Sunday, August 9, 2009

It's Getting Better All the Time



* Last week, our Cafe Antonio baristas, Neil, Ramhil and myself, along with our friend Al Labadan II, went to the World Food Expo 2009 at the World Trade Center to watch the student-level barista competition. We also bought some coffee and tasted the free espressos at the booths. It was a good experience for all of us. I really wanted to show my baristas different kinds of espresso machines, taste different espressos, and watch pro and amateur baristas at work. It's all part of their training as baristas atthe cafe. And the WOFEX fieldtrip really got us inspired to work even harder and perfect our craft. We also met some coffee people who gave us their calling cards. I hope to get in touch with them soon. Special shoutout to Wilma Serrano and the Equilibrium guys, thanks for the tickets and thanks for your support!

* Before the WOFEX trip, we really didn't know what to do because with the baristas gone, no one will work at the cafe, and it's a Friday, our best day of the week. We didn't want to close for the sake of the trip. It's a good thing, our former barista, Bessy (probably the most serious student/trainee I ever had) was available for Friday. She doesn't work at the cafe anymore, but still she agreed to fill our shoes on that day, even though it's her birthday week. We really appreciated your help! Bessy, Joyceann, and Manong were able to serve 97 customers that day generating 9,000 pesos in gross sales. That's our highest Friday sales this year! We're really glad that everything worked out just fine. We had our trip and still we were able to open the cafe with the help of our volunteers.

* Again and again, we would like to say thank you very much to our customers, both new and die-hard fans. We're very happy to say that each week keeps surpassing the previous week's performance. And because of your support we were able to print the 16 oz plastic cups we are using now. Our 12 oz hot paper cups are coming soon, and they have printed Cafe Antonio cardboard sleeves, thanks to Primatech Paper Soulutions. Slowly but surely we are trying to improve our products for you guys. Our barista training is in "adik-mode", we would like to serve perfect shots of espresso every time and make coffee art every time we pour milk into your cappuccino or latte. The best is yet to come, thank you very much! We're looking forward to a better week. God bless us all and continue praying for our young crew!

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