I sat their as possibly the only non-coca-cola employee and listened in on illy and coke's (together, they create ILKO) plans to infiltrate japanese and american markets with canned coffee (info from coke here). ive seen my fair share of canned coffee while living in fukuoka, and it's undeniably a huge market to attack in the states. Illy's chilled coffee, "cappuccino", and "latte machiatto" are things to look for in the near future. they even tried to talk my ear about getting some in a cooler at octane. right.
What I found most striking was Dr. Illy's persistence on brand taste consistency. Doing eveything in their measure to eliminate the barista to create the same cup every time. He feels that there are "just too many variables" for the barista to calculate to create a good cup. So, he create these super automatic machines that are even, in his opinion, still flawed.
Within this desire for consistency, he claims that they have just one blend. "Everyone has so many blends and, i dont know, it just unnecessary." They have one blend, nine origins, that they create "direct relationships" with and pay "premiums" for these coffees. He says they work with these farms one on one to ensure quality, and if quality is not produced then they will not buy it. Does this mean they just don't buy the coffee and leave them high and dry? I'm a little confused on this bit.
regardless, it's like a can of coke. you open it up and it tastes the same every time. no canned kenyans or yirgs. just illy every time.
so yeah, it was a little weird. weirdest part seeing a photo of someone that looks just like you when they pull up the slide with "target consumer" written in giant red print. here i am, sitting within the highest crops of coca cola in a tower in downtown atlanta, when just an hour earlier i was cupping coffees at the counter culture training center and talking about ways of making new coffee brewing methods openly and transparently. it just felt so... contrived and slightly evil.
drink up, kids.
