Double latte, double standard: indie cafés slammed for being too popular
Every time a Toronto café becomes popular or thinks about expanding, its indie status is called into question. People are quick to use the words “chain,” “sellout” and, most offensive of all, “Starbucks.” There was an article in the Globe this week announcing the creation of the Toronto Coffee Conspiracy, a group of third-wave café owners—such coffeemongers as Matt Taylor of Mercury Espresso, Sam James of his namesake spot, Matt Lee of Manic and Ed and Deanna of Dark Horse—who have banded together to promote their businesses and spread the word of proper java making. And it didn’t take long for the haters to log on and sound off.
A sampling of the comments on the article: one person writes that this could be the start of TCC members pooling their money to form a new mega–coffee chain; another writes that this is a way to gang up on cafés not owned by friends of Matt Taylor; and still others (apparently writing from 1998) claim that this is just another marketing ploy capitalizing on the anti-Starbucks movement.
Two shops have dropped out of the TCC so far because they deemed it too “clubby.” The article didn’t name names, but we noticed that Cherry Bomb was listed as one of the initial members on the TCC’s blog in February, but it isn’t mentioned in the list of participating cafés in the Globe piece.
This is all reminiscent of when Dark Horse opened its Spadina location. There was outcry because this little-known café was now exposed to the Wi-Fi-loving masses. True though that may be, we couldn’t help but notice a line at the cash last time we strolled by.
• Inside the Toronto Coffee Conspiracy [Globe and Mail]
• The Toronto Coffee Conspiracy
• If your indie café starts a chain, is it still indie?
We are talking about coffee here right? Who Cares?
Just to set the record straight, Only one shop had dropped out and it was because of time constraints and we can’t do anything except respect them for that. The rest of us are doing this, not as an anti-starbucks movement, but as a way to unify cafes across Toronto. This is just an initial group of people who are like-minded and want to see our indie coffee scene flourish. The plan is, and always has been to include many more quality focused shops as a part of what we’re trying to start as a very amazing and unifying movement. Naysayers can take it in any way you’d like to but I assure you that this is NOT an elitist “boy’s club”. This is an opportunity to have a lot of coffee shops doing some pretty awesome things as a collective and getting customers involved in as many different ways as we can.
Starbucks had an excellent concept in it’s infancy: to deliver FRESHLY roasted coffee. This is no longer their practice. (Notice though that the cost isn’t reduced for stale coffee; we’re well conditioned.
Ultimately, it matters little whether its a chain or an independent operation. What is crucial is quality. It is, after all a matter of TASTE. Stale coffee is terrible regardless of who makes it.
What’s good but way to difficult to find is good quality beans freshly roasted, ground, and brewed. Is anyone listening?!
Toronto people crapping on other people’s deals just, like, y’know, because: non-news par excellence. This just in: rain gets you wet. Let’s relax and let these fine coffee folks do their thing, eh?