Since the beginning of this year, Mister Donut has been selling mason jar-like items (Brooklyn jars). The other day, Shimojima also started selling mason jars, which made me feel sad that mason jars have passed their peak as a fashion icon.
I personally had the same impression when I saw the news today. I knew it was coming, but it feels like the wave is finally coming.
All About and Doutor Coffee to regularly hold experiential workshops on "specialty coffee" (Kyodo News PR Wire)
It has been announced that Cafe Rexel, a shop run by Doutor that serves slightly better quality coffee, will be holding regular workshops to promote specialty coffee.
It's good for the industry that various stores, including chain stores, are spreading the word about specialty coffee and educating people about it.
There are an increasing number of major businesses that handle specialty coffee, such as Doutor's Cafe Rexel and UCC's Mellow Brown Coffee, and this number is likely to increase even more in the future.
You can even drink beans that have won awards at coffee competitions... The number of places where you can encounter high-quality coffee is increasing.
American third wave restaurants such as Blue Bottle are opening up in Japan one after another, and I think Osaka will soon see an increase in chain restaurants with large capital.
It looks like we're moving towards an environment where you can easily drink delicious coffee wherever you go.
It's a delight for coffee lovers.
However, what I feel when I see this is that "the time has come when selling high-quality coffee is no longer valuable." It has already become difficult to differentiate a shop based on the taste and quality of the coffee.
In the first place, quality is never a selling point in other industries either...
For a coffee shop that prides itself on its specialty coffees, this is probably a difficult time with many pressures on them.
My feeling is that the trend has already reached its peak, and that things may be sorted out in some way around next year.
So, what is the reason for choosing this store?
I think we too are being forced to take stock of what we have achieved so far and consciously steer the ship in that direction.
I hope to make a breakthrough somewhere different.
