From Sean Edwards - Head Bean
Medals on packaging has always been a way of displaying recognition for all the hard work behind the scenes that goes into creating a quality brand. The wine industry has been using the medal system for over 100 years and people will buy a bottle adorned in medals rather than another bottle just because of their cool label.
The franchise and chain stores in our coffee world don’t really have many avenues to tell the consumer of their enormous efforts put into creating a blend that will satisfy the masses. They really only have the consumer award systems that are often paid submissions, and the smart consumer knows this, so therefore go mostly unnoticed. Opinion based reviews are not all that great either and can often have the opposite effect, with a few bad reviews spoiling hundreds of great reviews.
The Golden Bean Roasters Competition is the largest of its kind in the world, and we recognize Franchise and Chain Stores having 20% of the total market globally in retail space. We realized some years ago that we needed to include the big guys in this competition and so their own category was subsequently generated where they could confidentially enter, receiving personal feedback from the same judges that decide who are the best independent roasters in the world.
Because the Golden Bean award system is blind cupping coffees entered, nobody knows whose coffees they are judging and it’s all down to taste alone. Franchise and chains stores can enter without feeling the pressure of not winning a gold medal on their first attempt, therefore being seen by their competitors as substandard. Our Australian event sees most of the larger franchises entering based on the anonymous judging system. Companies such as McDonalds, Coffee Club and retailers like Aldi and Coles are entering each year.
Franchise winners who do win can proudly display their medals and it has been nice to see Golden Bean logos included in certain companies’ promotional television ads, store front signage and packaging. It has also been nice to see in the Australian Golden Bean competition the franchise and chain store coffee teams participating as judges, as well as networking and doing business with suppliers who also attend.
We hope this explanation has helped and we invite national coffee retailers to participate and join us this year at Golden Bean in Columbus, Ohio from 16th to 20th August.