Hi Dave......
We like a large coffee, and as you say small ones are usually the norm. The thing we find, is that if they do a large coffee for us, it's the same amount of coffee only with more milk/water, so it's not strong enough! We've tried having two each (not the same) ordering a large one and a small black coffee to add to it, but that doesn't taste right either. You would certainly have our custom if you could definately get a large coffee that has taste!
I love going into the small Spanish bars where they do the strong coffee that you put condensed milk into, but they're small too.
Hope this helps, Linda.
If you do decide to give it a go, good luck!

Hi Linda,

Thank you very much for your input, did you have a look at the website for the coffee shop he has now, like I said, it would be very much the same as that, (apart from we would look to sell alcohol, but 1st and foremost it would be a coffee shop,) it works very well so why change what isn't broke as they say.

The reason I am asking people what they think is so i can show him that this idea is a very solid and valid one.

Thanks again Linda.

My thinking was, you can only drink so much alcohol in a day and a good cup of coffee is something you certainly need whilst you're drying out.

Looks like a nice place Dave.

I'm not a coffee drinker, but I like a good cup of tea. OH likes his coffee and brandy on a cool day. A large mug would be what he prefers too.

Best of luck with your venture.

Hi Pebbles,

Thank you for your input, of course we would be selling a range of teas also.

My mam also likes coffee and brandy, I tried it in Benidorm once but it wasn't for me, I think it might have been that the coffee had the taste of a poor instant coffee instead of a freshly ground one.

Thanks again, all input is appreciated.

i normally stop at the regente and every morning we waalk in to the old town down the dual carrigeway untill just before the old town there is a cafe that sells coffe in what ever you like its called dylans run by dave i think from manchester nice idea if you can find the right spot but there are lots of coffee places if you supply the right stuff at the right price you could have a winner best of luck

Hi Dave

I don't know when you plan to start on this business venture, but IMHO with the present economic global situation it's not a good time to be embarking on such a risk taking scheme, even the business's in operation are finding things tough.

Who are you planning on offering this service to.?

Considering the greatest nationality of those who visit Benidorm are the British and Spanish, followed by the Dutch and Belgians, in all honesty I think you can forget about everyone bar the British.

The Spanish love their coffee, but I doubt very much that they would want a large mug full of it"¦it would be clamp cold by the time they got half way through it, in between yapping"¦the continentals are the same.

If like me you want a large milky coffee, then you ask for a "café cOn leche en un vaso", which is served in a tall glass tumbler and the glass widens at the lip, so in actual fact you do get a good quantity of coffee and far more than in a bog standard tea cup
Café Cortado is a coffee served in a small glass (Cortado comes from the verb Cortar which one of its meanings is to cut down)
There are many different variations regarding how coffee is served in Spain and the list is endless and like anywhere else, the quality of the coffee will depend on where the coffee beans have come from and their grade/price...this will determine whether the coffee is bitter or mellow.

Café Solo "¦coffee without milk
Café cOn leche"¦coffee with milk
Café Solo cOn brandy "¦black coffee with brandy
Café cOn Hielo "¦. Coffee served along side a glass of ice
Carajillo "¦ extra milky coffee or less coffee and more milk
Trifásico "¦a Catalan specialty, basically a Carajillo with a bit of milk
Cafe bonbon"¦a solo over condensed milk.

In the different regions the interpretation differs, EG in Madrid, if you ask for a "cortado" you get a 50% coffee - 50% milk, and for a bowl full of coffee you'd ask for a "café de desayuno" (breakfast coffee).
In the Alicante region there is cafe bonbon - a small glass a third filled with condensed milk topped up with cafe solo"¦another variation on that is ice added to it and it makes a very sweet cold coffee drink.
In Andalucia you'd ask for café sombra or manchado, which is a large milky coffee with plenty of milk and less coffee"¦the same as a carajillo.

So, apart from the British and they don't go to Benidorm to drink coffee, although maybe Café cOn San Miguel might catch on..
IMHO, considering the competition which is already in place in Benidorm and unless you are a coffee connoisseur, then I think it's a no no and you'd be trying to teach your granny how to suck eggs if you think the Spanish would like what you propose to offer.

Sorry Dave"¦just my opinion and it's not a risk I'd be willing to sink all my wordly goods into....now if you were proposing to show the Spanish/continentals how to make a good cup of tea, then that would be different.
Sanji

Hi honkytonk,

Thank you for your response, if you have a look at the webite linked from my first post you will see what we would possible be doing.

Can you tell me where abouts the coffee shop is that the person from Manchester owns is please, I'll have to pop in when I'm over in November.

Hi Sanji.

Long time no speak,

Yes I do expect it would attract a more English crowd but it wouldn't be exclusive to that, I wouldn't be risking anything, the person who would be backing it if I can prove to him that it would be a valid option for him already runs a very successful coffee shop in Scarborough, whilst I have been in Benidorm I haven't seen anything like it, see link to the website on my first post. I firmly beleive that you can only drink so much alcohol in a day and a nice coffee or cup of tea with a nice slice of fresh cake would make a nice refreshing change

If something is already in Benidorm that is already the same I must have been walking around with my eyes closed.

Sanji, you can have the coffee however you wanted.

I guess the yellow brick rd might be a decent place for it?

I posted this same thread on tripadviser and can you beleive it, they've deleted it. how sad.

I think you your idea sounds great, I must admit the coffee`s I have been having Spain haven`t been as good, so a decent coffee shop would be great. If you do a decent priced coffee and brandy will go down well. I have noticed in the winter months the bars that have an outside area with the sun all day get the most custom, there`s something great about sitting out in the winter in Spain knowing everyone is freezing in the uk.

If you can sell uk type cakes that will be great as well, I think alot of the cakes in Spain look nice but don`t taste that good, a good scone with cream would go down a treat.

Hurry up and open, it will give me an excuse to come out in the winter.

Christine

What about the coffee shop chain Yago?, lovely coffee, homemade cakes and bread, beer if you want it ok they are mostly Poniente side but very reasonable and good quality.

Good Luck with Your Venture.

Dave

I'm not sure if it would do well or not really. I must admit in England i'm getting a bit fed up of seeing these Coffee Shops springing up all over the place these days at the expense of more traditional cafe's. So its nice for me to have a break from them when i visit Beni. I do actually much prefer a good Spanish coffee to be honest, no matter what the size is, i really prefer the taste. I usually have Cafe Solo with a Brandy served separately, or occasionally a Cafe Carajillo (with Brandy added to it), but do prefer a C*n Leche in the mornings. Usually like to sit in the Plaza Triangular and have several of the above, depends on time of day as to which one i'm drinking!, you can get a lovely Strawberry Tart there too! Maybe just now, as Sanji has mentioned, may not be the best possible time to open one. The Coffees and Cakes in these places are usually fairly expensive. The place probably wont appeal to many Spanish, and the British people travelling to Beni at the moment (and the forseeable future) may well be downsizing their budgets, so i feel it would be a risk. But as in anything, no risk - no reward, it may do well, but i personally would'nt want to chance it at this time. Good luck though!

Best Regards - Taggy

I think that you will soon find yourself in competition with all the other good intentioned people that had the same idea before.

Let me explain:-

Coffee and cake would probably be an afternoon event. You will have rent, wages and other overheads to pay, so you cannot afford to stand watching people walk past your door during the rest of the day. You have to get them in.

To attract a morning clientele you will soon discover that people want breakfasts with their coffee. So it will not be long before you will be turning out All-Day-Full-English-Breakfasts, menu de los dias, menu de las noches and don't forget the obligatory Sunday Roast Carvery.

You will probably not want to shut in the evenings, so to help sell more alcohol, a karaoke machine perhaps?
And don't forget the Curry Night, Quiz Night, Bingo Night and Fish & Chip Night...... It all helps.

See the pattern?

I'm afraid that I'm inclined to agree with most of the other posters in that I don't think that you could make a good living in Benidorm running a coffee shop.

One thing in IMO that would go down well in Beni is a decent sandwich bar with a glass display unit offering a wide range of fresh fillings and a choice of freshly baked bread, These sandwiches could be made to order to individual requirements along with perhaps a meal deal, incorporating say.... a bottle of water, fresh juice or fizzy pop as well as a bag of crisps, a cake and a piece of fruit.
( I know that a few places offer meal deals for the airport and the beach but the sandwiches are always prepacked and dead boring)

There's also Subway but I don't rate their breads or the fillings on offer.

There could be a discount for families placing large orders.
and also a freezer bag could be included with a minimum spend.

The pack ups that the hotels supply although healthy because they include lots of fruit are not very appetizing, and the bread always tend to be stale.

Mmm, does anyone know of any empty premises to rent, preferably near the beach.

Oh, on a final note, I noticed on my last visit that the new coffee bar in the airport near the English pub charge a whopping €7.10 for a large coffee, rip off or what!

Sue

Hi,

Thank you everyone for your input, are you all alcoholics

The reason I thought of this venture in Benidorm is that I do really like a nice quality cup of coffee, you could call me a coffee snob,(and I have always longed to find a quality coffee in Benidorm) I always buy all the latest coffee machines that come on the market for that top quality coffee at home but they never live up to the expectation, my place is like a grave yard to coffee machine. my other half says I should just invest in a proper coffee machine for home and just have done with it, things is I don't think she realises that they are rather big and cost over £1k for a really good one.

If you look at the link to the already open and thriving coffee shop in scarborough, it is not 'exclusive' to just very good coffee, it also sells good fresh cakes, sandwiches, teas, smoothies,snacks etc.

As for the fresh sandwich bar, I'm sure there was already one on the yellow brick rd that also sold pasties, I personally think the only risk in Benidorm is opening a bar as like I said previously everyone has the same thing. 1€ pints and skysport, the way you get around that is to serve top notch food like the yorkshire pride does.

I can't remember seeing any coffee shop chain Yogo, I can remember seeing pinochios(sp) and there coffee wasn't up to much, when I'm over I'm going to be taking some long walks around and I will be seeing what this dylans and Yogos have to offer and any other 'coffee place', this was suppose to be a weeks break away but now its turned into a coffee tasting fact finding missing, oh how my other half will be over joyed.

Are yogo's like a starbucks and costa time of chain, we have them here in Scarborough, but peoploe prefer to use the 2 independent coffee shops here in Scarborough one owned by a good friend of mine Barry, Barry wouldn't be involved in this venture but we would, well more so me would be using ideas that have worked very well for him which have enabled him to recently open a new shop here in Scarborough, so that makes Barry have 2 Roasters shops, (he is really against these chains and now he has 2 shops himself, steady Barry you're turning into one yourself )

If this place went ahead it would be called coffee retreat and would follow the already successful route that the coffee retreats are currently doing, this would also be coffee retreats 3rd shop after its 2 on Scarborough seafront, Roasters are in the centre of town,

We would also be taking on board all the good ideas and things Barry does at Roasters, again we would also be selling alcohol.

At present after feeling really positive, I am currently feeling a little down on the idea after some of the feedback, but hey, when you ask for feedback, you get both what you want to hear and what you don't, BUT ALL INPUT is valuable, after all, you would all be possible clientel.

I will use my week in Benidorm like I say, as a fact finding mission and pick a few brains of people over there who already run 'similar' places if I can find any, without letting on to the my intentions.

Keep up your valuable input its much appreciated.

Dave

One thing I would like to add is that the mark up profit on coffee is massive, the profit margins are a lot bigger than selling just alcohol like your 1€ pints etc.

Pastelleria Yago is a Benidorm catering company, they are not like Starbucks or Costa Coffee, their coffee shop's are in the Poniente/LaCala area, one at the start of the Poniente and one in the middle and one near the Gran Delphin Hotel and one near the Hotel Bali. they produce quality bread and cakes and serve good coffee, you will do well to emulate them.

Good Luck,

Dave

Whatever you do location is the key, there are plenty of duff sites to rent.

Yes location is everything, what are there coffee shops called mate, I am very looking forward to trying out what they sell.

Pastelleria, ah yes, they have one one the seafront don't they? I have used them, I buy take out cake from there, I've had a really lovely smoothie, but the coffee was standard, I will be visiting them for some cake when I'm over, I always go there.

Mcdonalds have a top location over looking the beach.

scarborosmoggy wrote:

I guess the yellow brick rd might be a decent place for it?

There have been a few attempts at the fresh sandwich style shop on the Yellow Brick Road. None seem to have lasted long. there are a few businesses that have been there for a long time, but also several that change hands on a regular basis.

My SO has been down to the Levante end several times in the last week to watch the footy and rugby and he says it seems VERY quiet at the moment.

Hi Dave
The Pastelería Francesca & Copacabana on the Levante promenade does indeed sell some nice cakes and IMO the coffee is OK too.
The Spanish love their ice cream as well as their coffee and up on Calle Gambo is Pinocchio's which is primarily selling every flavoured ice cream imaginable, but they do coffee, cocktails, milk shakes etc and they cater for the family and of every age.
Coffee for the parents, milk shakes for the teenagers and ice cream for the younger ones, so it's a family affair and throw in a few wide screen TV's to watch, then the family is set up for a few hours.
I'm afraid we British tend to drink our coffee and then vacate the premises, it's a different mentality and we wouldn't think of spending longer than necessary over a cup or two of coffee"¦.if we stay that long to consider ordering a second coffee.

The Spanish will not pay let's say 4 euros for a coffee, when they are a very patriotic race and will go to a Spanish establishment and can get a perfectly good quality coffee for €1.20.
Scarborough is different, I know the place well and if I was walking on the promenade and it was blowing a gale, then I would frequent your friends place if I had the choice of a transport café offering me Nescafe from a jar or filter coffee that has been stewing in a Pyrex jug over a hot plate most of the day to keep it hot.

You have a captive market in Scarborough, you're catering for the day trippers who are (A) British and (B) see the difference between a dive and a nice place, and given the fact they're thirsty, cold or just fed up, then they will chose the better establishment, this won't happen in Benidorm because for 8 months out of the year most people tend to drink cold drinks and then have the odd tea/coffee.
I'm not a coffee connoisseur, but given the fact that I don't drink alcohol unless I'm ill and a brandy is forced down me, (which to me is like poison) or during the winter in Benidorm when you get cold through to the bones, I'll have some brandy in a coffee"¦I think I've drunk enough Spanish coffee to know a good cup from a bad one.

I personally think that most British tourists do not frequent Spanish bars, so if someone was giving me coffee from a jar or the horrible stewed stuff, then I also would say I can't get a decent cup of coffee in Benidorm, but the truth is, that you can and probably a lot less than you propose to charge.
I go in the Café Vina del Mar on Avda Mediterraneo (just a few doors down from the barrel) and here I get 2 coffee's for €2.30, they also sell cakes and do toasties/snacks, and apart from the tourists, it's also frequented by the workers.
Whilst they have to make a profit, they will not rip the workers off, otherwise the place would be solely reliant on the tourists and with competition already in place, they would go out of business.

You mention location, well next to the hotel Regente is a shop selling sandwiches/cakes/pasties, they are British and make whatever you desire as filling in between either sliced bread or baps, they do sausage rolls and Cornish pasties, in fact they ship the pasties in from Cornwall and cook them on the premises....and they seem to be making a success of this.
The location is not ideal, but because there are several hotels nearby and most people are on half board basis, then come lunch time a well prepared sandwich is enough to take you through to the evening"¦.so the point I'm trying to make is, that whilst location is important, the business can depend on the surrounding hotels and not necessarily because it's on the promenade.

I'm sorry if I seem to have a downer on this, I'm only trying to help and it's just my opinion, but I really do not think you will make a success in Benidorm"¦.the place is far bigger than Scarborough and I for one wouldn't walk from one end of Benidorm to the other, to pay probably twice as much for a coffee, when I can go to a Spanish café and have a perfectly good standard of coffee for less.
There are some people who actually do not like this type of coffee and prefer instant from a jar or the filter stuff stewed in a Pyrex jug...it's an acquired taste and whilst it may not appeal to the Spanish, it might not appeal to some British folks either.

Sorry mate of course if you do decide to take the plunge, it goes without saying that I wish you success.

Sanji