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November 2009 Newsletter
Longevity is a condition that is much
admired, in people,
products and institutions. This was brought
to mind the other day
by a potential customer who asked me if I
had much experience
with the Lelit Combi type machines. When I
looked back into my
old accounts it turned out that I'd been
selling them since 1994,
starting with the Salda Napoletana.
While there have been a
number of minor internal and external
changes, the basic design
hasn't changed much in 15
years.
This is both good and bad, as it means that we
can still maintain
those machines we sold all those years ago,
but there hasn't
really been a whole lot of innovation since.
This is true of
virtually all the Italian "prosumer" espresso
machine companies,
so it's not necessarily a major criticism.
You only have too look
at all the machines with E-61 groups to
see how conservative the
industry really is.
From the customer's point of view it's great. We
were servicing
one of our oldest machines last month, and our
customer remarked
that the machine was older than her daughter
in high school, much
more reliable and far cheaper to maintain.
<VBG> Since the
machine has been serviced at about 3
yearly intervals for the
last 13 years her total cost over the
years is probably double
the original purchase price, but the
pump, grinder, boiler, group
and portafilter are all still
operating perfectly.
My customer also stated that her espresso
machine was the oldest
appliance in her kitchen; everything
else, including fridge,
microwave, oven, cooktop and dishwasher
had been replaced, some
items twice, in the same period. Now
that's what I call
longevity!
My viewpoint should probably be a bit different
- if I could
convince my customers that buying a new machine
every 3 years or
so after the old one broke was "normal", I'd
make a lot more
money - but in reality I'm just happy to see the
machines keep
going. What I would like to see is a bit more
innovation. There
is a huge amount of control technology
available to be applied to
espresso machines, and the Italians
use only a miniscule fraction
of it.
I've given my wishlist of improvements I'd like
to see to the
Italian companies, all we can do now is to wait
and see what they
come up with.
Business longevity is another matter. In July
next year we will
have been in the business of selling premium
coffee beans for 25
years. In all that time the method of
delivery has changed from
retail to internet shop, but the
coffee quality has only gotten
better.
This month's special is testament to
that:
Sulawesi
Toraja
$42.00/kg
Continuing the series of defined flavours
(acidy, intensity,
fruity,) this one is spicy. Deep, sweet body
with hints of
pepper, clove and allspice in the front palate,
long finish with
raisins and chocolate. As with the other
monthly specials, if you
can't find it on the list on the order
page, that means it's all
sold out and there is no point in
asking if we've still got it.
Finally, in an attempt to improve the chances of
my own personal
longevity I'll be cutting back on my
"availability" hours in the
near future, particularly in the
evenings. My wife and I have
taken up various forms of healthy
exercise, in particular Tai
Chi, so my phone is being switched
off much earlier than it used
to be. It's very embarrassing to
have your strident ringtone
interrupting the flow of soothing
exercise for 40 or 50 people!
Until next month
Alan
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