The UK is currently in the grip of coffee-shop mania and not the type you get in Holland where you really do get a decent hit for your Euro. Everywhere you look there's a new Starbucks or Costa - they even have the temerity to open on former sites of that Great British institution - The Pub !
On the face of it the the reason behind their success is baffling to the middle Englander but let me explain..
Now that supermarkets sell booze at knock-down prices (say 50% of pub prices versus 80% back in the day) pub revenues have declined shamefully and thus to pick up the slack, leisure industry corporations such as the mighty Whitbreads of Southill Bedfordshire have branched into coffee via their Costa chain, and it's easy to see why. Coffee costs less that 10p a cup to make - YES that's right a measly 10p or likely even less. If you consider taht you you pay £2.50 then take a bit off for overheads and Messrs Whitbread and Co. pocket the best part of two quid every time you set foot in one of their despicable metrosexual boutiques, and that's before you've stuffed your fat face with a blueberry muffin (no doubt whilst wearing your ridiculous FatFace apparel). But then of course it's not actually coffee that they're actually selling - if you really wanted a decent cup of Kenya's finest you would visit the nearest McDonalds where it's a fraction of the cost but still a decent product - no they're selling a 'life-style'. Hey look at me with my hand gripped my cardboard cup with 10ps worth of skinny latte - aren't I cool ? No, clearly you're a twat with more money than sense having been brainwashed by the twin evils of Facebook and FOMO*..
Now spare a thought for the struggling Pub Landlord - sky high rents, dwindling customer base (due in no small part to the fact this country is now appears to be largely populated by hen-pecked Muscle Mary's**) and a product with a margin of closer to 40 % compared to the grotesque profiteering ( and non tax paying) of these chains with their close on 90% margins.
Now, as hard as a I try I cannot alone keep the pub market that we should all cherish afloat. Even with Nigel's help it's a big ask. So if you really want to be a minority style trend-setter get down the pub before they all shut. You can probably even get a cup of coffee if you really want or why not try a forgotten Great British delicacy - a pint of bitter with ham, egg and chips.
* I learned this one recently - it's all about the grouped mindset of the thick and hopelessy deluded - FOMO = Fear Of Missing Out. If you can correctly channel this powerful emotion you can sell anything from cell-phones to social networking, think grief tourism with pound signs attached..
** Metrosexual males that frequent the gym rather than the pub
