Seven Unusual Uses for Coffee

Ahh. A lovely cup of joe in the morning to revive your body ready for the day ahead. In my opinion, there really is nothing better than that to get your day started.
But, coffee isn’t just a wonderful stimulant – I’ve used the excess beans and grounds from our home coffee machine for a variety of things and here’s my Top 7 Unusual Uses for your Coffee!

TOP 7 UNUSUAL USES FOR COFFEE

7. GETTING RID OF ANTS

Two years ago we had an anthill pop up in our garden, threatening to destroy my lovely hard work – by simply pouring coffee grounds into the hill and in a circle around it, the ants moved on. Ants purportedly HATE black coffee!


6. REMOVING STRONG ODOURS

Ever had food go out of date while still in the refrigerator, or have a power outage and be left with odourific defrosted food in your freezer, and be left with that horrible, horrible smell that takes hours to remove? FEAR NO MORE. Simply pour used OR new ground coffee into a bowl or two and leave overnight. Coffee works as a great odour neutraliser.


5. GIVE YOURSELF A FACIAL
Instead of buying those rather expensive mud packs from the supermarket, dry out your used coffee grounds and use them as a facial cleanser; grounds are great for skin dermabrasion.


4. GIVE YOUR ASHTRAY A CLEAN

Surprisingly coffee is not a bad degreaser for those tough-to-clean items. Try using ground coffee to clean out any ashtrays or, in general, greasy surfaces – the grounds have good abrasive properties and leave behind a nice smell!


3. USE IT ON YOUR PLANTS

It’s not really a secret but ground coffee beans help enrich soil to aid in plant growth – instead of chucking those used grounds away, sprinkle them on the soil of your hydrangeas! No milk and sugar though, please!


2. AS A NATURAL HAIR COLOURANT!

Henna and black coffee work well together to cover up grey hairs, and your bonce will look a lovely Henna red! Just don’t forget to not boil the mixture! Henna and black coffee can also be combined as a safe temporary tattoo!


1. RUB THEM ON YOUR DOG!

After you give your pet a well-deserved bath, rub the grounds into his/her coat. Coffee grounds are purported to repel fleas rather effectively!


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Finding new ways to resuse coffee is a fun and green method to help our environment, can you think of any more? Post your ideas in the comment section below.

Until next time,

David Cocozza

Pepsi vs Coke - A Retailer's Perspective

Before I begin this article, I just want to make it perfectly clear I am not going to delve into the actual product differences between Pepsi and Coke (i.e. which one has more carbonated water, which one has more sugar blah blah blah) and express my personal opinion on each product, rather to introduce some concepts regarding loyalty to the brands from a retail perspective. I do however truly believe that there is huge overloyalty to Coke in our arena and this post is here to challenge it!

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It’s the age old debate: can you tell the difference between Pepsi and Coke? Certainly, there are differences between the actual products and I do believe its true that most people can taste the difference between the two; but in a retail environment, does the difference really matter? I don’t believe it does.

Consider this. You are at a local bar for the evening and decide to order a “Vodka and Coke”. The bartend replies “Will Pepsi be ok?". I am sure you would be hard pressed to find someone who decides that the establishment in question is out of line and storms out to find a bar that explicitly serves Coca Cola. In fact, 41% of the time what you are being served IS Pepsi - while just 33% is Coke*, with Coke market share predicted to decline even further in 2011 onwards.

Brand loyalty is everything in today's media dominated culture, and Coke have a loyal following like no other. Although people may ask for a "XXXXX with Coke", they are really asking for a Cola-based product, but thanks to clever marketing, people instinctively ask for Coke. The red image of Santa Claus, and indeed the American mindset of Christmas seems to be born out of the marketing of Coca Cola, psychologically associating the red drink with feelings of happiness and joy.

Seymour Valentine recently became the Southern vending parnter for Britvic soft drinks, and are heavily pushing Pepsi and Britvic products against Coke. Often, I am found that there are "Coke dominated sites" that will not accept Pepsi over Coke, simply becaue its more popular - so I undertook a sales test.

Over a 13 week period at "Coke-loyal" site, we replaced all Coke with Pepsi, and monitored the sales. We then swapped back to Coke for 13 weeks and monitored those sales. Our results? No noticeable change in revenue. With the added benefit of Pepsi Max and Diet Pepsi now introducing a 600ml bottle at the same price, in some locations I have experienced increased demands over Coke.

Pepsi is driving the growth in the Cola category, and I believe that when it boils down to a purchase from a vending machine, consumers are not completely brand loyal. If you give them the choice, they'll go for brand loyalty or the drink they have been convinced they prefer. If you just offer one brand, even if you believe it is 'inferior' to the other, I don't think you'll notice a significant loss of revenue.

So the question is, are you up to the Pespi Challenge? 

Kind Regards,

Dave

David Cocozza

* Source: Britvic Soft Drinks Indepdent Report (Data provided by CGA)

5 Myths about Coffee Beans

Despite the UK drinking a staggering estimated 70 million cups of coffee per day, I have always felt that our nation really doesn’t appreciate the wonderful bean itself and has become hooked on the “Starbucks motto” that seems to laden everything with over-roasted coffee and lots of milk.

Indeed in my industry, if I hand someone what I would call a “proper espresso”, I am often given the response that it is 'far too strong', when in fact my opposite has just been used to drinking substandard coffee since they can remember.

As my family have heralded from the darkest depths of Napoli, Italy, having a good espresso in the morning and at subsequent well-timed intervals during the rest of the day is something I have grown up with.

Today I am listing a few quick myths about coffee that seems to occur on a day to day basis for me – hopefully learning a bit more about this wonderful plant will help you appreciate good, fresh coffee even more.

So...let’s begin.

MYTH NUMBER 1  -  Freezing beans keeps them fresh

The oils in roasted coffee beans are an important part of the flavour of a good cup of Joe but contrary to popular belief, freezing actually breaks down the aromatic oils in roasted coffee.

Unfortunately, a freezer can contain many other foods which have potent odours and the porous beans can absorb the flavours. Flavoured coffees can be pleasant, but I am yet to meet anyone who wants to drink seafood or garlic flavoured coffee!!

MYTH NUMBER 2 – There are two types of bean in the world, Arabica and Robusta.

Surprisingly there are over 90 different species of the Coffea genus, but due to larger harvesting we generally only use the coffea Arabica and coffea canephora (Robusta) beans.

Recently, there was even a new species of Coffea plant was discovered in Cameroon that is naturally caffeine-free!

MYTH NUMBER 3 - Beans stay fresh for weeks

The naturally occurring oils in coffee beans oxidise very rapidly, and it does also depend on the roasting date of the bean.

The coffee I always use for my City clients is always roasted about three to four days in advance of being transported to site, so freshness is key here. Once they have left their nicely sealed bag it’s estimated they have about 1 to 2 weeks at maximum before full oxidisation occurs.

MYTH NUMBER 4 - The best coffee’s in the world comes from Italy

Actually, unless someone is growing coffee as an indoor plant, you’d be very hard pressed to find coffee that is in fact grown in Italy at all. Italy's coffee fame rests on those Italian coffee company’s abilities as roasters and blenders for espresso, not on its aptitude for growing coffee!

Perhaps more importantly for those morning-after-Thursday-night-outings...

MYTH NUMBER 5 - Coffee sobers you up!

Research on mice indicates the drink may make you feel that you are coming to your senses - but it is only an illusion. In fact, it makes it harder for people to realise they are under the influence of alcohol.

Coffee simply “wakes” you up, but has no sobering effects to it.

Best stick to the water, pal!

I have advised City businesses on sourcing sustainable and cost-effective refreshment provisions, including tea and coffee supplies, for a good number of years now. Unlike most people, I’ve had firsthand experience by working in the City all my adult life, and so I know what works and what doesn’t.

Getting the right coffee in a bluechip company is a challenging task, and I am always at hand to advise on implementing the right solution.

I hope you have enjoyed my post and gained some valueable knowledge.

Until next time,

David Cocozza