Light, Motion and Magic

Since making the decision to start our coffee service business, I’ve been doing some research (of course!) on coffee consumption. One very interesting site is The National Coffee Association of USA, Inc.

Here are some of the more interesting highlights from their National Coffee Drinking Trends 2008 study:

• 17% of the adult population consumed a gourmet coffee beverage on a daily basis in 2008
compared  with 14% in 2007.

• In 2007, past-day consumption of coffee surpassed that of soft drinks for the first time. While the gap narrowed in 2008, daily consumption of coffee is still directionally higher.

• 18 to 24 year olds are becoming serious coffee drinkers. In 2005, only 26 percent of young adults in that age bracket considered themselves coffee drinkers. By 2007, that figure was up to 37%, making the 18-24 year old coffee market the fastest growing segment of the market. Older adults, in the 40 to 59 year old bracket, are also big coffee drinkers. This age group increased from 59 percent to 61 percent over the previous year, and those age 60 and over report the most coffee consumers - 74 percent of adults in that age bracket reported that they drink coffee every day.

• Consumption of cups per day by consumers age 18-24 continued to trend higher in 2008. Young adults who drank coffee consumed an average of 3.2 cups per day as compared with 3.1 in 2007, a significant increase over 2005’s level of 2.5 cups per day.

So, coffee consumption is going up, but what about the economy? Coffee houses aren’t doing so well these days, are they? The International Coffee Organization released a report in February on the “World Economic Crisis and the Coffee Sector”:

Early reports show that food sales are holding up better than those of non-food
products.  It seems that big chains are competing by cutting prices rather than losing market
share or seeing the volume of sales decrease, even at the expense of profits.  In the developed
country markets of North America, Europe and Japan, which account for approximately
58% of world consumption, coffee is a staple good that represents only a small fraction of
consumer spending.  The information available suggests that coffee consumption in these
markets is holding up well.  Instead of limiting overall intake, consumers are more likely to
shift from out-of-home to in-home consumption and from higher cost products to cheaper
brands.  This trend to less expensive products is corroborated by the strong results reported
by discount food retailers and by reduced earnings in the speciality coffee sector in the last
quarter of 2008.

Increasing coffee consumption, especially among young adults, bodes well for the future of the coffee industry, despite the downturn in the economy. These coffee-drinkers know a good cappuccino when they taste it, and our Miri Market coffee service will allow businesses to offer barista-style coffee drinks to their employees and clients for a fraction of the coffee house price - a great thing in this economy.

Tags:Add new tag, coffee consumption, economy, Miri Market, National Coffee Association of USA, National Coffee Drinking Trends

A French philosopher, said that “to exist is to change, to change is to mature, to mature is to go on creating oneself endlessly” (Henri Louis Bergeson.) I believe that is an accurate description of my business endeavors. Change, maturity, re-creation.

Clearly this is not an economy to manufacture and try to sell non-essential decorative merchandise, as I started out to do with Miri Market. Although I have not given up on that idea, I have definitely put those dreams on hold.

But Miri Market still exists, my legal business entity, with the ability to go on creating itself endlessly, as in the quote above. “Miri” means to be amazed, to marvel, to wonder at. It is from the language Esperanto, an international language based on words common to the chief European languages. For example, mira in Spanish means sight; intention; just look. Miracolo in Italian means miracles; wonder. And as a girl’s name (Latin, Slavic, Hindi) Miri means ‘wonderful’; ‘peace’; ‘prosperous’. Can you think of better connotations for a business name?

So it is to marvel and wonder at that my husband and I were presented with a business opportunity that - yes, even in these uncertain times - we decided to seize. David and I together will be working on a small service business. Our website, and this blog, is being reworked to reflect our new venture.

Miri Market coffee service - using state-of-the-art gourmet coffee machines, stocked with the finest coffee and backed by a committment to service and responsibility - makes barista-style coffee drinks available any time at your business for your employees and/or clients.

Our system grinds and brews each coffee drink in 30 seconds flat. At the push of a button a cup of delicious freshly ground and brewed specialty coffee is yours to savor. Miri Market coffee service allows your employees and/or clients to enjoy the flavor, cost and convenience benefits of coffee house drinks at a fraction of coffee house prices.

On the one hand, it seems crazy to jump into a new business when the bad economic news is piling up around us like dead leaves in the fall. Yet we made our decision quite quickly to do this. We’ve always wanted to work together, and this business seems to have the right requirements of each of our strengths and expertise. It is a simple business, a delicious business, that we can run to our standards of taste and responsibility.

Hazel Henderson is a futurist and economist, and the author of several books. In 2007 she started EthicalMarkets.tv for public television to showcase video of people and organizations around the world with socially responsible endeavors. She has said, “If we can recognize that change and uncertainty are basic principles, we can greet the future and the transformation we are undergoing with the understanding that we do not know enough to be pessimistic.”

So I guess that in these uncertain times, David and I simply don’t know enough to be pessimistic. We’re going to give it a whirl!

Tags:business, change, Coffee Service, Hazel Henderson, Miri Market, start-up