In recent weeks Starbucks has announced it will no longer charge for plant-base alternative milks. This comes after efforts from activists claiming discrimination. Starbucks aside, the conversation about up-charging for alt milk has been going on for a while now with people who feel strongly on either side of the topic.  Today on Shift Break we will be talking about whether or not you should be charging for alternative plant based milk options, how to approach this from a practical business perspective, why it's not a great idea to be so obsessed with what major retailers do, and how not to be bullied or guilted into conforming but rather make sound decisions.  Related episodes: 184 : Making Great Business Decisions w/ Dave Stachowiak 181 : Organizational Self-Knowledge 223 : Building a Financially Resilient Business w/ Andrew Carroll 136 : Nourishing the Barista’s Soul: A conversation w/ Deb Kaminski of Pacific Natural Foods 485: Your Shop vs The Industry - How to Free Yourself From Dependency   INTERESTED IN CONSULTING AND COACHING? 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    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  

The way customers and staff experience our cafes is based many experiences and moments taken together to form what they know as our culture or brand. Each experience can be broken down into many different parts that happen within even one visit and the smart operator knows that unless there is a plan set up ahead of time for how we want those moments to go, then we will provide less than stellar service. The customer loses out on experiencing our best, and we lose out on keeping good customers and good staff.  Today we are going to be talking about a few critical workflows I believe every coffee bar needs to have detailed nd trained on in order to serve people very well every day. Take this episode as an assignment and go create these for your shop as soon as you can! Include the staff and launch these as guiding processes so your coffee shop will thrive.    In this conversation we layout the plan for: Menu Workflows Change workflows Customer Experience workflows Related episodes: 399: Encore Episode! How to Change Things in the Cafe 307 : 10 Simple ways to Level Up your Coffee Shop 291 : What to do if Your Baristas Wont Listen to You 191 : Retraining your Staff on new Standards 424: Developing Menu and Hospitality Guides 421: Encore Episode: Simple, Powerful, Hospitality w/ Philip Paul Turner 058 : Holiday Hospitality 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 Want a beautiful coffee shop? All your hard surface, stone, and brick needs!  www.arto.com Follow on Instagram! @Artobrick .... and tell them Chris sent you!

Training your staff is easily one of the most important things to get right if you want to set them up for success and make sure your customers are getting a great experience every time. Every place has their own way of doing training and most of it is cobbled together from different sources in a desperate bid for a positive outcome. The result if all to often a staff that is under prepared, frustrated leadership, and guest experiences inconsistent standards.  Today on Shift Break we will be talking about the absolute best way that every coffee bar should be training their staff in order to bring provide excellence day in, and day out. I know that seems like a big statement. All coffee shops? Yes, I truly believe and have seen time and again, that if you apply this approach in your shop you will see a real and substantial improvement in morale, consistency, and quality   Related episodes: 235 : 4 Tips for Training your Staff 296: Holistic Barista Training w/ David Castillo of Go Get Em Tiger , Los Angeles 301 : Hiring and Training for Excellence 339 : What Good Barista Training Produces 191 : Retraining your Staff on new Standards 178 : Training Masterclass w/ Emma Haines of London School of Coffee and Caffeina Consulting 130 : Anne Nylander | Training Principles for Specialty Coffee Professionals SHIFT BREAK: Detail Oriented Staff Starts With You You Need to Prioritize In-House Training! 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    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  

Innovation and an obsession with what is "new" has long been a primary force capturing the imagination of coffee pros and entrepreneurs. Trouble is that the novel and new, while it may be good at grabbing or capturing attention, is not great at keeping and sustaining us, or our businesses for that matter. In fact, innovation and constantly looking for something have the opposite effect than what it seems to promise.  Enter the idea of maintenance over innovation and everyday excellence. I recently came across a post from today's guest on linkedIn detailing his thoughts on this and I knew immediately we needed to bring him back on the show to talk this out!  I am thrilled to welcome back to the show Maxwell Colonna- Dashwood!  This will be a very conversation that will illuminate the path that I believe all of us need to be walking in the coffee shop space. As always, Maxwell's keen insights serve as a guide and a resource to better shops and better coffee.  In this conversation we discuss: Innovation vs. Maintenance in Coffee The Importance of Hospitality in Coffee Shops Understanding the Value of Consistency Important Shifts in Innovation Perspectives The Role of Personal Identity in Coffee Innovation Why we need to focus on the fundamentals in coffee shops Navigating Staff Dynamics + Customer Experience Balancing Innovation and Consistency in Coffee Shops Customer Engagement in Hospitality Long-Term Vision in Coffee Shop Operations Links: www.maxwelldashwood.com @mcolonnadashwood   Related episodes: 339 : What Good Barista Training Produces SHIFT BREAK: Defining Excellence and Success SHIFT BREAK: Pull Out The Fridge 480: Focus on What Your Customers Love Three Questions for Better Cafe Decisions SHIFT BREAK: Don't Focus on Coffee   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 Want a beautiful coffee shop? All your hard surface, stone, and brick needs!  www.arto.com Follow on Instagram! @Artobrick .... and tell them Chris sent you!

Parviz Dadashov, Founder and CEO of United Coffee Beans in Azerbaijan, shares his inspiring journey from a summer job to leading the specialty coffee movement in his country. He discusses how United Coffee Beans fostered a strong coffee community, merging coffee culture with Azerbaijan's rich tea traditions. Parviz highlights the role of the United Coffee Academy in enhancing local barista skills and coffee appreciation. This engaging conversation also delves into innovative brewing techniques and the importance of creating a welcoming atmosphere for coffee enthusiasts.

Coffee is great! Keeping it consistently great in the shop is a challenge and there are many tactics and tools to apply in learning more about coffee and applying what we learn in the shop. But what happens when we allow our pursuit of more coffee knowledge become a distraction from focusing on needed areas of improvement and maintenance in the cafe?  Today on Shift Break we will be talking about how our focus on coffee, while needed to a degree, can become an escape from confronting, focusing on, and growing in other very important areas of the business and the relationship with people we manage in the shop. Stay tuned for a new episode next week with returning guest Maxwell Dashwood talking about the need for maintenance of excellence in contrast to our pursuit of innovation and novelty.  Related episodes: SHIFT BREAK : Trends You Can Ignore 502: Creating Meaningful Coffee Experiences 469: Unremarkable Hospitality and Cafe Terroir SHIFT BREAK: Reassessing Growth 390 : 7 Ways to be Consciously Competitive 275 : The Changing Landscape of Cafe Spaces w/ Dr. Jennifer Ferreira 421: Encore Episode: Simple, Powerful, Hospitality w/ Philip Paul Turner 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    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  

The coffee industry, specifically the coffee shop, has been changing. Trends and fads come and go, but movements are born from a collective need to evolve and mature toward a better way of operating professionally. It is not the trends that you need to worry about not getting in line with, but the movements.  Today we will be covering five areas that have been changing in the coffee shop sector that I believe every owner and operator needs to embrace. These areas cover a virtually all corners of your business from the coffee itself, to the people making it, and how you lead and grow as a leader.  In this conversation we discuss: Embracing the Five Movements in Coffee   Prioritizing Hospitality in Coffee Shops   Building Social Identity and Online Presence   Creating Accessible Coffee Products   Focusing on Customer Success   Reforming Leadership in the Coffee Industry Related episodes: 502: Creating Meaningful Coffee Experiences 430 : Embracing "Unreasonable Hospitality" w/ Will Guidara | Thank You NYC + The Welcome Conference Building an Accessible Coffee Menu w/ Joe Marrocco 6 Truths About Power 069: Hosting Consumer Coffee Classes 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 Want a beautiful coffee shop? All your hard surface, stone, and brick needs!  www.arto.com Follow on Instagram! @Artobrick .... and tell them Chris sent you!

So many great ideas come from conversations, trade shows, podcasts, books, and videos. Ideas and epiphanies that will make your coffee shop better and solve problems that have plagued you and your team for too long. But how do you take the first step to apply those ideas why you feel you don't have the time.  On today's episode of Shift Break we will answer frequent question I get asked when I am speaking at a conferences and with clients, how do I find the time to do these things when I am already as busy as I am? Good news, it is simpler than you think.    Related Episodes: 399: Encore Episode! How to Change Things in the Cafe 489: Tips for Creating a Resilient Cafe 498: 10 Small Things to Fix in Your Coffee Shop This Week SHIFT BREAK : Evolution Through Small Steps 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    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  

We all say that guest experience is the most important thing. I would agree, but exactly what do we mean by this? In today's marketplace we are hyper focused on efficiency over effectiveness. The result is that what passes for what we believe makes a great coffee experience, is something unsustainable, ineffective, but flashy and largely based on a trend instead of truly fulfilling the core needs of a customer in our coffee shop.  Today we will be discussing what a truly meaningful guest experience needs to get right before skipping to the bells and whistles that are poor replacements for the basics done well.    In this conversation we discuss: Customer desire for something that can fit into the fabric of their lives. Why the word 'experience' can mean many things, often leading to confusion. Meeting baseline expectations is crucial for customer satisfaction. Innovation and focusing on people, not just technology. How trust is built through consistent service and quality. Basic beverages should be executed with excellence. Hyper branding does not compensate for poor service. Unique experiences should come after mastering the basics. Customer experience is about hospitality and care. Why doing basics well transforms businesses Related episodes: 430 : Embracing “Unreasonable Hospitality” w/ Will Guidara | Thank You NYC + The Welcome Conference 489: Tips for Creating a Resilient Cafe 045 : Simple, Powerful Hospitality w/ Philip Turner 424: Developing Menu and Hospitality Guides 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   Want a beautiful coffee shop? All your hard surface, stone, and brick needs!  www.arto.com  

Every coffee shop hosts within its walls countless stories. The life that happens on the pltform of a cafe is just breath taking. This includes stories that showcase you and your team's values in action. Wil Guidara talks about these as legends that embody the and illustrate what we are all about. Be this as it may, stories somehow do not take up very much, if any, time or attention when we onboard, train, and talk about the work with our staff On today's episode of Shift Break we will be talking about why you need to be paying attention to the moments in your cafe that demonstrate the real life applications of the t and values you espouse. Doing this as a discipline and rhythm will both deepen your appreciation for what your cafe creates in the lives of others and make it more likely those stories continue to unfold well into your shop's future.  Related Episodes: Your Employee Handbook is Worthless 165: The Art of Deep Listening w/ Oscar Trimboli 181 : Organizational Self-Knowledge 476: Founder Friday! The Story of Story Coffee w/ Don Niemyer of Story Coffee Co.   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    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