Fresh Cup Magazine, providing specialty coffee and tea professionals with unique insight into the trends, ideas, products and people that shape their world.
Issue link: http://freshcup.epubxp.com/i/232179
FROM THE EDITOR The inevitable forward push W LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Fresh Cup welcomes letters to the editor at comments@freshcup.com. Letters must be 250 words or less. Authors must provide verifiable phone number and city and state of residence. 12 Fresh Cup Magazine | freshcup.com It's surely an obvious sentiment to say that technology has changed the way we do business, but it's fascinating to see exactly how that is taking place. Kickstarter—the best-known crowdfunding site—was started in April 2009, while Instagram launched in October 2010. These tools weren't around when I entered the industry, and advancements like these have made it easier for specialty coffee and tea companies to connect—both inwardly, by strengthening their respective communities, and outwardly by building and solidifying customer relationships. They have led to stronger specialty coffee and tea worlds, and I'm eager to see where the Internet helps take us in another nine years. I ponder where we've been and where we're going because this is my final issue as editor of Fresh Cup. It's hard for me to fathom how much time I've spent working in these pages, and I'm proud to say that in my long tenure here I've produced more than 100 issues. I'm heading out to explore other writing and editing opportunities, but I'll still be present in future issues as a freelance writer. It has been a true pleasure to interact with readers, advertisers and other industry friends over the years, and I've developed countless friendships I'll long cherish. I witnessed substantial forward momentum in specialty coffee and tea during my time at Fresh Cup, and I'm excited to discover where it goes from here—even if I'm no longer reporting from the front lines. STEPHANIE KREUTTER hen I joined Fresh Cup in 2005, specialty coffee and tea were very different landscapes. Singlecup brewing might be on some café menus, but it was an anomaly rather than a staple. When you ordered tea, it was far less likely that you'd be served loose leaves. And questions about a coffee or tea's origin were few and far between, as consumers just didn't think to consider those details yet. But as we move into 2014, you see much more mature specialty coffee and tea scenes—both across the country and around the world—and an informed customer responding to all that those categories have to offer. Part of the reason consumers have come to better understand coffee and tea is that they have unlimited information available to them at the touch of their fingertips. While the Internet was certainly an invaluable tool in 2005, it is even more deeply entwined in our culture today—just compare how we used our phones then to how we use them now. In this issue you'll find several articles addressing how newish technology has had positive effects on coffee and tea businesses. In "It Takes a Village" (p. 44), for example, Jodi Helmer discusses the crowdfunding movement, in which companies take to the Internet to request funds directly from supporters to launch a new product or expand an existing enterprise. And in "Roasters Realm" (p. 52), Poul Mark examines the usefulness of Instagram and Twitter, platforms that have helped his roasting company, Transcend Coffee, better communicate with its customers.