Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders Chris Deferio

At the head of some of the most exciting brands in India's rapidly expanding specialty coffee scene is Subko. More than coffee, Subko has created a platform to show case the flavors, culture, and design of India through multiple disciplines. At it's heart is sourcing, roasting, and serving the best coffee the subcontinent has to offer and Mumbai is just the beginning. Today we get to hear the story and insights of Subko co-founder, Rahul Reddy
Rahul Reddy is the co-founder of Subko Specialty Coffee Roasters and Specialty Arabica Q Grader.
With Subko, Rahul intends to help reimagine the Indian Subcontinent as a legitimate contributor to the global specialty coffee movements. The conception of Subko began in December 2018, and cemented itself in February, 2019, when Rahul decided to leave behind careers in the technology, social enterprise, and risk analyst worlds to train as an apprentice at a specialty coffee company called City of Saints in Brooklyn, New York. There, he learned the art of profile roasting coffee as a roasting apprentice, learned specialty brewing, packaging, producing cold brew, and farm level green bean buying. 
In this conversation we cover:
Rahul's Introduction and Personal Fascination with Coffee The Absence of Indian Farmers in the Global Coffee Discourse The Value of Diverse Backgrounds and Skills Specialty Coffee as a Platform for Change Design and Storytelling to Showcase Indian Coffee Building a Foundation for Subko Redefining Indian Coffee: Showcasing Terroir and Post-Harvest Processing The Permaculture of Indian Coffee: Shade Trees and Intercropping From Roasting to Cafe: Navigating Challenges During the Pandemic Verticals of design, cocoa, and coffee Fostering Creativity and Collaboration: Subko's Team Values Expanding the Subko Experience: From Mumbai to International Cities Advice to other entrepreneurs looking to reshape narratives Links:
https://www.subko.coffee/
IG: subkocoffee
 
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Get the best brewer and tool for batch espresso, iced lattes, and 8 minute cold brew! www.groundcontrol.coffee
 
The world loves plant based beverages and baristas love the Barista Series! www.pacificfoodservice.com
 

We only have so much energy, time, and money to give to marketing our coffee shops. There is a lot of stress related to having the right strategy for getting people to become aware of you cafe and then visit and keep visiting. To make matters more worse, the consumer must wade through a sea of competitors who are applying similar social media and advertising strategies. So what do you invest into to give you a big return?
Today on Shift Break we will be discussing what I believe is an often overlooked and little implemented strategy that will gain you a lot of long term customers. Best of all, it is not able to be duplicated and helps you stand out from the rest in a way the usual methods a cannot. 
If you are a cafe owner and want to work one on one with me to bring your shop to its next level and help bring you joy and freedom in the process then email chris@keystothshop.com of book a free call now: 
https://calendly.com/chrisdeferio/30min
Listen to related episodes: 
433: Winning Staff and Customer Loyalty 215 : Communication and Marketing Master Class w/ Spencer M. Ross, PH.D. 115 : Finding Success in Mobile Coffee w/ Tim Cox / Communion Coffee 430 : Embracing “Unreasonable Hospitality” w/ Will Guidara | Thank You NYC + The Welcome Conference Are You Open? 480: Focus on What Your Customers Love Thank you to out sponsors! Everything you need for back of the house operations https://rattleware.qualitybystainless.com/
 
The best and most revered espresso machines on the planet: www.lamarzoccousa.com
 
 
 

Tasting coffee is arguably one of the most important, yet subjective practices we engage in as coffee professionals. As our guest today will articulate, tasting and evaluating a coffee's Characteristics is done as a means of communicating to others. In order for us to communicate we need a common language and we need to contextualize as we go. That is where "The Coffee Rose" comes into play. Today we are diving into the world of sensory analysis and ways to create accesibity and understanding with special Guest, Ian Fretheim
Ian Fretheim has been the Director of Sensory Analysis at Cafe Imports for 13 years. He holds a certificate in sensory and consumer science from UC Davis and has studied wine assessment with the International Sommelier’s Guild. In 2018-2019 he began work on the foundations that would become the Coffee Rose with the goal of improving Cafe Imports’ sensory program.
As the Coffee Rose emerged, it became clear that it answered more questions and served greater needs than originally imagined. The Coffee Rose is an unprecedented pivot toward transparency and accessibility in specialty coffee cupping. 
Today, Ian and Cafe Imports use the Coffee Rose to describe and assess thousands of coffees, teach cupping and coffee tasting, communicate with partners, and provide a path for experienced cuppers to return to tasting coffee without the filter of forms that abstract them away from the cups and reduce their experience to a series of numbers.
Links:
The Coffee Rose
@cafeimports
Water Activity in Green Coffee Paper
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Get the best brewer and tool for batch espresso, iced lattes, and 8 minute cold brew! www.groundcontrol.coffee
 
The world loves plant based beverages and baristas love the Barista Series! www.pacificfoodservice.com
 

It is easy to talk about the things we want to improve, fix,  and institute in the cafe. Trouble is that in all the talking of doing the how we need this or that, we tend to leave it there and wait until an opportune or ideal time comes along, rather than simply taking 1 small decisive step toward what we need.
Today on Shift Break we talk about why we need to default to taking action more vs simply talking about and planning the perfect next step Disciplining ourselves to do this creates in us and our team the identity and capacity needed to manage the shop well.
If you are a cafe owner and want to work one on one with me to bring your shop to its next level and help bring you joy and freedom in the process then email chris@keystothshop.com of book a free call now: 
https://calendly.com/chrisdeferio/30min
Listen to related episodes: 
  Thank you to out sponsors! Everything you need for back of the house operations https://rattleware.qualitybystainless.com/
 
The best and most revered espresso machines on the planet: www.lamarzoccousa.com
 
 
 

Your customers count on you to create a wonderful cafe experience everyday. That is the implied or explicit promise of our marketing and what most of us aspire to deliver. The way we get there is by paying close attention to what our customers love and fortifying those element of the business through focused resourcing and training and improving as we go.
What are some of the most important areas to focus on that will truly communicate to your customers that you take their patronage seriously and that we are here to serve?
Today we are going to cover the main things customers love, why they are important, how to create a culture that maintains them, and what you can expect as a result. 
We cover:
Preemptive service Thoughtful variety Empathy Attention to detail Cleanliness Consistency Follow through and acknowledgement
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Get the best brewer and tool for batch espresso, iced lattes, and 8 minute cold brew! www.groundcontrol.coffee
 
The world loves plant based beverages and baristas love the Barista Series! www.pacificfoodservice.com
 

In the cafe, it is easy to lapse into assuming that people who work for you, should also be available and responsive at all times even when off the clock. The lack of quick response from staff when off the clock to calls, emails, slack messages etc is often considered some sign that the employee is not right for the organization and can have a negative impact on how that employee is perceived and invested into. 
Today on Shift Break we talk about the importance of respecting the boundaries of personal and professional and how we should set healthy expectations for staff an ourselves in the coffee shop so we can avoid this toxic overlap. 
If you are a cafe owner and want to work one on one with me to bring your shop to its next level and help bring you joy and freedom in the process then email chris@keystothshop.com of book a free call now: 
https://calendly.com/chrisdeferio/30min
Listen to related episodes: 
SHIFT BREAK: Owners, It's OK to Make Mistakes Specific Expectations and Due Dates High Expectations + Low Control Reasonable Expectations Good Baristas aren't born, they're Made
Thank you to out sponsors! Everything you need for back of the house operations https://rattleware.qualitybystainless.com/
 
The best and most revered espresso machines on the planet: www.lamarzoccousa.com