How Independent Coffee Shops can fight back against the big boys

Best Coffee Beans, which launched the Ethical Coffee Company brand back in 2007 have launched a new coffee, with the name Italian Coffee Shop, which is aimed at offering support to independent coffee shops to enable them to compete on an equal footing with the larger chains, as the British love affair with good coffee continues to grow.

The new Italian Coffee Shop espresso is a blend from three continents to produce a full bodied and flavoursome Italian style espresso which produces exceptional Cappuccinos, Lattes and Flat Whites, the UK’s favourite coffee drinks.

Flavour has not been the only consideration, with coffee prices soaring over the past twelve months, the increasing cost has also been a concern for independent coffee shops fighting to attract customers away from the chains. "We have developed an espresso blend which takes advantage of long established relationships with coffee farms", points out Paul Siddall, the Managing Director of Best Coffee Beans, "this lets us to offer a much better price to our customers, as well as a great tasting high quality coffee which is freshly roasted here in the UK"

One of the first coffee shops to benefit from the new espresso launched at the beginning of April 2011, is Martha’s Coffee House at Moreton-in-Marsh in the Cotswolds. Pam Newman, who owns the family business told That's Business: "Our customers love the Italian Coffee Shop espresso. We have been using an established brand for some time, but needed something that gave us the edge in a competitive environment."

Italian Coffee Shop is available now in bean form, online from Best Coffee Beans in Cheltenham at www.BestCoffeeBeans.co.uk together with point of sale materials for coffee shops.