Coolberry Cafe rejuvenates frozen yoghurt

The fortunes of frozen yoghurt look set to be rejuvenated by Coolberry Cafe, a brand developed by former BB’s Coffee and Muffins executive Michelle Young.

Coolberry Cafe - expect big things.

Young is planning a two-pronged approach to marketing her new product. One is to offer coffee shop and cafe proprietors what she calls a good add-on product – complete with brand support material for in-store sales; and two is the development of a mobile concept aimed primarily at event catering.

According to Young, frozen yoghurt has re-emerged as a lifestyle product with a strong healthy eating agenda.

“People are much more aware of the health benefits,” she said, adding that the product is made in Italy and offers a refreshing, light taste similar in style to a sorbet.

Coolberry Cafe is targeting coffee shops, high street bakeries and sandwich outlets, offering branded or unbranded refrigeration equipment and point-of-sale. Young, who has also penetrated the education sector, claims that her product is not seasonal and that sales figures prove its popularity throughout the year.

The mobile Coolberry Cafe idea, while in its infancy, has already proved successful for Young and she plans to expand it next year, possibly looking at franchising.

“It’s a good format and there are so many events next year,” she said.

Coolberry Cafe frozen yoghurt is dispensed through a soft serve ice cream machine and resembles a Mr Whippy in terms of appearance.

Young argues that while some people, particularly the older generation, fail to understand frozen yoghurt as a concept, most people who try it walk away with a smile on their faces.

Select Service Partner buoyant, claims Keating

Tony Keating, the CEO of Select Service Partner (SSP), claims that the company is ‘doing well in difficult times’.

Caffe Ritazza - a leading SSP brand.

The international travel catering business operates 25 different foodservice brands in 30 countries and, according to Keating, is operating in growth markets – predominantly air and rail.

“Throughout the world, passenger numbers are recovering,” said Keating, reaffirming SSP’s long-term commitment to the sector ‘today and tomorrow’.

Keating highlighted an understandable sales dip for SSP in Egypt, but added that, despite the troubles there, sales had started to recover.

Keating said that SSP’s Uppercrust brand has been ‘amazingly successful’ as it is genuinely an ‘on the move’ product offering. The brand is 100 per cent company-owned and operates 60 units in the UK.  Growth plans are focused around airports.

SSP’s Millie’s Cookies will grow through franchising and has a presence in most of the UK’s best shopping centres. The brand makes a five per cent contribution to SSP’s £600 million UK turnover and is a ‘strong revenue generator’, according to Keating.

As a Burger King franchisee, SSP has outlets in most of its UK locations and would consider airports for future development, should client demand arise. Keating said that SSP clients tend to avoid operating Burger King and McDonald’s on the same site.

SSP is a Soho Coffee Co franchisee and has plans to expand the brand, which is food-led. There are currently two units at Manchester Airport and one at Birmingham Airport’s Terminal Two.

SSP owns and runs 45 Caffe Ritazza units in the UK and 140 globally. The Ritazza brand works well for SSP, according to Keating, as it is licensed and provides a flexible day-part offering for travellers.

The priority for Caffe Ritazza, said Keating, was driving like-for-like sales in existing stores and rolling out the brand’s new format as and when opportunities arise.

SSP plans to remain focused on the travel sector. With a presence at over 250 airports globally, the company hopes to win more business in the USA and expand its operations in Asia.

I Made it For You - opens in Hoxton

A ‘greasy spoon’ cafe, formerly known as The Teapot, has re-opened as I Made it For You, a tea and home-made cakes operation based in Hoxton, London.

The concept is the brainchild of Karen Byrne and Tom Hopkinson and is very much based upon selling traditional tea and cakes baked on the premises.

I Made it For You opened in September and has been a labour of love for Byrne and Hopkinson who are self-confessed foodies.

 “The whole idea is about being in somebody’s kitchen. All the baking  is done on shop floor and a big inspiration has been Tom’s mum’s kitchen in Shropshire,” Byrne explained, adding that the menu is limited because of the size of the kitchen.

“We’re hoping to offer hot stews daily and have applied for an alcohol licence. The plan is to open in the evening and sell a selection of Irish cheeses, ham hock terrine and pork pies. It’s all about using free range meats and high quality produce – the sort of thing you eat at home,” Byrne said.

During the day, I Made if For You is ‘a nice cafe’, according to Byrne, where the main focus will be on serving tea and cake.

Tea, supplied by London-based Postcard Teas, is served in pot. There are 10 different varieties on offer including five black teas and two oolongs as well as chai and Pu-ehr, a Chinese tea.

According to Byrne, the plan is to develop a local audience and focus on weekday trade initially.

“We’re hands on and do all the cooking,” Byrne said, explaining how her day starts at 6am with baking Welsh cakes, which are similar to scones.

“Tom does the coffee and we might swap over, but customers can ask us what we’re doing; the idea is that you’re in our kitchen and you’re eating hot food straight from our ovens,” Byrne added.

Indie operator in Stratford’s Westfield

David Dickinson, a Putney-based independent coffee shop operator, has opened a store in the new Westfield shopping centre in Stratford, East London.

Independent coffee shop Grind can be found in Stratford's Westfield.

The former musician was approached by a regular customer who was also a director of Westfield -  and a big fan of Dickinson’s South West London coffee shop.

Over the past two years, Dickinson’s Grind coffee shop in Putney has received a great deal of positive publicity based purely on the quality of the coffee, the service and the store’s general vibe.

The Westfield director approached Dickinson with a view to Grind opening inside the shopping mall, but Dickinson was initially reluctant to proceed.

 “I didn’t really know if it was the route to take. I had no finance, but to cut a long story short, they [Westfield] said that they would back me,” he said.

Grind’s Stratford Westfield unit is located in the Great Eastern Market section of the mall and opened to the public on September 13. It opens seven days a week and serves an antipodean style of coffee and a range of products baked on-site such as ANZAC biscuits as well as sandwiches, brownies and cakes.

Dickinson describes Grind’s Westfield store as a local cafe in a mainstream market.

“It’s very busy, but relaxed and homely,” he said.

The Egg Café, Liverpool

The Egg Café entrance – purple and bohemian. It's funny how, out of 'mauve'
and 'purple', the latter sounds just a little bit more alive.

Well, with a name like The Egg Café, it wasn't going to be long before it came to the attention of this blog. Founded in 1984 by Janine Pinion, it's located in the heart of Liverpool (just off of Bold Street, near Central Station) and it's a little bit trendy – in good way. There's an independent art gallery on site (Eggspace) and it claimed to have a relaxed and bohemian atmosphere. Brilliant! For more, click here.

The only downside is that it's a vegetarian caff – no sausages or black pudding – but if you need a rest from high-fat cuisine, it's worth a try.

Personally, I love the bohemian, ground floor entranceway.

Six of the best places for a decent cuppa

Yahoo has put together a list of the best places to enjoy a cup of tea. Click here for details.

Pay by phone, not by cash

Almost one quarter (23 per cent) of people are interested in using their mobile phone ito pay for purchases, according to a survey by YouGov and take-up of what is being called “wave and pay” technology is expected to be rapid.

Forget cash, use your mobile instead

However, while five per cent of those surveyed claimed that they would get the technology as soon as it's available, 48 per cent said they won't be rushing out to swap their real wallet for a mobile phone-based alternative. 

When it comes to awareness levels, more than a third (36 per cent) of respondents admitted they didn't know if their existing phone was enabled to make cashless payments with a technology known as Near Field Communications (NFC). 

Russell Feldman, a YouGov Consultant behind the research said that many consumers were attracted to the idea of paying via their mobile phone and that retailers, mobile operators and handset manufacturers have a real opportunity to educate consumers about the advantages of paying for goods and services in this way. 

"We believe that once people have seen it in practice they will be quick to adopt it," said Feldman.

The top perceived benefits of a mobile phone-based payment system are convenience to pay (87 per cent); the speed of paying (67 per cent); easier than carrying cash and cards (67 per cent); better for the environment (37 per cent); less chance of losing personal information than with paper receipts (35 per cent); and being able to keep track of spending more easily (29 per cent). 

The main reason for respondents not planning to use mobile payment in the future is that they are happy with the way they pay now (67 per cent). There are also concerns about security and fraud (56 per cent), and some respondents say they either don't need a mobile payment system or aren't interested (both at 45 per cent). 

However, 44 per cent are concerned about viruses or 'malware' and even those already planning to adopt the new technology have concerns over security and fraud (79 per cent). Viruses and malware are also top worries for this group (66 per cent). 

According to Feldman, there will always be consumer concerns about adopting any new technology, He argued that consumers need to be certain that these genuine worries have been addressed before they fully embrace the idea.

"Our research suggests that consumers see using NFC technology as inevitable, and they are expecting supermarkets, mobile phone and consumer electronics retailers to be the first to offer contactless payments.”

Ten things you didn't know about coffee shops...

Starbucks – the first unit opened on Pike Street Market, Seattle, WA.

Yahoo Lifestyle has an interesting feature on coffee retailing. Click here for more.

If ever you're in Connecticut...

...it looks as if a visit to the Savvy Tea Gourmet is definitely not to be missed.

Click here for more details.

Gary Parda and Julie Guard of the Savvy Tea Gourmet. Photo
courtesy of World Tea News (.com)

The Lobster Pot in Felpham: fancy waiting an hour for a sausage sandwich?

A rather nice illustration of Felpham's Lobster Pot restaurant.

Look, I'm going to be honest from the start: in my opinion Felpham's Lobster Pot restaurant on the West Sussex coast near Bognor Regis, has lost something – and I think it's the larger-than-life lady that used to run the place (who has since left and now runs a B&B). Back in the day (and we're not talking years ago either) she was in charge and the customers knew where they stood. They knew that they wouldn't have to wait 30 minutes for their food, they knew that the tables would be regularly cleared and, well, they knew that when they came off the beach in search of a cup of tea or a sandwich or anything, that all would be well.

Avid readers of this blog will know that I, your humble narrator, have a lot of time for the Lobster Pot – and for good reason. As a child, my parents would bring my brother and sister and me to Felpham for our annual holidays. We used to rent a house on the beach on the Summerley Estate and we loved it – and still do.

The Lobster Pot, which used to be called Perdido's many years ago, was part of our holiday fun. We'd walk along the promenade in the sun (it never rained) and enjoy traditional caff favourites such as sausage, egg and chips, with lashings of HP Sauce, washed down with a fizzy drink, normally Coke or Pepsi, and then walk back along the beach. It was a good mile, if not longer, to the house called 'Merryweather', which is still there today, but has, I think, lost the name.

Anyway, the larger than life lady has gone, the place is now open at night as well as during the day, it has a slightly trendy air about it – and, of late, the service has been very poor.

Today (April 20th) the sun was shining brightly (at 23 deg C, London temperatures were on a par with Alice Springs)  and there were a lot of people taking in the sun on the beach.

Whenever I visit Felpham, the Lobster Pot is my first port of call and so it was today. But unlike in the good old days when the larger-than-life lady was in charge, there was a warning on the counter reading something like, "All food orders will take 30 minutes." I should have known better and ordered a slice of cake or a biscuit from the counter-top display, but I opted for the sausage sandwich – and waited over an hour for it!

Other customers were getting visibly annoyed as they too waited unnecessarily long periods for what amounted to very basic and easy-to-prepare food. My wife had arrived at the restaurant ahead of me – by about 15 minutes – and had ordered separately for herself (quiche and salad) and our daughter Serena (sausage, beans and chips) while I went in search of a cashpoint machine. Serena's sausages, by the way, were a cut above standard caff sausages.

I reached the restaurant at around a quarter past one, but the sausage sandwich I ordered didn't arrive until a quarter past two. Appalling! I made a point of nudging one of the 'waiters' and informing him that I'd been waiting for an hour for one sausage sandwich. In that time I could have made half a dozen, I almost informed him.

There were plenty of other customers getting steadily angry and developing peeved expressions as their food failed to materialise and all I can say is that, perhaps, the menu is not right for the day-time trade or the staff are too inexperienced to cope with such high demand. I began to wonder how they would perform on a hot July day.

The fact that there's a 30-minute wait for any food order means they must be doing something wrong. Surely, if a lot of the meals involve frozen chips, as they do, it's got to be fairly straightforward if you're in the catering business. And if sausages are involved, why don't they cook off a load of them and have them ready for service? Likewise, the fillings for sandwiches. Don't tell me everything is cooked to order – now that would be ridiculous for this sort of establishment, even if it does take on a different character at night. During the day, it's a traditional seaside caff!

I'm not a caterer, but I've written a fair bit about food and restaurants in my time (as editor of Pub Food and Hotel & Restaurant magazines). I've listened to chefs of all abilities discussing how they conduct themselves in the kitchen and, whichever way you look at it, the Lobster Pot is getting something seriously wrong – or it's certainly getting it wrong during the day as I've yet to experience the nocturnal offering. Either they're slacking and not putting everything into it, or they're simply not up to it. The average daytime customer, who invariably wants a sandwich or something with chips, shouldn't be expected to wait an hour for it! Although, the problem here, however, is that customers pay up front for their food and become, in a sense, a captive audience for incompetence. Either way, the Lobster Pot was cheesing off a lot of its customers, including yours truly.

Personally, I won't be going back in a hurry – and for me, that's saying something – and I know that others probably won't be returning either. Next time I visit Felpham, I'll go to the larger place at the sea end of Blake Road: it's just as good, I reckon, and, hopefully, I won't have to wait an hour for a sausage sandwich or a plate of chips. Why should anybody waste precious time waiting for a simple and easy-to-prepar snack item? In many ways, it would have been fine if my incredibly long wait had been an isolated case; but no, there were many irate customers on the verge of losing their rags.

Bring back the larger-than-life lady!