Coffee Merchandising,A Handbook to the Coffee Business Giving
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9 I ¥ I % t I ; V % I * % M ^ • .* ♦ 4 COFFEE MERCHANDISING Near View of Berries of Coffea Arabica Coffee Merchandising A Handbook to the Coffee Business Giving Elementary and Essential Facts Pertaining to the History, Cultivation, Preparation, and Marketing of Coffee William H. Ukers, M.A. Editor, The Tea and Coffee Trade Journal Author, All About Coffee; A Trip to Brazil NEW YORK The Tea and Coffee Trade Journal Co. 1924 HD =i i=tl • A alL3 Copyright 1924 By THE TEA AND COFFEE TRADE JOURNAL CO. New York International Copyright Secured All Rights Reserved in the U. S. A. and Foreign Countries PRINTED IN THE U. S. A. SFP19 *?A © Cl A 8 0 0 917 ■V5 / To My Co-workers on The Tea and Coffee Trade Journal PREFACE THIS work has been written in response to a demand for a handbook for the especial use of those engaged in the coffee business. To a certain extent it repre¬ sents a condensation of the author’s encyclopedic work, “All About Coffee.” “Coffee Merchandising,” however, is de¬ signed primarily for beginners in the coffee business. It will be found to contain all the elementary and essential facts pertaining to the history, cultivation, preparation, and mar¬ keting of coffee. In it the author has tried to avoid dogmatism. He has aimed to tell briefly the story of coffee, including all those things which every intelligent coffee man should know con¬ cerning the early history of the beverage, the botany of the plant, the chemistry of coffee, how coffee grows, how it is prepared for the market, how it is bought and sold in the countries of production, and how it is marketed at wholesale and at retail in the United States. In the telling of the story the author has given the reader the best thought of the trade on all controversial questions, striving to keep his own opinions in the background. Then, too, the aim has been not only to tell the history story, but to show how successful men in the coffee trade have built up the most enduring business. For this rea¬ son the work should prove a source of inspiration, as well as a fount of knowledge, for students and salesmen. Those who may wish to make a more thorough study of the subject, to delve deeply into the history, romance, and poetry of coffee, or its scientific aspects, are referred to “All About Coffee,” by the same author. There are two important factors which make for success in the coffee business,—faith and work,—an abiding faith VII PREFACE in the opportunity which it offers to render a public service and which inspires the faithful student to get all the facts about coffee so as to be able to give reasons for his faith; then an intelligent application of the knowledge coupled with that diligence in business which always spells success in any trade or profession—and lo! the battle is won. It is the author’s hope that “Coffee Merchandising” will prove a lamp that will shed some helpful light on the way of all those who are pushing on to greater achievements in the coffee business. VIII CONTENTS CHAPTER I A Short History of Coffee A brief account of the beginning of coffee in the Near East — Early legends, persecutions, first printed references — The in¬ troduction of the beverage into England, France, and Germany — Early London and Paris coffee houses — The story of the spread of coffee propagation around the coffee belt of the world — Early American coffee houses.Page 1 CHAPTER II The Botany of Coffee Its complete classification by class, sub-class, order, family, genus, and species—How Coffea arabica, grows, flowers, and bears — Other species and hybrids.Page 17 CHAPTER III Chemistry and Pharmacology of Coffee The chief factors which enter into coffee goodness — Brief discus¬ sion of caffein and caffeol — Coffee’s place in a rational die¬ tary— Latest scientific discoveries that establish the whole truth about coffee as a wholesome, satisfying drink for the great majority of people and cause it to be regarded as the servant, rather than the destroyer, of civilization.Page 25 CHAPTER IV Where Coffee Grows Locating the principal coffee-growing districts in the world’s coffee belt, with a commercial coffee chart of the leading growths, giving market names and general trade characteristics.Page 31 CHAPTER V How Coffee Is Grown Coffee cultivation in general — Soil, climate, rainfall, altitude, propagation, shade windbreaks, diseases — How the plant grows in all the principal producing countries.Page 37 CHAPTER VI Preparing Green Coffee for Market The marvelous coffee package, one of the most ingenious in all nature — How coffee is harvested — Picking — Dry and wet methods of preparation — Pulping — Fermentation and wash¬ ing— Drying — Hulling, or peeling and polishing—Sizing or grading — Preparation methods of different countries. Page 43 CONTENTS CHAPTER VII Buying Coffee in the Producing Countries How green coffee is bought and sold in the countries of origin. Page 61 CHAPTER VIII Buying and Selling Green Coffee at Wholesale The seven stages of transportation — Handling coffee at New York—How green coffee is graded—(Spot market trading — Buying coffee C. & F. — Futures and hedging — Buying and selling commissions — Brokers — The Exchange Clearing House — Brazil quotations — London, Havre, and Hamburg mar¬ kets — Rulings.Page 69 CHAPTER IX Green and Roasted Coffee Characteristics The trade values, bean characteristics, jand cup merits of the lead¬ ing coffees of commerce — Appearance, aroma, and flavor in cup testing—How experts test coffees—Typical sample- roasting and cup-testing outfit.Page 81 CHAPTER X Coffee Blending Blending green coffees — Properly balanced blends — Low-priced and high-priced blends — Blends for restaurant and hotel trade — Doubtful value of sample blends.Page 105 CHAPTER XI Coffee Roasting Separating, milling, and mixing — The roasting operation — Dry and wet roasts — Finishing and coating — Cost card for roast¬ ers — Cooling and stoning — Roasting equipment — Blending roasted coffee — A trip through a model coffee-roasting plant — Evolution of coffee-roasting apparatus.Page 111 CHAPTER XII Coffee Grinding “Steel-cut” coffee — Wholesale coffee grinding — Evolution of grinding apparatus .Page 131 CHAPTER XIII Selling Roasted Coffee at Wholesale How coffees are sold at wholesale — The wholesale salesman’s place in merchandising—Ten things every master salesman should knowr — Profit sharing for salesmen — iSome coffee costs analyzed — Common sense in cost finding — Terms and credits — About package coffees — Coffee-selling chart — Various types of coffee containers —Labels —Coffee-packaging economies — Practical grocer helps —Coffee sampling — Premium method of sales promotion. pfl£r« x CONTENTS CHAPTER XIV 'Selling Coffee at Retail How coffees are sold at retail — The place of the grocer, the tea and coffee dealer, the chain store, and the wagon-route dis¬ tributer in the scheme of distribution — Starting in the retail coffee business — Coffee blends for retailers—Small roasters for retail dealers — Model coffee departments — Creating a coffee trade — Meeting competition — Profits and costs — Split¬ ting nickels — Figuring costs and profits — A credit policy for retailers — Premiums for retailers — IIow to build and hold a retail coffee business.Page 155 CHAPTER XV Brewing Coffee in Hotels and Restaurants Analyzing the potential market — The supreme coffee test — Freshly roasted and freshly ground — Coffee-brewing conclu¬ sions— Coffee urns — Rules for making coffee in hotels and restaurants—General directions for improving coffee service — How to operate a successful coffee shop, with sample menus, hints on equipment and service.Page 175 CHAPTER XVI Production and Consumption of Coffee A statistical study of wrorld production and consumption of coffee by countries — Coffee in the United States — The trend of the trade in 1923 — Brazil’s coffee valorization... Page 197 CHAPTER XVII Coffee Advertising The first coffee advertisement — Evolution of coffee advertising — Package-coffee advertising — Advertising to the trade — Ad¬ vertising by various mediums — Advertising for retailers with ready-made sample copy — Advertising tto the nose—Suc¬ cessful coffee window displays — Advertising by government propaganda — Coffee-advertising efficiency.Page 219 CHAPTER XVIII Coffee Making in the Home The importance of correct grinding and brewing — Drip or filter coffee — Boiled or steeped coffee — Percolated coffee — The perfect cup of coffee — Some coffee recipes.Page 233 XI INDEX TO ILLUSTRATIONS Facing page Near view of berries of Coffea arabica (frontispiece). iii Legendary discovery of the coffee drink. 1 First advertisement for coffee. 6 A coffee house in the time of Charles II. 10 Merchants Cbffee House in New York. 14 Coffea arabica flower and fruit. 17 Green and roasted Bogota coffee. 25 800,000 coffee trees in bearing. 31 Coffee nursery under a bamboo roof. 37 Efficient weeding and harrowing at Ribeirao Preto. 38 Picking coffee on a well-kept fazenda. 43 Coffee drying ground, Sao Paulo. 50 Loading coffee aboard ship at Santos. 61 Weighing and sacking coffee at Santos. 62 Coffee pit in the New York Coffee & Sugar Exchange. 69 Samples of typical roasted coffee beans.81, 86, 90, 98 Modern gas coffee-roasting plant. Ill Dumping the roast in a coal roasting plant. 118 Some leading trade-marked coffee containers. 139 Luhrs, of Poughkeepsie, features freshly roasted coffee in his window . 155 Johnson of Red Oak roasts before the customer. 162 One of the coffee kitchens of the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel. 175 Day and night coffee room of the Rice Hotel, Houston. 184 Advertising copy of the Joint Coffee Trade Publicity Committee . 219 Drawing upon history for social-intercourse atmosphere.... 224 A prize-winning coffee window display. 228 Cbffee-making devices used in United States. 233 Brewing the guest’s coffee in a Mohammedan home. 236 Showing how grinding breaks open the oil cells.