Hi there Cafe people.

With 2010 before us, rich with promise and full of potential, it is time to consider what we are going to do differently this coming year.

Alchemy is now addicted to innovation, and you will see from us, new products, better communication, refined service, and lots of new ways for you to make more money using our fantastic naturally flavoured coffee syrups and chai latte syrup. We have employed a new ‘Flavourista’ to come up with new products, for lattes, frappes, mochas and chocolates (hot and cold). We are going to be launching our new website very soon, and it will be really useful for ordering as well as packed with resources to make your lives easier as syrup users.

We are planning to provide you with lots of innovative new ways to grow your sales and profits, as well as broading your drink offering without having to buy more ’stuff’.

From your own point of view, have you thought what you are going to change to make the most of 2010?

Are you going to look at your menu? Spend some time training your staff in upselling? improving customer service? high margin drink making?

It is worth taking some time now, thinking “What 3 things can I do that will make my business more profitable in 2010?”

Write them down, then set about to make those changes happen.

you will be glad you did.

Cordially Yours.

Michael Bishop.

The Cordial Guy.

If you as a Cafe Owner are wanting to incorporate great all natural Coffee Syrups into your cafe’s culture, you will most likely want to know what is in In the new Alchemy Syrup Intro Kit for Cafes.

The Syrup Intro Kit contains everything you need to make literally hundreds of high margin, value added, hot and cold drinks that your customers will LOVE.

We have included the six best tasting, most popular, naturally flavoured Coffee Syrups  in Australia - Vanilla, Hazelnut, Caramel, Chocolate with Organic Cocoa, White Chocolate and of course our deliciously famous Chai Latte Syrup.

We have also included six dispensing pumps for quick, clean, accurate and easy dosage of the syrups for all Coffee and Chai sizes.

There is also an information pack , which incluudes a training DVD, a Syrup Intro Info. pack, a laminated recipe card, and a poster of our extensive range of syrups.

You can start using the syrups the moment they arrive. Simply unpack the box, watch the DVD, read the information and you are in the High Profit Coffee Syrup and Chai game.

By using the Kit, you will increase the average spend per customer, and your customers will love the variety, so everyone will be happy.

Your staff can create your own signature drinks that will keep your customers coming back again and again.

Your $80- investment - will rapidly return you $325.00.

We know the kit works having supplied it to hundreds of cafes already, so we back it up with a 100% money back guarantee.

Alchemy also offer many different resupply options through our network of Coffee Suppliers and Food Service Distributors.

Russell Lean

russell@alchemycordial.com.au

Hi there Cafe People.

We all know that the success of our business comes from our customers, and without them, we are lost, so it makes great sense to work to make their experience of your establishment nothing short of fantastic. remember everyone has a choice when it comes to getting lunch or a coffee, so anyone who comes into your world chose to do so.

I read this morning an interesting paragraph which turned on a light in my head, it was about happiness.

“We cannot reach happiness by consciously searching for it. it is by being fully involved with every detail of our lives, whether good or bad, that we find happiness, not by trying to look for it directly. This was beautifully summarised by Viktor Frankel who wrote “Don’t aim at success- the more you aim at it and make it a target, the more youare going to miss it. For success, like happiness cannot be persued;  it must ensue… as the unintended side effect of ones personal dedication to a course greater than oneself”.

I loved the link between happiness and success, and the realisation that we can achieve neither by persuing them, was both suprising and exciting. How liberating to think that we cannot ‘make’ our customers happy, but that brings us back to the reality that we can do the things within our business that will create the side effect of happiness in our customers.

So forget making the customers happy, and set about to focus on the things that you know need attention, service, cleanliness, warm greetings for everyone who has decided to pay you a visit, and making their latte a piece of art ( with a shot of syrup of course).

Get everyone in your team to focus on something that is missing from your perfect cafe, and to work on that for the next week.

You might find that it just may deliver the side benefit of customer satisfaction.

Cordially Yours.

Michael Bishop.

By the way, the book is called “Flow, the psychology of optimal experience” by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi.

I was recently visiting a friend who loves ice cream, and I have to admit , so do I ….possibly too much. Late in the evening he asked me if I’d like some? Of course I responded that that would be a great thing, and soon I was enjoying something I hadn’t had for years. A big bowl of Vanilla Ice Cream topped with MILO. WOW!!!

Another great thing to do with Vanilla Ice Cream is to top it with about 30ml of Chai Latte Syrup. Stir it in and don’t be too concerned with getting it totally even, as a little explosion of Chai is a great thing. Once the Chai Latte Syrup is mixed in, refreeze the ice cream for later.

I also love making banana pancakes and topping them with Cinnamon Powder. The final touch….. of course a big scoop of the Chai Ice Cream. It’s a marriage made in heaven. I reckon that any pancake in any cafe would be delighted to be topped off in this fashion.

Russell Lean

During 1994 and 1995 I was in India. I drank chai all over the country from Gorakhpur on the Nepali border to Hampi in the rock strewn landscape of highland Karnataka state.

Every region, and dare I say village has its own style and theme in Chai, but many things remain constant. One thing that does is that it takes a fair bit of preparation. This I learnt first hand from Ramesh, a Chai Shop owner in Varanasi on the beautiful Ganges River in Uttar Pradesh in northern India . Ramesh was a consummate chai specialist and rose each morning at 4am to make chai, after doing Puja (ceremony) on the edge of mother Ganges only 100 metres from his tiny chai shop. I had the good fortune to sit with him on several occasions while he meticulously and slowly roasted the Cinnamon, Nutmeg, Cloves, Vanilla Bean, Cardamon and his “secret” spices, for his chai.

While this was happening, the large steel saucepan of milk was boiled and then simmered to pasteurize it and then the sugar and spices were added. Ramesh and I talked about lots of things during those mornings as the intoxicating aroma of the brewing Chai filled the air, including me staying and becoming his brother. The Assam tea was always added last so that it did not brew too long and dominate the flavours of the spices. It wasn’t long before early morning chai lovers were lining up and yelling “Ek Chai, Do Chai”- 1 Chai, 2 Chai.

Years later, I met my wife and in her cupboard was a curios bottle with a strangely familiar scent about it. As soon as I opened it up my mind was flooded with images of Ramesh sitting cross legged in his tiny shop near Assi Ghat in Varanasi. But how do I use it I thought. On the label were the instructions, so I quickly heated some milk and added the requisite amount of the syrup. Oh my Goddess, I was in heaven, seated on the soft soil by the Ganges, hearing drums and the chanting ascetics who come to Assi Ghat during the day.

This Chai had the power to transport me there. Of course I had to meet the maker of the closest thing I had ever found to my beloved Varanasi Chai. A few weeks later I did. Michael Bishop, Master Blender and the founder of Alchemy Cordials.

Hello there Cafe people.

Gale and I have been in Milan for the past 5 days, and been to lots of cafes (naturally).

Milan is fuelled by espresso, and there is a cafe every few paces in the town centre. Most are very small, and individually owned, and sell coffee and a small selection of pastries, and of course cigarettes. There are of course Starbucks cafes scattered around the place, but mostly catering for the tourist trade.

The most popular cafe offering is the espresso. or Macciato, with the milk based drinks coming a long way behind. Peole do not sit and while away the hours in cafes, (there is far too much promenading and lookng stylish to do to be hidden away in a cafe).

As far as innovation goes, the hot new thing I have seen here are small machines which produce shots of ginseng, guarana, and orza (which from what I can gather is a roasted barley). these shots are either added to espresso for a double bunger hit, or served as a shot on the side. I tried an guarana one to help with the jet lag, and it works!. The ginseng is traditionally a male potency aid, so beware all ye maiden in Milan if this stuff takes off!

Another very interesting discovery is actuallally a blend of two not new technologies. the vending machine coffee, and pod based espresso. The result, as I tasted and greatly enjoyed, was a delicious, hot, and high quality macciato on a platform in the metro,(see pic).

The cost of coffee is really low, less than 1 Euro, per cup in most places ( around $2.00), but the volumes are very high.

We are heading to Venice this morning, and so on with the discoveries in the homeland of espresso…

Cordially Yours.

Michael Bishop.

Hi there Cafe professionals.

JUSt wanted to let you know about the upcoming Australian BArista Championships at the Gold Coast Food and wine show Coming up on the Gold Coast soon. The event is being held at the Gold Coast exhibition centre, and should be a wonderful event. Friday the 31st of JAnuary is a trade day, so I recommend that you take advantage of the smaller visitor numbers and the chance to catch up with fellow industry professionals.

Alchemy will be represented on stand 51, where we will have our whole range of Coffee syrups, Chai latte syrups, and some interesting new options as well on display, and our knowledgable staff on hand to help you to make the most of our syrups in your cafe. We will be showing you how to make frappes, and other ice blended beverages, so if you are in the area, please call by.

For more info on the event go to www.thecoffeefestival.com.au

Hello again Cafe people.

In my ongoing personal crusade to come up with the best possible, high margin delicious drinks for our Alchemy Coffee syrup customers to offer, I do come across some very interesting options.

One, which came from a delicious lunch I had a Wilson’s Boathouse at Manly, is The Affogato.

This fantastic espresso based drink/dessert should become a summer staple in all good cafes.

The key to the appeal of the affogato is in the presentation.

You will need.

2 x shot glasses.

1 x Latte glass.

The method is really simple.

make a single shot of espresso, and serve it in one of the shot glasses (30 ml).

fill the second shot glass with the customers choice of Alchemy Coffee Syrup.

Put a scoop of Good quality vanilla ice cream ( I prefer Sara Lee), into the latte glass.

Deliver the 2 shot glasses, plus the latte glass to your customers table, and let them make their own affogato by combining everything into the latte glass. Make sure you provide a teaspoon for stirring and spooning out icecream. The blend of hot espresso, cold icecream and delicious Alchemy syrup will make for a really memorable experience for your customers.

The Affogato will be a sure fire hit after meals as a replacement dessert, and you can easily sell it for a high margin (say $2 or $3 more than a normal coffee).

For more info on Affogatos, or other summer syrup based cafe drink offerings, just drop me an email.

michael@alchemycordial.com.au

Cordially Yours.

Michael Bishop.

Founder.

Master Blender.

Alchemy Cordial Company.

Hi there Cafe people.

With all the doom and gloom surrounding us in the news, it is time we had a good hard look at where cafes sit in the economy, and what likely ‘hits’ we are likely to take. We should also consider what opportunities this presents us, and what changes we need to make to what we do and how we do it.

The big ticket items that consumers have madly purchased on credit for the past 7 - 10 years are loosing their appeal. The Plasma screens, the new white goods, furniture and the like are now well and truly off the agenda for most Australians right now. With superannuation balances falling, and property prices following slowly in the same direction, Australians are looking at their nett worth diminishing, and an uncertain economic future.

Fortunately, there remains a strong interest in the ’small reward’. Our business, the Alchemy Cordial company had a stand at the recent Good Food and Wine show in Brisbane. It was very busy! loads of people who we spoke to said that they were looking for smaller, high quality tastes and food and beverage experiences, instead of big expensive toys or stuff.

This means that you, in your cafe should have a careful look at what you are offering, and how you are treating your customers. You should plan to make friends with the people who come to see you, and you should ensure that the quality of what you offer them, is both high and consistent.

People will come to cafes, even if it is to complain about how much of their super they have lost. Your opportunity is to provide for them, a great food and drink option, excellent service, and make sure that you do this profitably for yourself.

This is a time that will reward well run businesses, and whilst many industry experts are tipping that up to 5% of cafes will close in 2009, there is much that you can do to ensure that you are not one of the casualties.

1. Upsell. instead of giving away sugar, suggest a shot of syrup. Turn your expense, into a 20% add on.

2. Create meal deals, and advertise them. Why not make a signature drink and cake offer? print it out and put it on your counter. You will be amazed at the result.

3. Offer customers a larger size of drink ” whould you like that in a mug?” makes you an extra 20%!

4. Throughout Summer, offer High margin Ice blended drinks ( Frappes). Have a look at some earlier posts for recipes, and how to make them.

5. Review your costs. If it  is hard to make extra sales, look at the expenses side of your business. Are there better ways to buy your requirements? Note, there is a difference between expenses, and investments.

6. What are you doing to market yourself? What activities are you doing to attract new customers through your door? what are you doing to reward your regulars ( or even to acknowlege them?).

If you get on top of these 6 simple step, you will be well on the way to recession proofing your business.

For more info, or some direct assitance with your cafe, drop me a line at michael@alchemycordial.com.au and I will be delighted to assist.

Cordially Yours.

Michael Bishop.

Founder.

Master Blender.

Alchemy Cordial Company