By c_c™ 23 November, 2011
Daryl Hehir-Nielsen, owner of Deakin cafe Double Shot is in the Canberra Times calling for regulation of Canberra’s coffee shops. Apparently, he’s none too happy with every new building having a coffee shop downstairs, nor does he like groups of cyclists turning up without calling first. It’s a curious pair of complaints, he doesn’t want competition but doesn’t like the customers either – perhaps time to consider a new vocation, particularly in light of tepid reviews here and here.
In any case, hospitality has always been competitive, requiring hard work – and competition ultimately benefits the customer. In new Acton, a number of coffee shops within a short distance of one another thrive in new developments, as do coffee shops in new buildings at ANU, the inner south and Woden. One need only look at a certain Braddon coffee shop or the sister stores one Kingston cafe has spawned to see that with the right stuff, you can do well in the marketplace.
Is regulation of coffee shops really needed or is this just a way to prop up businesses that can’t compete on their own merits? And if we take Daryl’s comparison of such regulation to that already in place for supermarkets, has it been for the better, or is it influences like Aldi bringing a new model to market that has changed things more?
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It always amazes me how some people will charge $4 or $5 for a bit of mass-produced ground bean and some boiling tap water, and then sell a slice or cake for twice the cost of the bakery next door.. and then have the gall to complain about how theyre doing it tough.
I particularly used to love when Centrelink had a little coffee shop setup selling $4 cups of coffee, given the fact that most people who would be buying them, would be living on centrelink income and should be spending their money more wisely than $4 on a drink. (Although I guess its comparable to the cost of a can of woodstock)
Oh yes I saw this article too, and mentally added Double Shot Deakin to the list of places not to stop for coffee while out on a ride. Thanks Daryl!
I vote for regulation if it regulates the quality of the coffee and nothing else.
Were the cyclists in the group wearing lycra?
I strongly suspect that the cyclist quote has been pulled way out of context in an effort to make the guy look like a whinger. It just doesn’t fit in with the flow of the article.
Sure, regulate the coffee shops. But start with their prices first. No more paying 25% more than the rest of the country.
Honestly though, it’s a stupid idea. If a business can’t survive on it’s own then it shouldn’t survive. Simple. I’ve been the the café in question twice and both times it was garbage. Slow service, average food. Perhaps if the proprietor picked up his game he’d have less to worry about.
Oh I couldn’t even be bothered reading the article when I saw it in the paper – was it front page? Amazing.
Regulation – what a joke. Outside Dept of Infrastructure there are at least 3 coffee shops in very close proximity and they all seem to do amazingly well. Good coffee and friendly staff go a long way.
I will now add that my favourite coffee shop is a chain *cringes* – as they can do coffee the way I like it, which is iced with nothing but coffee, ice and milk.
Who makes a good short black in this town?
I’ve tried all the ones that RiotACT raves about and while good, nothing really stands out…
I once had the notion that I should buy a coffee shop in Canberra but after consulatation with previous owners I was told “you will be happy twice if you buy a coffee shop in Canberra, the day you buy it and the day you sell it”
A lot of office customers who have got sick of paying $4.50 a cup at the local coffee shop are buying new instant coffee machines that take the sachet which tastes the same and works out about one third of the price.
With all the government regulations and now the jackboot unions to contend with, who needs to be in small business anyway?
I think it’s pretty laughable that we’ve become such a bunch of coffee snobs anyway.
@ #7 Tried Two before Ten ? Hobart Pl
Solidarity said :
A short black really comes down to the bean, and the roast, and not so much to preperation of the drink, due to this, it can be quite an individual thing.
If you have somwhere in mind outside of canberra that makes a short black you really like, find out who they get their coffee from, as long as it’s not roasted on the site, or by a small scale roaster (sadly, there is a good chance it may be) then you should be able to find out if it is distributed in canberra, and who has it, then you might have a bit more luck.
Erg0 said :
”’A cycling group will arrive with 20 people. They don’t bother letting you know, they think they’ll turn up and you will be happy for the business,” he said.’
Yep, the CT have been watching RA! They know any mention of cyclists is likely to get lots of attention! Hahaha.
Seriously, if JB removed all the post relating to cycling/motorist ‘arguments’ off RA, he’d lose about 50% of all previous RA discussions! Just this week, a post about a park and ride in Mawson, once again, turned into an inevitable ‘discussion’ about who should pay for roads, and why bikes should be registered?!?! I wonder if almost any topic on RA is less than 6 degrees of separation from that argument? Too funny!
I hereby volunteer to offer my services as Inspector of Coffee. If it involves far too much time sitting around in cafes, there are good *grounds* for my appointment. (Insert feeble laughter for bad joke now.)
He has a valid point, in that it seems every new development has a “cafe”. That said, there are very few places that serve a decent coffee at a reasonable price (eg. Harvest).
There are too many places that think they know what they’re doing but burn the crap out of the beans and/or the milk and consequently leaves you with a bitter after taste (both physically and metephorically).
poetix said :
As long as it has good gates and table service!
Interesting point is that Double Shot actually sponsor one of Canberra’s Road Racing teams.
http://www.act.cycling.org.au/?ID=37365
As for a short black, 1 vote for Two before Ten. The boys know their stuff.
If you read through the comments on the article you’ll see that Daryl clarified the cyclist remark.
Canberra coffee and service: angry you came, looking blankly at the coffee machine for half a minute like they’ve never made a coffee before, then presuming that your order is wrong and making something different. Love this city – not!
Interesting point is that Double Shot actually sponsor one of Canberra’s Road Racing teams
Very interesting… there are 12 riders on the team roster. I wonder if the sponsor is pi$$ed off if Team Quon team turns up with more than half a dozen friends?
The cyclist comment sounded harsh and I considered it was taken out of context and/or he might have a minor point on the difficulty of catering for groups. But so what? The bottom line is it’s a cafe and you need to prepared to crank out your main product without notice.
I don’t dispute that running a cafe is hard work. My mate running Fish Shack has worked 7 days a week since they opened earlier this year. Personally I couldn’t do it – but he deserves every success working that hard. Try the swordfish burger!!
Tonic, Roasters, Harvest, 2 Before 10 … all great and all welcome cyclists. I suspect these cafes are so confident in their abilities that they’d even welcome Rat Patrol. Bring on the competition and let the chips fall where they may.
Brandi said :
Well they seem to welcome anyone willing to put up with sitting on bare upturned milk crates to drink average coffee made and served by indifferent hipster student trash. The fit out in the place is great (but dime a dozen anywhere but Canberra) but the coffee isn’t what it’s cracked up to me and the service doesn’t come with a smile.
puggy said :
I agree with your assessment of their coffee and service. I prefer to call the place “Lonsdale Street Hipsters”, or “Hipster Street Roasters”. I also quietly laugh at the people paying money to sit on upturned milk crates like hobos.
bitzermaloney said :
I don’t really see the issue here, or why it needs regulation. Competition is good, and if they’re crap cafes – then customers will be drawn to the good ones.
As for the cyclists comment, hes probably going to be annoyed if they did tell him they were coming, and then they were delayed. The cyclists just have to be aware they are a big group, and things take time. The owner has to learn not to get so upset.
tidalik said :
I see it now, and that pretty much confirms my suspicion of what he actually meant. Nice one, CT.
Perhaps that particular flock of cyclists behaved rudely, leaving their bicycles in the way … wouldn’t put it past a bunch of cyclists to be obnoxious in any setting!
I-filed said :
“grabs popcorn and sits back in his seat”
+1 Harvest – best coffee I have ever had – and I only drink it during the week. I’m a tea person otherwise.
The cyclists were probably in a hurry because they were on part of a time trial that required them to speed along shared cycle/pedestrian paths and broadcast their dominance amongst all this around them.
The $42 a week on coffee per household in Canberra cited in the article is interesting. I drink more than that myself, but it’s a lot of money even at that level isn’t it? More evidence for the people who say we’re all spoilt. I think that my household would quite often spend $100 per week, which is $400 per month, or $4800 a year! That’s two tickets to Europe. Or probably more than all our utilities bills.
I wonder how many people spending this much, which is not hideously unusual, I would think, (a) whinge about their finances and/or (b) can’t possibly afford to sponsor a kid overseas (that costs about as much per month as the average weekly ACT coffee spend).
I’ll have another coffee and think about it.