Kimbo : a successful example

Napoli, the world capital of espresso coffee, is where Cafè do Brasil, the producers of Caffè Kimbo and Caffè Kosè, started out.
It’s one of the great Italian success stories, that started in the ’50s in the historical centre of Naples where a small roasting plant was set up for the sale of roasted coffee to coffee bars and coffee shops.
At the height of the exhilarating economic boom of the sixties, the coffee market reached a significant turning point: new packaging systems allowed the product to be sold in tins.
The founders of the company understood the importance of this innovation, which offered better preservation of the product and a wider distribution. They created the brand name – Cafè do Brasil – to supply coffee with a unique quality and taste to households and coffee bars.
Thanks to the expertise gained in the field, the company grew exponentially and is today one of the leading roasters in Europe, continually capturing new markets worldwide.
The ability to understand and anticipate trends in consumers’ tastes is reflected in the prominent market share achieved: Cafè do Brasil, with the brand names Caffè Kimbo and Caffè Kosè, have held second place since 1994 on the Italian retail market for packaged coffee.
Success achieved thanks to a steadfast customer fidelity policy based on one concrete element: the quality of the products.

Vivacious, cheerful, exotic. A dream from faraway places that brightens our moments of relaxation, marks the moments in our day and fills life with flavour.
Every morning more than one and a half billion people in the world start the day with a cup of coffee. Even though the methods of preparation are different: moka, filter, instant, espresso, everywhere in the world coffee is a must, a little ceremonial that marks the moments in our day.
Somewhere between obscure fascination for an energising product and a social custom, coffee has created a huge movement of capital, its enormous diffusion worldwide even more extraordinary if we consider that it is not fundamental for survival.
In Italy, coffee is concentrated and drunk for its energising and digestive properties: 70% is made at home, the remaining 30% is drunk at coffee bars or restaurants.
The per capita consumption of coffee is around 5 Kg, i.e. 600 cups per year, with the highest consumption in adults and a lower consumption in young adults and the elderly. From a recent survey on the attitudes and habits of the Italians with regard to the consumption of coffee, it emerged that 80.5% of the population drink coffee; the figure rises to 89.8% for the population aged between 40 and 49 years, while it drops to 70.1% in young adults aged up to 29 years, but for whom the consumption of coffee is increasing.
The data for the regular consumers are: the average number of coffees per day is 2.7; over 47% of consumers drink 3 cups or more per day, and 56% of consumers are males.
Consumption in Italy is lower than the EU average and lower than the levels for the rest of the world. The difference is due to the different characteristic of consumption and to different eating habits: in the countries where the per capita consumption is higher (Scandinavian countries with around 10 kilos per year) coffee is seen as a light drink to be consumed during meals, whereas for Italians coffee has a strong flavour and digestive-stimulating properties and is therefore consumed in small doses.

Turkish Coffee

“Black as hell, strong as death, sweet as love.” [ Turkish proverb. ]

Turkish coffee is coffee prepared by boiling finely powdered roast coffee beans in a pot, possibly with sugar, and serving it into a cup, where the dregs settle. The name describes the method of preparation, not the raw material; there is no special Turkish variety of the coffee bean. It is common throughout the Middle East, North Africa, Caucasus, and the Balkans, and in their expatriate communities and restaurants in the rest of the world. Coffeehouse culture was highly developed in the former Ottoman world, and this was the dominant style of preparation.
Coffee has affected Turkish culture so much that the Turkish word for breakfast, kahvaltı literally means “before coffee” (kahve means “coffee” and altı “under”), while the Turkish word for brown is kahverengi, literally meaning “the color of coffee”. In recent times, Turkish coffee has become less popular than tea (which was grown locally, and could be bought without hard currency), instant coffee, and other modern styles of coffee. At the same time, it is served by international coffee chains such as Starbucks and Gloria Jean’s Coffees in their stores located in Turkey, although it remains as an option, not a promoted beverage. Another cultural importance of Turkish coffee is that it is one of the most important elements of matrimonial customs. As a matrimonial prologue the prospective groom’s family has to visit the prospective bride’s family to ask their permission and blessings for the marriage. During this meeting the prospective bride has to prepare and serve Turkish coffee to the guests. For the groom’s coffee the bride uses salt instead of sugar so to understand his general characteristics. If the prospective groom drinks his coffee without any sign of displeasure then the prospective bride assumes that the groom is good tempered and patient.

Turkish coffee is a method of preparation, not a kind of coffee. Therefore, there is no special type of bean. Beans for Turkish coffee are ground or pounded to the finest possible powder; finer than for any other way of preparation. The grinding is done either by pounding in a mortar (the original method) or using a burr mill. While there are variations in detail, preparation of Turkish coffee consists of immersing the coffee grounds in water which is usually hot, but not boiling, for long enough to dissolve the flavoursome compounds.
A well-prepared Turkish coffee has a thick foam at the top, is homogeneous, and does not contain noticeable particles in the foam or the liquid.
Turkish coffee is taken at extremely hot temperatures and is usually served with a glass of cold water to freshen the mouth to better taste the coffee. It is traditionally served with Turkish delight. In the Mediterranean and southeastern Turkey, pistachio grains (kakuli/menengiç) may be added into the coffee. All of the coffee in the pot is poured into cups, but not all of it is drunk. The thick layer of sludgy grounds at the bottom of the cup is left behind.

CURIOSITY:
The grounds left after drinking Turkish coffee can also be used for fortune-telling. The cup is commonly turned over into the saucer to cool, and then the patterns of the coffee grounds can be used for a kind of fortune telling called tasseography,or tasseomancy.

Starbucks’ fashion

Starbucks is an international chain of coffee shops is a place where, especially students of high schools and universities, came to meet friends and maybe to have a pause of pleasure durind the day. The headquarters of this group is in Seattle and the chain of coffee shops was founded in 1971.
The Starbucks outlets are mainly located in large cities such as European capitals for example London, Paris or Berlin. Unfortunately you can not find Starbucks in Italy, perhaps because Italians love the espresso and then it would be very difficult to drink this type of coffee which is more “light” and for this reason become a kind of drink. In fact Italian coffee is famous for its strong taste and it is usually drink in a “pure way”, in the sense that is more common to order a normal espresso than for example a “frappuccino”; and then it would be difficult for us Italians, to abandon the traditional ceramic cup double and the ritual of taking a steaming hot coffee at the bar! Probably, just for one of these reasons, the Starbucks would not be as successful as in the rest of the world, although probably sooner or later will be open a Starbucks store in Milan or Rome.
We have just to wait to see if they will be able to succeed also with this demanding public.

Do not forget that Starbucks has had in any case a global success with 17,000 outlets in 49 countries, numbers speak for themselves. The Starbucks most popular product, is without any doubt, the Frappuccino, which over time has become the flagship product of Starbucks, it is consumed in the typical plastic tumbler with straw! The Frappuccino is a very special coffee, and the glass that contains it has a capacity of about 500 ml. Below there is his recipe:
250ml cold milk
3 spoons of sugar
2 spoons of instant coffee
1 cup of ice cubes

<

There are different tastes,for example one with a good espresso coffee flavor, and the chocolate one, in which the coffee is not present, but it is garnished with white cream and icing chocolate.
In addition to various types of coffee you can find many desserts, like chocolate cake, muffins, pastries and classic cakes like the cheesecake. The prices are low and accessible to all! And exactly low prices, quality and originality of its coffees, have allowed Starbucks to achieve this great success all over the world.

Proverbs

- “I have measured out my life with coffee spoons”
T.S. Eliot, ["The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock," line 51]

- “To fill a room it’s enough to put a coffee pot on the fire.”
(Erri De Luca)

- “Coffee is a friend, a friend who keeps you awake, it makes you more cheerful and sometimes avoids trouble.”
(Cafe Express)

- “It is easier to change religion than coffee.”
(Georges Courteline)

- “The coffee was just a way to steal the time that would belong by right to yourself slightly older.”
(Terry Pratchett)

- “The whole region around Nairobi, especially in the north, coltivates coffee and it is populated by people who thinks only to coffee, to the coffee that has to be plant, peel, pick, to the coffee that is dreamed during the night.”
(Karen Blixen, La mia Africa, 1937)

Mexican Coffee

The real Mexican coffee (named cafe de olla in Mexican language) comes from a very caliente land, but it can be easily adapted to the autumn climate that’s’ knocking at the door. As a matter of fact the Mexican coffee is a beverage flavoured with spices and bitter chocolate that fits very well with low temperatures too. The cafe de olla has not to be confused with the cafe mexicano that’s a drink (prepared with kalua, tequila and cream) very similar to the Irish coffee.

The Mexican coffee is prepared boiling water in an earthenware pot then is added the cinnamon sticks, cloves, chocolate and Mexican sugar cane. When the boiling resumes the coffee powder has to be poured and gently mixed. At this point turn off the heat and let the beverage rest for about three minutes. Then just filter the coffee and serve it hot into earthenware cups, accompanying each cup with a cinnamon stick instead of the spoon to decorate everything.

The voices of leaders

“When you try to drink a coffee that is too dark, and too strong, what do you do? you complete it with cream, to make it weak… Usually you take it to wake up, but now you can take it to sleep.”

American Coffee

American coffee is a style of coffee prepared by adding hot water to espresso, giving a similar strength but different flavor from regular drip coffee. The strength of an Americano varies with the number of shots of espresso and the amount of water added.
In the United States, “Americano” is used broadly to mean combining hot water and espresso in either order, but in a narrower definition it refers to adding water to espresso (espresso on the bottom), while adding espresso to water (espresso on the top) is instead referred to as a long black.
The drink consists of a single or double-shot of espresso combined with between 30 – 470ml of hot water.
An alternative of the same ingredients is encountered with the Long Black. The Long Black is the same as an Americano but prepared almost oppositely. An Americano is created specifically by adding the water to an already extracted espresso. This process destroys the crema. The Long Black is an espresso shot pulled over hot water thus preserving the crema. Lungo and Ristretto instead describe the duration of the pull of the shot (extraction).
The coffee blend is usually different from the one used for the Italian espresso. It is almost always the arabica coffee, treated with the “washed” method. This type of coffee is used because of its sweetness, the scent, the not very strong consistency and the distinct note of acidity. Also the roasting changes. A lighter roast, in fact, can limits the feeling of bitterness and enhance the freshness or acidity, typical of a coffee that is experienced more as a soft drink than as a cup, a shot of energy.