A landmark presentation from this year’s Specialty Coffee Association of America’s Symposium is now available to view online. The presenter is former SCAA deputy executive director Tracy Ging (now with S&D Coffee), and the talk is titled “Understand The Consumer: New Research Profiling Specialty’s Most Enthusiastic Drinker.” It’s riveting, fascinating, essential viewingย for the coffee professional and enthusiast alike, and was a real highlight of the 2012 Symposium conference.

For more on Ging’s presentation we turn to Erin Meister, who coveredย the 2012 SCAA Symposium event for Sprudge.com:

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“SCAA deputy executive director Tracy Ging served up a slice of honest humble pie with a presentation about the motivations, behaviors, and perceptions of the specialty-coffee customer base, reminding us that for the average consumer, coffee is all about heart. Sparkly hearts, to be exact โ€“ just like the ones found on myriad collages depicting โ€œWhat Specialty Coffee Means to Meโ€ created by focus-group participants in the coffee-driven markets of Los Angeles and Portland, OR.

โ€œThe people who drink [specialty coffee] have the capacity to love it deeply,โ€ Ging said in response to the groupsโ€™ collected results. โ€œSomething happens over a great cup of coffee thatโ€™s different than when youโ€™re just grabbing a cup of caffeine.โ€

Ging reminded the attendees that while our customers do have a healthy curiosity about what theyโ€™re drinking and how we make that magic happen, they donโ€™t want to be beaten over the head with it: In fact, many of them sound like they kind of need a big olโ€™ barista bear hug.

โ€œThey want a love affair, and weโ€™re giving them altitude and rainfall statistics,โ€ she said. Not every detail, and not at every moment. And hey, flash a smile every once in a while, okay?”

 

How does this perspective make you feel? Sound off in the comments below!

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