It’s not very often that the UK gets a world champ, but it’s not that rare, either – we remember 1966 and all that, and the rugby team topped the world a few years back.  We occasionally do rather well in the boxing, and we dominated rowing for a time.  

All these things contribute to a national feelgood factor.  So, what are we all going to do to capitalise on James Hoffmann’s excellent achievement in becoming the world’s top barista?

In asking this, we are not slighting James and his win  (believe me, this magazine has already been accused of that!),  but it is time to look beyond the win itself, and ask two very important questions – first. how does the trade use this to inspire interest in the subject of coffee among consumers, and second, how do we use it to inspire interest and ambition among café-owners and their staff?

In the last few weeks, this magazine has taken flak for questioning how the trade promotes a matter like this; we dared to suggest that if an American had won, that country’s media would have been completely buzzing with it within 24 hours.  We worried, and were brave or foolish enough to say so, that this wonderful promotional opportunity on behalf of the trade might be missed – the news has been in James’ local paper, and in his home town paper, and a couple of other places, but it has certainly not been all over the national press or the media in general.

The answer we got was "it's all about money".   We disagree – we think it's all about enthusiasm.

Now, don’t get us wrong – we don’t mean enthusiasm for barista contests. The organisers and those involved have that by the bucketload.  What we mean is the enthusiasm to spread the news far and wide… that’s our enthusiasm, because it’s what we enjoy doing.  

Anyway, the main question is - how does the trade in general think that having a British world champ can now be used to enhance the standing of the entire UK coffee trade in the minds of the consumers?   

*

We were impressed to see that the new champ himself was very ready to take part in this debate, and willing to look beyond his own personal success to see how the whole trade can benefit.

“I'm curious to see what can be achieved on a wider scale,” James Hofmann told us. “With regards to the press - in the UK it is tricky, because of the entire UK coffee industry there are relatively few people who genuinely support with the message we are preaching (quality, traceability, training, support, openness and sharing of knowledge). 

“In its current state, I think you will agree that I have been lucky with my employment (he was first with Gaggia, an advocate of barista contests, and then with La Spaziale, a sponsor of the UKBC, who placed a vast amount of resources behind him)  and am perhaps not a perfect fit into our industry.  In the US there are a greater number of people set to benefit, and the SCAA is much larger than the whole SCAE, let alone the UK Chapter, with a good PR agency (who have been in touch with me since). 

“The US aside, I hope a World Champion can introduce the idea of Speciality Coffee to a wider public, distinct from labels or other coffees by quality and traceability.  The idea that coffee can taste really good, and is about more than a liquid warming source of caffeine.”

What do other trade commentators think  -  does having a world champion mean we have a good opportunity to promote speciality coffee before the general public?

Hugh Gilmartin,one of Ireland’s ‘Coffee Boys’ consultants, was doubtful: “Its difficult for the small operator with the right attitude to make a difference nationally. It’s much easier for the national chains but they are not interested in the WBC - most big business needs to be accountable on an annual basis to shareholders and are unable to think longer term. It is difficult to get bigger business to think of anything but themselves.

“It is therefore left to organisations like SCAE   (the Speciality Coffee Association of Europe, who run national championships including the UK one, and who effectively invented and own the world event)   to fly the flag and this requires good people, good marketing and good planning.

“The only real way this can happen is by them generating income, so the best way the trade can use Jim Hoffman’s success is to join the SCAE and give them the resource to drive and inspire interest among consumers.

“They certainly have the knowledge and desire. The problem is that an abundant mentality is not part of our culture and perhaps we need a fresh approach.”

His Coffee Boy partner, John Richardson, was more outspoken:

“I view all of this stuff, to a large extent, simply as a tool.  Let's never forget the huge rate of closure of restaurants and cafes within the first few years and therefore  the WBC is a tool to help sell more stuff generally, and to raise standards.

“Ultimately, in my view the rate of closure of cafes is correct.  There are far, far, far too many ‘lazy bastard’ coffee shops out there and they don't deserve to be open.”  (At this point he detailed the shortcomings of several well-known businesses, all of which have had to be edited out for fear of the laws of libel !)

“The point is a competition like this, and the utter genius and commitment to passion that is shown by these guys, is a brilliant example of the sort of effort that needs to go into every aspect of the business.  It's a metaphor for perfection.  It's that striving for perfection that needs to be grasped with every aspect of the business - whether it be staff recruitment or training or creating the perfect bun.

“So the trade needs to use things like this to show that we care about coffee in the same way that Michel Roux cares about the perfect bearnaise sauce or the bottle of Chateau d'Yquem with foie gras.  It's an indication of perfection and the pursuit of it that we should all be aspiring to. 

“It's still part of a balance - it's the passion part of the equation that ultimately ends up as money.  The passion and the story is what interests the consumer, though.  They don't give a shite about the money we make, but they can be fascinated about the perfect espresso just like they're fascinated by the perfect pint of Guinness or perfect piece of steak.”

Colonel Ian Blair-Pilling, founder of the Guatemalan coffee bus, sided with the Coffee Boys, and worried that the trade’s major publicity is, for one reason or another, giving entirely the wrong message about coffee. The message of quality, he argued, is being missed.    

“My fear is that the UK coffee industry is concentrating on the wrong aspects.  The themes I pick up are that selling points seem to be:

“Sympathy i.e. Fairtrade.  I get angrier and angrier about the issue.  Many times customers stand in front of me and ask if our coffee is fair-trade and sometimes add that they feel a duty to buy fair-trade.  I reply that we prefer to concentrate on quality rather than sympathy, but do take account of ethical factors.  If there is time we then explain why we prefer to support The Cup of Excellence.  They are usually fairly easily convinced that the best way to help producers is to help and encourage them to be better producers.  I am doubly horrified at elected councils taking pride in being declared fair-trade compliant.  What a distortion of what politicians local or national should be doing with their time.

“Another selling point seems to be novelty drinks and food.  This is the equivalent of the wine trade pushing alcopops.

“We should concentrate on raising awareness of true good/high quality to a wide audience.  That would be the best way to produce a sustained rise in awareness and hence market scale and quality.  We need to educate the palate.  We find that our customers really like to discuss the coffees and appreciate that we do proper cafetiere coffees as well as espresso-based drinks.  It is also a mistake to push all coffee shops in the direction of being meeting places for the younger set.  There is more scope for variety and breadth.  We find that it is often middle aged and older customers who appreciate the opportunity to enjoy good quality and discuss the origins.

“I have always thought that our bus would be a good presentational vehicle (pun intended).  We have an increasingly full and varied programme without needing to tout for work and are turning away work on clashing dates.  There are some very interesting ones from a PR perspective such as Cowdray Park Polo, but we have had to keep that to only one day this year as it clashed with some regular existing bookings. Our ambition is that a greater part of our programme is targeted at promoting coffee at interesting events

“We are also in process of opening a coffee-bus themed coffee shop in the Community Centre of a nearby military Garrison – Colonel Grumpy’s Coffee Bus Stop. Yes, it’s a  mouthfull but with meaning.  We were asked to do it by the Army Welfare Services in order to provide a top-quality facility for the families of soldiers, many of whom are away on operations. The Chief of the General Staff has recently taken a personal interest and it seems that the plans are gathering speed.

“I have just had a chat with my contact in Army Welfare Services and we see potential for a really interesting link up at a launch event and perhaps beyond.  Our point is that the military and their families deserve the best of quality.  So that is what we shall be giving them – we buy our coffees from Peter James.  We expect to provide some employment for Army families and are planning to give them top quality coffee education as well as training.”

A typically robust opinion came from Stephen Hurst of Mercanta:

“You are correct to say that other nations would be far quicker to leverage ‘their win’ to a much greater extent. Not least of all the Americans (who are using their second place finish in just such a way, anyway) and the Japanese who spent ten of thousands in sponsorships to get their contestant to Number One.

“The Endorsement Factor is key – I always use the Formula One analogy. James winning is his excellent work and creativity, he drove the car. But the team behind him were also crucial. La Spaziale for giving him a well paying ‘proper job’ and underwriting his participation up to UKBC level, ourselves for allowing access to our world of fine coffees and our world class training facility, Anette for supporting him through the whole thing, Stephen (his friend from Ireland) the same, part of the crucial support team, the coffee growers for producing the fine coffees that helped him win, etc., etc.

“But James works for no one now, and in a sense this diminishes the splash. Had he worked for someone, they would ‘own’ his victory, in exactly the same way that every single other contestant up there is really a walking ad for whoever is sponsoring them, and eager to put a winners name with their espresso machine, coffee beans, syrups, or whatever.

“James did his homework – he learned how to cup coffee, he is creative, he had access to the world’s finest beans, and a great support structure. He did the business on the day, he thoroughly deserved his win – and the Pit Team earn some deserved credit for the back up.

“At the competition level and beyond, the coffee beans matter. James’ excellent win and the trade’s reaction to it only highlights what we already know - the vast majority of UK ‘coffee’ people are nothing of the sort- they are distributors, food service, caterers, etc. whose attachment to and knowledge of coffee the product itself is cursory – yet many are acclaimed ‘experts’ based on their commercial success.  Too many people in the UK make good money in the coffee industry doing an average or mediocre job.

“Our beans are widely regarded as the best in the world and we have 5000-6000 bags of the world’s best coffee in Bury St Edmunds – but more than half our sales are abroad. If your customers are queuing up to buy your average product, why pay more for fine beans? You don’t need to!

“James’ win will have an impact (but perhaps not mainstream) because the UK mass media don’t yet know what a barista is; yet alone a contest to find the best one. In 5-10 years, it will be different. The effect of James win will trickle down – but not likely for those working ‘mainstream’ coffee shop chains.

“Now, James Hoffmann can walk the walk while the rest talk the talk. And the team behind James will make ourselves known amongst those who care to listen – which is a sorry few but certainly growing band.”

At Beyond the Bean, Helen Ostle agreed.

“In terms of reaching consumers, this is why baristas are so important. If they are enthusiastic, fully trained and serving great coffee, this will encourage customers to keep coming back.

“Therefore, going up the chain, it's our job, as BTB, to inspire, encourage and support the baristas. Sadly in the UK we are not a country of 'chatters' so although it would be a great idea to think that they will be shouting about the fact that we have won this title, I doubt it will be happening. I have sent press releases out to all the national media, sadly, in a time when there are championships for everything (including beach combing - someone told me yesterday!) it's one of many. However, things like having James and Se on Ready Steady Cook will help inform people about the craft of the barista. 

“The problem we face in the UK that for the majority the job of a barista is something that is done on as a stop gap on the way to another career, It's been an answer in two crosswords I've done recently, so it is getting into the national psychic!  We need to keep up the momentum.  We are holding a barista jam in October which will be in a public place and have a slot for a discussion with the public and they can have a go themselves. I'm also going to approach a local cookery school about running a barista course for the public.

“Winning the WBC is a great achievement for the industry, and we continue to be very excited about the fact. Hopefully this will help make the UK one of the front runners, along with the Nordic countries and the States. it's going to be a long old slog, but there is no reason why this can't happen.

“In terms of the money vs.. enthusiasm question I think it is not wholly either of these. For my part, it is time. I would love to have promoting the SCAE and the industry as my full time job, however, this is not possible, so, as the majority of the people involved we do as much as we can around our full time jobs.”

Let it take time, said Steve Leighton of Has Bean, the roaster who worked beside Hoffmann in his preparation for the UK finals.

“I’m not sure if it’s up to the trade to do this, I think this is more up to the winning barista themselves, and I’m sure Jim will be an ambassador for it all. Jim isn’t the kind to take a bow and start appearing over our TV screens. It will be a slower more thoughtful approach that will culminate in sharing and spreading his vast knowledge. I think lots of Jim’s time will be spent meeting baristas, coffee shop owners, consulting but also talking about coffee and its importance in his success.

“There is already a buzz amongst the home consumers, with lots of people on the boards and on blogs talking about it. We have also seen a large jump in orders for the two coffees Jim used in his presentation. Jim is also unique with having his blog which is amazingly popular in coffee community. I know you don’t really like this form of media but James does it very well in my opinion. This is his soap box.”

“Our own promotion, through online business, has already made an impact – there has been an increase in orders from home consumers for the two coffees Jim used in the UK event.”

(The same goes for Costa Rica  Hermanos Barrantes (Herbazu) and Kenya Gethumbwini Estate AA that James used in the final - Mercanta reports a brisk trade in both coffees since the win.)

Does it take time?  Are we at Coffee House being impatient?  Agreement came in a thoughtful response came from someone who has already been there – Klaus Thomsen of Denmark, who took the world title last year.

“After my win in 2006 it took a couple of months actually before it really started gaining interest in the medias.

“I think it’s immensely important for the specialty coffee industry to understand that the medias do not just snap up news like this from the WBC website. They need to be told about it. They need to get a synopsis about how a story could be written, how the pictures could look, what the champion could do about specialty coffee on the TV morning show etc. etc.

“This is professional PR work and requires skill and time – something the wine and food industries have known for a long time.

“In my opinion the specialty coffee industry in the UK should see this as an opportunity to get the media much more interested in coffee. They should make use of James and try to promote him all over the UK. Together the specialty coffee sector can muster some resources to actually make this a big deal, but individually it’s very tough to break through to the medias with this.

“I have had numerous magazine and newspaper articles here in Denmark, where I could talk about specialty coffee and the barista craftsmanship. I do believe that each of these articles have spawned some interest in coffee, but how much is impossible for me to say.

“I don’t think the US medias would have been buzzing if they’d won. The grass is always greener on the other side. The only way you make a thing like this buzz is by handling the PR professionally.”

Probably the world barista champion who has played the media game most successfully is Paul Bassett of Australia.  He has developed and hosted entertaining, informative coffee-related television media including the documentary program "Coffee Crazy" and the 13 part series, “Living Coffee.”  This was the first ever television series on coffee to be produced and its global success is still reaching audiences in Europe, Oceania, Asia and South America on cable and satellite channels.

Paul came on to a crackly connection from Australia to tell us that yes, he did achieve media interest in coffee, but that it took hard work.

“The bottom line is that you have to beat tour own drum. Don’t expect public interest to come to you – you have to go out and get it.  If you go out, even if you’re world champion at tiddlywinks, you can get on a morning show or even appear with the weatherman.

“We created awareness with the documentary and the TV series – it wasn’t easy. I got myself a manager, we talked the TV company into it, and we had to find the funding – 600,000 Australian dollars (about a quarter of a million pounds).

“Sunbeam gave me sponsorship as a product ambassador, a milk company dropped in some money, and a production company put some in. We chose people who were committed, not those who just wanted to rape and pillage my success.

“The second one, we did on a shoestring – on ‘the smell of an oily rag’!  But it got a result. We did get a million viewers, and my series has been played four times in three years here, which keeps my name current, and after it was sold to the Discovery channel, I now get emails from all over the world – and consumers tell me yes, it has changed their view of coffee.”

Both time and imagination are needed, agreed Andrew Tucker of Coffee West.

“Achieving national interest takes a lot of work – simple news of a London guy winning isn’t going to happen down here in Devon!  The target has to be TV, because the national papers would have been interested in it once, at most. 

“We have to make a documentary… not on barista championships, which are about as interesting as watching darts, but on the subject of coffee.  And then we have to turn someone, James or anyone else, into a celebrity.

“Straight press releases won’t do it - it’s going to take some thinking outside the box.”

Well, does that thinking exist?  It can be done, as shown by other countries – notably, Paul Bassett of Australia, who was seen internationally with his documentary Coffee Crazy, and whose 13-part series Living Coffee was reckoned to be the first ever television series on coffee, and is still shown on cable and satellite channels around the world.

Can this be done? And if so – who’s going to do it?

 *

Whatever interest can be created out there in the big world, how does the trade use this to inspire interest and ambition among catering staff?  Can this win have an effect on the everyday high-street barista?  The barista championship committee have already told us that they ‘want to encourage the star baristas coming through', to which we replied that we wanted to see them encourage all baristas.

We want to see a national trade feelgood-factor, similar to the 1966 World Cup feeling.  Are we, we asked the trade, being just too naïve in suggesting that café owners and their staff, up and down the country, can say – 'we're a part of this' ?    We don't suggest that we have posters of James on the wall of every coffee-house in the country, but we do suggest that every barista in the land should know that one of their own community took the title, and we suggest that this can enthuse them, and we suggest that cafe owners should encourage this enthusiasm.

The new champ was supportive of this.

“I can understand that.  I've never been fond of the idea of the rockstar barista, and have always felt it was important to acknowledge the wider team, because I think that has more relevance to the trade than a single barista.

“I think if they knew, then at least a percentage would be curious enough to delve deeper.

“I've been a customer and nothing more in a fair few coffee shops this week and left each one with my head in my hands.  It wasn't snobbish nitpicking, the drinks were simply awful and these were places that primarily sold coffee.  I hope that something like this could inspire a few to stick up their heads and start asking questions (especially of their suppliers!)”

How does James think that his success can be used to enthuse the everyday barista?

“A magazine called Resource have been in touch, and their target audience is students on vocational course at FE colleges and they have asked something similar (to tie in with an article about the City and Guilds barista course thing). 

“I haven't answered it yet, but have been thinking.  I think people understand that there is a difference between a part time job in a bar and the job of a top end mixologist - there is no shame in wanting to take cocktails as far as you can and being very good at it. 

“It would be great to see opportunities within coffee open up further.  I think it probably isn't the staff you have to target, but instead, employers.  It is pretty pointless being a great barista unless someone values and rewards your skill.  A lot of people get in touch with me, who are young and taken with coffee and looking for somewhere to work and learn.  I try and put every one in touch with someone suitable but I can't help but feel often there aren't enough places to send them. 

“Of course this is something I am trying to change on a personal level with our future plans, but that’s for another time.

“One thing I can't predict and will watch with interest is whether or not this will affect the number of entrants in the UK competition this year.  I hope it significantly increases.”

At Drury Tea and Coffee, Marco Olmi was keen to see the world win used to develop interest in the café trade: “The big question is – what can be done with his achievement?  I think it is now up to the trade to promote it with trade roadshows and workshops and other ideas.

“At a time when the role of barista is being seen as a career path, not just a part-time job, this will create interest among the younger generation, and we can build for a lasting impact, rather than looking at just one successful result.

“A lot of good things can be done without a big investment – but now is the time to do it.”

The idea of ‘now is the time’ has an interesting issue, said Paul Basset from Australia.

“I do not feel a great connection with the ‘coffee makers’, who just push a button.  But the number of quality baristas, who see a lifetime career, has increased tenfold here since I won. I do feel, to some degree, that they were inspired by my win… we certainly now have more aspiring baristas here who want a title of their own!

“A lot of this boils down to where your market is at. If I had won in 2000, I would probably not have made as much impact as I did in 2003.  So, has James won at the right time for the UK trade? Maybe so…”

Use the win to make baristas feel more optimistic about their own jobs and careers, said Klaus Thomsen.

“I think it will be important to make James into a somewhat ‘official specialty coffee spokesperson’ in the UK. James is a world champion. That alone is news. It’s great news for UK, as you mention. Make sure the medias know to call him whenever they have a coffee related question.

“Then it will be important to show the people in the trade his success - what he’s up to this year, how much he travels, how he makes a name for himself, how he gets filthy rich !!!

“Seriously, I think by showing the industry how great a thing it is to win the title, you get them to think differently about what being a barista can be.”

As expected, Ireland’s Coffee Boys were vocal in their support:

“You are asking very interesting questions,” said Hugh Gilmartin. “Business is all about the money ultimately, but in my view you will never get to the money without passion and enthusiasm. Basically it’s about your attitude.  The businesses that care and allocate the right resource to training and want to learn and improve are the ones that ultimately will succeed.

“James Hoffman’s performance was magnificent and his achievement stunning. He has raised the bar in terms of competition standard and espresso production for everybody in the future. This was not luck …. he is deservedly the best barista in the world and I suspect very few in UK actually realise how good he is. In my view the previous six champions, while great presenters and fabulous technical baristas, do not come close with their coffee.

“So how does the trade use this to inspire interest and ambition among catering staff?

“At a local level good operators can learn so much from innovators and leaders like Jim. Just to see what he has achieved in 5 years is in itself an inspiration. Business owners and managers need to educate themselves in the first place before they can inspire, lead and teach their staff. The easy way to do this is to allocate time to learning. They could also ;

·         Read Jim Hoffmans blog

·         Contribute to on line debate

·          Read SCAE website & excellent news page & contribute

·         Enter regional WBC competition

·         Consider attending an SCAE origin trip

·         Ask your suppliers to tell you where your coffee comes from

·         Ask them to get you some of Jims world championship winning coffee to taste

·         Do a cupping

·         Read a good coffee book (I know a good one!!)

·         Look after your good staff … recognise that they are your most important asset

·         Allow them time to develop and invest in them

·         Ask the right questions … and ask good coffee people for help. Most are very willing and at the very least excellent at pointing you in the right direction.

·         Oh Yes and read Boughton’s Coffee House … !!!”

(Well, we appreciate the last bit!)

Make stars of the staff, and them feel like this is a really cool thing, and part of a cool community, agreed John Richardson.

“Get staff trained and get them entered in the competitions.  Make stars of them.  Make them feel like this is a really cool thing.  Like it's a really cool community like a brilliant cocktail maker or a Michelin chef.  They need to be pushed towards all the stuff that you mention so that they grasp they are part of something cool and can aspire to get better.  If they get involved then a lot of the young guys (males particularly are susceptible to this) reach a stage where the obsession kicks in and they start to live, sleep and breathe coffee just like a young chef gets obsessional by food and prays at the altar of Marco.”

But we now have to actually do it, said Marco Olmi at Drury. 

“I think this could be great for the trade, and the question is – what can be done with his achievement?  I think it is now up to the trade to promote it with roadshows and workshops and other ideas. The UK doesn’t have many world champions, so there will be avenues – the chat show round is an example. All these things will create interest among the younger generation, at a time when the job of barista is now seen as a career path, not just a part-time job.  There must be PR mileage in there, and a lot of good things can be done without a big investment – but now is the time to do it.

“I think the UK contest will go up a level as a result, and it may be a springboard for more entries.   However, the lasting impact is that this is something we must build on, rather than looking at just one result.”

One chain is already doing it, according to Stuart Coombes at Ritazza, which has just held its own worldwide barista contest. “We communicate to our baristas every quarter in a small magazine called Ritazza Shots, and we are  just about to launch our ‘world barista’ edition.  I believe competing, either in an internal competition or the WBC, is important and if carried out correctly can be filtered through stores to inspire many baristas.   

“As an Englishman working for an international brand, I will certainly be reminding my international colleagues of the nationality of the world champion!”

Elsewhere, others were doubtful.  One respondent said that he felt it unlikely that the effect of James’ win would reach those working in ‘mainstream’ coffee shop chains at all.  At Beyond the Bean, Helen Ostle observed that a problem encountered in the last UK championship was  of baristas not getting support from employers in terms of time off for training and competing. A major requirement, she pointed out, will be to show café managers what good publicity it can be to proclaim that their staff take part in national contests.

“We are hoping that James' win will encourage more people to enter the heats this year, and therefore reach more people. A problem encountered last year was that many barista's did not get the support from the cafe owners. They need a lot of support in terms of time off for training and competing. Our role is to make sure the event becomes a major one and that they will be proud to say that there barista are UK champions etc.

“I think comparing winning the WBC and the 1966 world cup is a little bizarre and no, we are never going to achieve that level of 'feel good' factor. I don't even think a royal wedding would these days!”

*

And what of the sponsors? Have they benefited from the win?  Curiously, the sponsors showed little interest in answering our question about how they would ‘exploit’ their participation in the British success – although they have a perfect right to do so,  and in terms of the national effort, it would be extremely helpful for them to do so.

“It does position us at the forefront of what cutting edge baristas want to achieve,” observed Gary MgGann of Espresso Warehouse, who sponsored the event under the name of his Essenz flavourings.  “For a sponsor, inevitably, you get to meet your next set of customers, the baristas coming through.

“The core question is that the UKBC would not happen without funds and all the sponsors should be immensely proud of their association with the win. From an Essenz perspective, it positions us at the forefront of the UK and other markets.

“There will be lots of jumping on the bandwagon with regard to James’ win and some coffee companies will inevitability try to exploit this though they did not support the competition in the past.  There’s a line you don’t cross -there is a difference between being a sponsor and a hanger-on… some will cross the line, and I’m waiting to see when and who!

“We will reinforce the message that we supported the craft of the barista though our sponsorship. However, we will not choose to use the image of the winner on a bottle of syrup, as has been done in the past.”

(The champion himself responded to this with a heartfelt: “I couldn’t agree more!”)

**

Coffee House magazine is extremely grateful to all who helped us with this debate.  We are in absolutely no doubt that some people will disagree with us on what we have said  -  well, they always do  -  but we think it important to raise the wider aspects of this unique British success.

If you have comments to make, please email the editor.

**

James’ excellent win and the trade’s reaction to it only highlights what we already know - the vast majority of UK ‘coffee’ people are nothing of the sort- they are distributors, food service, caterers, etc. whose attachment to and knowledge of coffee the product itself is cursory – yet many are acclaimed ‘experts’ based on their commercial success.  Too many people in the UK make good money in the coffee industry doing an average or mediocre job.

- Stephen Hurst, Mercanta.

In my opinion the specialty coffee industry in the UK should see this as an opportunity to get the media much more interested in coffee. They should make use of James and try to promote him all over the UK. Together the specialty coffee sector can muster some resources to actually make this a big deal, but individually it’s very tough to break through to the medias with this.

- Klaus Thomsen, 2006 world champion.

The bottom line is that you have to beat tour own drum. Don’t expect public interest to come to you – you have to go out and get it.  If you go out, even if you’re world champion at tiddlywinks, you can get on a morning show or even appear with the weatherman.

- Paul Bassett, 2003 world champion.