People need to pay more for coffee - but the industry needs to help people GAF

"Give me a reason to care, and I'll sing along forever."

We’re in that weird time between general elections, World Cups and major storms, where people seem a little bit lost, and they’re looking for a new favourite past time.

I think New Zealand has found one - moaning about the price of coffee.

There’s been a plethora of stories over the last few months about how much a flat white is.

Try here, here, here, oh and here.

The general structure of the story goes:

• Reporter says coffee is expensive.

• Jo/Joe Bloggs on the street agrees - says they should only pay 50c for a cup.

• Jo Industry on the tools disagrees - says the price for every thing is going up, so coffee is actually under priced.

• Reporter moans that, because they live on coffee themselves, it’s not fair to pay a a fair price for things, and that everyone should get everything they want for free, otherwise they should be cancelled.

It’s all very negative, and it’s all getting pretty boring.

The industry are very good at highlighting the increased costs in coffee production. Richard Corney from Flight Coffee, and the NZ Specialty Coffee Association (NZSCA) have had a number of explainers out in the last few weeks.

While these explainers are very good (and important), I don’t think people really care that things are getting hard for the coffee industry. Things are hard for everyone. My water bill has gone up, and I couldn’t care less about why - I just care that it has.

Given how many ‘coffee costs how much?!’ stories that continue to be published, this approach to highlight the mechanics of coffee clearly isn’t working.

The industry needs ditch the numbers and go for hearts and minds. The industry needs a more effective comms approach. One that focuses on the people creating the magic, and what it takes to make magic every day.

As the NZSCA say on Instagram:

“Coffee is more than green beans. It’s about community, craftsmanship and connection.”

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One of these is not like the other

One of these coffees cost $4.50, and the other cost $6.20.

One of these coffees tasted really nice. One of these coffees ended up in the bin.

There's only $1.70 difference between these two flat whites, but the difference in taste is chalk and cheese.

An extra $1.70 gives you specialty coffee, roasted by New Zealand's best coffee taster in Dove Chen - owner and head roaster of one of the best in the country in Grey Roasting Co.

An extra $1.70 gives you access to one of New Zealand's best and most consistent baristas in Matt Ross. Matt continues to excel on the national stage in barista champs and latte art throw downs.

An extra $1.70 gives you specialty coffee, sourced from farms where farmers are rewarded for continued innovation, consistent quality and where whole communities benefit from the success of the farm.

An extra $1.70 is a bargain when you consider ALL the other things you're getting in your cup.

I love that the coffee I enjoyed was roasted by the best taster in New Zealand - that’s a real sign of quality and expertise. I love that one of New Zealand’s best baristas made this coffee - it shows dedication to the craft and the constant striving for perfection.

This is where the real value lies - not just in the litteral cup but also in coffee story-telling.

There are plenty of other examples of stories that can be told to really highlight the value inside a $whateveritcosts cup of coffee. Here’s a few:

• Rocket Coffee got named in the top 100 coffee shops in the world. We have one of the WORLD’S best, at our door step.

• Flight Coffee owns its own coffee farm - El Fenix in Colombia.

• Mojo Coffee is home to New Zealand’s best barista - Max Cui.

• Grey Street Kitchen is home to New Zealand’s best latte artist - Bryan Rajeyya.

• Franks Coffee is home to the WORLD’S 4th best barista - Kawashima Honoka .

• Meebz Coffee Roasters is home to the WORLD’S 3rd best coffee taster - Han Jong Lee .

• Hammerstone Coffee is home to the coach of the WORLD’s 4th best barista - Logan Collinge.

• The list goes on and on and on and on.

And really, they’re not special. There’re stories like that across any good cafe and roastery across the motu. There’re people slogging away, perfecting their craft, honing their skills, delivering quality products each and every day.

I want to hear about them. I don’t want to hear about how Trump nearly killed/still might kill the Colombian coffee industry by opening his mouth, and how that impacts me. I just can’t connect to that.

The more you dig into those yarns, and understand the people behind the machine, the more you appreciate what goes into making a cup of coffee. You’re buying ALL of their experience, skill and investment into their craft. Hell, when you factor that in, even $10 for a flat white is a bargain.

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So, who is going to do it?

No one person, roaster, barista or representative body can do this on their own. Nor should they shoulder the responsibility of educating the entire public about this sort of stuff.

It needs to be everyone in the industry, collectively, doing a little bit, every day.

It means putting aside the typical Kiwi attitude of being too afraid to put your head up and celebrate success.

It means being vulnerable and being proud of everything that you have accomplished.

It means being ready to say “well, I’ve been a barista for 10 years, and this coffee was roasted by one of the best in the biz, and was grown by a farmer who has invested their life into perfecting this process” the next time someone says “$6.50? You’ve got to be joking.”

Either that or getting people to give themselves an uppercut, right?