Competition Time - Or 'Bring it On'

We don’t mind a bit of competition. It’s healthy and good for you, in fact it’s good for everyone, the staff, the business and especially the customer.

It could be competing to beat our own sales or coffee records, or other cafes opening nearby who copy most of the things that we do, or just other great hospitality businesses in the area, or the general raising of standards across the entire U.K. hospitality industry that pushes us to continuously improve and be better and better and better at everything we do, or an actual competition where we are assessed and have the possibility of being nationally recognised.

It makes us look at what we do already and to ask the questions, are we doing all we can, what can we do better, how can we improve?

This Thursday night, Chef Jared and I will be going to the British Sandwich Awards, a black tie dinner at the 4 star Lancaster Hotel with a three course meal, band, comedian, and half a bottle of wine each. When you think of the sandwich industry across the whole country, it really is a massive business. Over 500 people will be at the awards, though we usually get put on the table in the back, like the troublesome cousins at a wedding.

We came equal first in 2011, fourth place in 2012 and of course hope this year to be in the running to win.

We are shortlisted in the Best Cafe Sandwich Bar Awards and are up against:

• Greggs, Merryhill Shopping Centre
• Costa, Piccadilly
• Caffe Pausa, Dunelm Mill, Basingstoke
• M & S Flavours Café, Cheshire Oaks
• Pret Café, Newbury
• Thorntons Café, Junction 28, M1
• Harris and Hoole, Cannon Street, London
• A Great Little Place, Autism Ventures, Southport

This week we also entered the British Beverage Standards Association awards in the categories of best espresso, best flat white and best tea as well as entering again the annual Cafe Society awards where we will be in the category of Best Independent Cafe.

Both of these awards are mystery judged, that is someone comes in and assesses us, without our knowledge, anytime from end of May to end of July.

 We have previously received Gold Awards in the Cafe Society Awards (2011, 2012 and 2013) and in 2011 I was personally awarded the Cafe Society award itself, for influence on the industry. This is the first year we have entered the Beverage Standards Awards though.

When I was 22 years old,  I worked as the cocktail barman at a four star Hotel in Melbourne and the GM Dickie Singh was very keen to enter as many competitions as he could. He supported it, encouraged it, he saw the value in it. We entered service awards, kitchen awards and I entered and came third in a Suntory cocktail competition, about the first thing I had ever been successful at. But it was great, because it pushed the entire Hotel to be better and better, and when you/we were recognised, or won, the feeling around the Hotel was amazing.

  was never very good at sport or academically as a youngster. But myself and my staff love having the opportunity to compete and therefore continuously improve in business, in a very competitive industry, in one of the greatest cities in the world. We are looking forward to it.

Peter Dore-Smith
Director
Kaffeine Ltd
66 Great Titchfield st.
15 Eastcastle st.