17 June 2010
Those of you who subscribe to US café bar magazines like Barista, Roast and Fresh Cup may have noticed that Sweetbird has made frequent appearances over the last 8 months or so. At Coffee Fest, Seattle last year, we introduced the little bird to the US market and he has taken flight! ‘Give ‘em the Bird’ became the unofficial catchphrase in the US, emblazoned on t-shirts and show back-drops. It has other meanings in the US, as you can imagine…
The US market offers us great potential and we have a strong, dedicated team over there to keep it moving (ex-Clover and Da Vinci people) and their involvement can only have a positive effect for our many other international and UK customers. The first upside will come this autumn with a new flavour specifically developed for the US market that will also be available in others – Pumpkin Spice.
One huge plus for us working in the US is that we get to make regular trips there to plan our strategy and support our great partners at shows like Coffee Fest, Minneapolis. Those of you who know the man at the helm of BtB will also be aware that the US is rather closer to surfing paradise Costa Rica than Bristol – a rather welcome bonus (ash clouds allowing) of making that trip across that Atlantic!
The City
We are ashamed to say that this was our first time in the MidWest. Minneapolis - and its close partner city St Paul - are on the Mississippi and are somewhat famous as locations for US corporate giants, General Mills and 3M, and also for the Mall of America – a modern temple to consumerism that gets 40m visitors a year. Downtown Minneapolis is really clean, and I mean really clean, with a team of 70 dedicated litter pickers. It shares certain architectural features with other Northern US cities in the raised, enclosed walkways downtown, which mean that in the biting winter cold, life can go on pretty much as normal.
Local coffee scene
Caribou Coffee, whose headquarters are local and now have almost 500 company owned stores, are the strongest in Minneapolis. The store closest to our hotel was bright and modern with a pretty nice brew bar (right) which the store team told me was being trialled in the local area. Their menu range is strong on varietals and they appeal to the locals as a home-grown brand.
Another local player is Dunn Brothers, founded in St Paul in 1987, who roast in most stores. They stopped by our booth at the show a few times and were taken by our product quality. Unusual (at least for me) was their cold press coffee, which they sold in bulk bottles for home use (see below)
In every city there is a boutique roaster who works really hard to set themselves apart and tries to push the envelope. In Minneapolis, it’s Bullrun Coffee. One of the senior managers, Dan Anderson, reached out to me on Coffeed prior to the show and invited me to visit Rustica, a lovely artisanal bakery where they operate a coffee bar. As fate would have it, Dan was there when I dropped by with some US partners the day before the show, and before you know it we were cupping some amazing coffees and visiting their roaster. Dan and his team are amongst the people who make this industry what it is – enthusiastic, knowledgeable and above all, welcoming and personable. Bullrun hosted a party on the Friday night, the centrepiece of which was a latte art throwdown which was MC’d by the infamous Nick Cho and judged by yours truly, ably assisted by Gina Palandri of Espresso Partners and Danielle Myers, a trainer at the American Barista School. The format was head to head, with the judges (thankfully) only having to point at the winning pour. With over $500 in the pot, the competition was keen and won by ‘Nicely’ Almeada – great name and great pour (pictured below).
The Show
The Coffee Fest show was great fun, though the visitor numbers felt on the low side. However, this worked in our favour as many other stand holders spent lots of time trying our great Sweetbird products and several even signed up as distributors. Local kingpins B&W Coffee really got on board and Alex and his crew kept bringing their clients over to our booth to sample drinks. Thanks guys - looking forward to working with you! Aaron, our MidWest sales manager, will be swinging by the region in the coming weeks to work with many of you.
It was great to meet so many café owners who shared our vision with regard to ingredient profile and great tasting drinks – we were told the US market needed something new and rather happily, we were it!
Wrap-up
We had a great time in Minneapolis and our understanding of the local market grew big time. There are so many places to visit, it may be some time before we make it back, but when we do, we will be sure to seek you all out. Thanks for everyone for their hospitality – we hope to return it someday!
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