Disloyalty card welcome here too
May 10 2010
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The Toronto Coffee Conspiracy, made up of seven independent shops around Toronto, has created a "disloyalty card" that launched in April. Matthew Coutts spoke to Sam James, owner of conspirator Sam James Coffee Bar.

Q What is the deal with this, what is it, coffee conspiracy?

A It's the Toronto Coffee Conspiracy. We wanted to make it a very Torontonian thing, because I think that our emphasis is not only promoting quality and craftsmanship in coffee, but good Torontonianism, getting outside your neighbourhood and exploring all the different neighbourhoods these shops are in.

Q There are seven different shops and the idea is to lure people to all of them?

A Well, everyone that is in the TCC right now is the foundation group, we hope to build it. We all at one point have worked together or collaborated on some level. We just wanted to promote our passion for coffee and our passion for our customers.

Q So you get a card and you try to collect a stamp at each shop?

A Let's say you come to my shop and you buy a coffee and pick up one of the cards. We will check off the box it was originated at. I'll check off the (Sam James) box and give you a stamp for the coffee you purchased. Then you have to go to the other six shops and collect a stamp for each coffee you buy. Once your card is full you bring that back to me, where you bought your first coffee, and I give you a free coffee for visiting all my friends' shops.

Q The one thing you have in common is there are chain shops around the corner. Is this a way to battle the Empire?

A I don't know. When we started the whole thing it wasn't even a subject matter in the first few meetings. But it has come up in the media and questioned by our customers as well if it was a backlash against the corporates. I guess in some sort of way we have power in numbers by coming together and becoming our own sort of chain, but I don't think our focus is to combat the giants.

Q What do all the shops have in common?

A We are all buying fresh, quality coffee and have a knowledge of coffee from source to cup: where that coffee came from, where it was purchased. We have all got a developed pallet developed over years in the industry. Craft coffee is the word we are trying to promote here.

Q What kind of response have you been getting?

A The only thing negative I have heard has been on forums, and those people seem like the kind of people who would just spend their whole day on computers anyway and not go to coffee shops. I don't think any of those people who are against this are the kind of people who come to my shop anyway, so I'm not concerned about that.

Adapted from Source: www.canada.com, 21 April 2010