Do you remember Tamagotchis? Those virtual pets whose destinies lay in the palm of your hand, at the end of a key chain.
At one point, they were huge!! Everyone had to have a Tamagotchi. The responsibility of rearing this little digital being from egg to maturity, feeding it if it was hungry, giving it medicine if it was sick, cleaning up its crap if it had left the turd emoji on the screen... They were all encompassing, attention drawing, all anyone would talk about.
And then.... Gone!
Nobody knows when they went, all they know is that they simply, disappeared.
I don't mean that they disappeared in the sense that they just weren't being used as much or by as many people... I mean they actually disappeared.
At one point, almost EVERY household had at least one Tamagotchi in it.
The next moment, not only did no-one play with them anymore, they couldn't even tell you what happened to their previously beloved pixelated pet.
Trends come and go.. That's why they are called 'Trends'.
It's not just Tamagotchis...
What happened to Slinkis
Rubik's Cubes
Pogo Sticks
Soda Streams
Tie Dye
The Flintstones
The list goes on and on..
Some of it is undoubtedly a result of the rapid advances in technology in recent years... Pagers were sort of a trend that were very quickly overthrown by the advances in mobile phones.
As people moved more and more into a digital world, of course tangible products like Rubicks cubes and Slinky's were going to suffer.
But why Tamagotchis? Why were they so big in the first place? What replaced them? why didn't we notice?
I have gone off on a tangent. The point I was trying to make is the 'Trend of Trends'.
For this Post, we are not looking at what makes a Trend, or what causes a Trend to become 'Untrendy'.
The purpose of this Post is to establish/discuss/evaluate, whether or not Coffee is a Trend in itself, and if so, is it still Trendy?
I was never really much of a Coffee drinker in the past. Caffeine tends to give me heart palpitations and prevent me from sleeping.
But then again so does CocaCola, which I have always consumed in vast quantities.
Growing up it was always a case of, Adults have hot drinks and Kids have Cold Drinks.. Nobody cared that there was enough caffeine in a Cold Coke to raise the dead so long as the kids weren't drinking warm cups of Coffee.
Having grown up in England, of course Tea was always the hot drink of choice amongst the adults, with Coffee being reserved for the Business Men, Taxi Drivers, and weirdly.. after an evening meal in a restaurant (although, I think, at 36 years old, whilst writing this post, it has finally dawned on me why that was a thing)
Coffee Culture (In England at least) Is a pretty recent thing. With the big chains like Starbucks and Costa, churning out cup after cup of warm milk with syrup and a hint of caffeine to keep the TikTok Titans and Insta Influencers active for a few hours extra each day.
"This might just be a trend" I thought, as I was watching my (extremely expensive) Coffee Machine being installed into my Mobile Coffee Trailer.
But, if it was a Trend, then it was a Trend that had been going on for a long time and globally, for decades.
Everywhere I looked there was a new Coffee Roasters, Barista Van or Artisan Coffee Shop. Everyone (Including myself) could just not get enough Coffee.
Or so I thought.
Cut to me selling my little Coffee Business.
Suddenly I didn't have the equipment to make myself a good cup of Coffee and needed to look elsewhere. Costa and Starbucks weren't really options (those of you that have ever had 'good' coffee will understand).
I found two Coffee Shops..
The first 'Born and Bread' I have mentioned in a previous post, serves truly amazing Coffee.
The Second 'The Tuning Fork' Serves 'OK' Coffee.. Nothing exceptional, but a damn site better than the aforementioned chain stores.
Lately, the opening hours of Born and Bread have been reducing to the point that, it now feels like a bit of a chore to get hold of one of their amazing coffees..You can't just turn up and expect them to be open. You will first have to do a Google search to see if they are open before setting off, or risk being disappointed when you arrive to a locked door.
The Tuning Fork on the other hand, is thriving! So much so, that you also have to do a Google search before going, but just so that you can book a table in order to ensure you can be seated when you get there.
Why is the Tuning fork seemingly doing better than Born and Bread? After all , Born and Bread has better Coffee so surely they should be the one who would have to resort to taking bookings in order to more efficiently serve their Customers. Shouldn't they?
Let's first look at location...
Born and Bread is conveniently placed in the centre of Town on a busy street full of foot traffic.
The Tuning Fork is based on a housing estate out of Town, away from any other shops and amenities.
This would also point towards Born and Bread doing better.
Staffing and Customer Service is irrelevant as both venues have wonderful staff that will bend over backwards to give you a positive experience.
So what does the Tuning Fork have that Born and Bread doesn't?
It all comes down to the other consumables on offer.
The Breakfasts
The Cakes
But this all culminates to the title of this Post.. Is Coffee Still a Thing?
If a Cafe with 'OK' coffee is getting more custom than a Cafe with 'amazing' Coffee.. Then are people actually even going there for the Coffee at all?
We all enjoy Coffee, or at least I assume we all enjoy Coffee because we are members of a group devoted specifically to Coffee.
What about everyone else out there though, in this big wide world? Are they going to a Coffee shop for Coffee? Or are they in fact, visiting said establishment because they have gone on false pretences? Perhaps suggesting to a friend that you go for Coffee, is more acceptable than being honest and saying "Hey do you want to go to that Coffee Shop and eat all of the cake?"
More and more we are being pushed into drinking substandard Coffee because there are increasingly less and less alternatives out there.
Is Coffee a Trend? If so, is it still Trendy? I can't answer that question and so I am relying on some of you to be able to answer it for me :)
(All Product Images Sourced From Amazon.com)
