due to perceived uncertainty amngst new entrants into the market and a wait and see from established opperators. However I would think the US in particular has a long way to go until the coffee market reaches saturation. I dont know the numbers in the US, but in Italy there is 1 cafe/coffee shop for every 400 Italians. Coffee has ALWAYS been a very big part of American life (Mark Pendergasts "Uncommon Grounds" is an excellent insight in to just how important a part coffee played in the country last century- worth a read :grin: )
I attribute this to people saving money by buying in larger quantities to get the per pound price as low as possible. I also have not been able to keep my "Ready to Ship" roasted coffee section stocked very well with more people ordering from it and the fact that I have been roasting and bagging into 5 pound bags more, instead of short batches and 1 pound bag orders.
