Coffee shops aim for quality
Serving up freshness
Serving up freshness
| After chatting with an employee, Michelle Tacchia walks out of Grounds for Enjoyment coffee house in San Bernardino, coffee in hand. The music teacher for San Bernardino Unified School District prefers GFE to Starbucks because of its original, unpretentious atmosphere. “It doesn’t have that same corporate feeling. It has an individuality, it has some personality. It’s more just a feeling that you get when you come in here, it’s not like going in to some stamped out place,” said Tacchia. Cliff Young, GFE’s founder, believes that his four-chain outlet can compete successfully against Starbucks. His seemingly simple strategy is centered on maintaining the freshness of the company’s product, which he roasts at Inland Empire Coffee in Mentone. The coffee, which has a 10-day shelf life, is shipped to GFE locations weekly with the date of its roasting on the packages, said Young. Once brewed, it has approximately a 40 minute shelf life, being immediately disposed of once the need is shown on the coffee machines’ automatic timers, Young added. To Young, the quality of GFE’s coffee is more important than the company’s size. “It’s not about me opening 30 to 40 stores. It’s about finding people just as fanatic about customer service and the product as I am,” he said. Independent coffee shops in the region are banking on java junkies to choose their personable offerings despite the Starbucks expansion. Some are offering live entertainment, others have high-speed Internet but all have a constant supply of brew and beans that rival the chain varieties. At GFE, an assortment of coffees and teas are served with various menu items as well as free Wi-Fi, or wireless Internet access. The San Bernardino location has live jazz performances, mostly from Cal State San Bernardino students, as well as blues bands and classical performances. The San Bernardino location has a large corner where customers can recline in plush armchairs. Music from Sirius satellite radio, including classic easy listening songs, can be heard. GFE’s smaller size appeals to Kenny Jure, a conductor for BNSF Railway in San Bernardino. “It’s more of a hometown type of shop as opposed to a big conglomerate, which to me just seems like a coffee factory,” said Jure. The stronger but less bitter taste of GFE’s coffee is another asset, Jure added. While the company’s coffee is worth buying, its extensive menu adds a helpful variety to the items it offers, said Fermin Ramirez, who owns L.C. Tax & Bookkeeping in Calimesa. “You can actually get a full meal here,” said Ramirez, referring to the sandwiches, soups and pastries available at GFE. Another local alternative to Starbucks is Stell Coffee & Tea Company, which has two locations in Redlands. The coffeehouse offers free Wi-Fi and live bluegrass and folk music performances, said Robert Stell, its co-owner. It is also dedicated to preserving the freshness of its product. The company’s coffee is roasted on-site in smaller batches, enabling it to be finished before it becomes stale, Stell said. Steamed milk at the coffee house is produced only when a drink requiring it is ordered, said Stell. It is not stored in large pitchers and continually reheated, depleting its freshness, he added. At Coffee Klatch in Rancho Cucamonga, drinks like javalanche and creme brulee are served with a side of s’mores and free Wi-Fi. “It’s why I stay so long,” said Tina Nguyen, a Chaffey College student. Nguyen frequents Coffee Klatch every week, staying for hours at a time. Last semester, she started a study group for her anthropology class there. “Starbucks is sort of impersonal,” she said, adding she’s a drive-through enthusiast on days when time is valuable. And that is one thing even Heather Perry, who runs Coffe Klatch in Rancho Cucamonga, admits she cannot compete with: convenience. Starbucks drive-throughs are sprouting across the Southland. “Drive-throughs provide a great way to better meet the needs of our customers and will become a larger mix of our store portfolio as they are introduced in areas where our customers are not currently being served,” wrote Montey Dunn, a local Starbucks spokesperson, in an e-mail. But customers not served by Starbucks are increasingly hard to find. In Claremont Village, a Starbucks sits on Yale Street, a stone’s throw away from Some Crust, a bakery and cafe where organic and free trade coffee is served. The area is rich with socially conscious consumers, said Heather Williams, a Pomona College professor who teaches a class on the politics of food. “Some people are anti-Starbucks. There’s some sense of cool in independent coffee houses where the music isn’t dictated by board
Some Crust made the decision to go completely organic and free trade, meaning that the beans are produced under a system insuring that farmers receive a fair price. Owner Larry Feemster now purchases from Santa Cruz Roasting and offers a “brew bar” where each cup of Joe is dripped to order. “I like to say there’s a railroad track that runs from Santa Cruz to Berkeley to Claremont,” said Feemster, who finds similarities between Claremont and the two progressive college towns. Three years ago, Berkeley voted down a measure that would require all cups of coffee served in the city to be free trade. Starbucks has also moved toward using free trade, organic and the environmentally friendly shade-grown coffee. And despite some run ins with unions the most recent being in New York City last November Starbucks’ behemoth reputation is relatively good. The company was on Fortune’s 2005 list as one of the best companies to work for. “Starbucks is not seen as Wal-Mart,” Williams said. “Their price per pound (of beans) to their producers are probably twice the average. Starbucks is not a satanic force.” Another reason why independent stores have to offer what Starbucks doesn’t in order to survive, said Williams. Some Crust displays art from local artists and promotes a program that brings new shoes to needy children. At Chino’s Espresso Yourself, new owner Junior Ellis is looking to bring chess tournaments and poetry readings to his venue. In addition to weekend entertainment, there is live jazz every other Tuesday at Coffee Klatch where its music sets racked up $10,000 for hurricane relief in 2005. According to the Specialty Coffee Association of America which tracks coffee-drinking trends, 16 percent of the adult population drank specialty coffee on a daily basis in 2004, up from 9 percent in 2000. Coffee drinkers’ tastes are becoming more refined, said Perry, who describes her store as not just a place to drink coffee but to learn about the beverage. Coffee Klatch roasts its own beans in its San Dimas location and sells it wholesale to places as far away as South Korea. “Coffee will be in my life for the rest of my life,” Perry said. Perry and her father, owner Michael Perry, travel abroad regularly bidding for lots in coffee-producing nations. Bolivia and Panama are up and coming countries, she said. Luke Johnson, a truck driver from Fontana, frequents Coffee Klatch every day, sometimes twice a day, for the ambience as much as the coffee. “I wouldn’t say this is the `Cheers’ of coffee,” said Johnson, referring to the intimate sitcom bar. “But everyone sure knows my name.” Area coffee houses GFE Coffee 5244 University Pkwy., San Bernardino Stell Coffee & Tea Company 1580 Barton Rd., Redlands Coffee Klatch 8916 Foothill Blvd., Rancho Cucamonga Espresso Yourself 5525 Philadelphia, Suite E, Chino 119 Yale Ave., Claremont
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