Coffee and preserving the planet (and loyalty)

Come on guys - get a dishwasher!

Now I (like nearly everyone else) like to frequent the Coffee Shops that are now such a part of High Street life.

I'm getting irritated that most places don't offer a 'proper' cup - I can accept McDonalds are not in the game of saving the planet but some of the other chains are portraying themselves as 'ethical'- so where are real pots?

From the main chains coffee-wise  my choice would be Nero, I like the cappuccino they serve and they have a reasonable offer on the loyalty system, they do  use for customers sitting in fairly universally a 'proper' cup and this is a strong preference I have -so well done to them.

Nero  used to sell The Times (and give a loyalty stamp on this too) - When I worked in Chiswick I was close to being a 'regular' in their shops on the High Street.


Starbucks I'm less sure of they certainly were targeted as being Tax avoid-ers (I see Nero aren't great on this either) but then this is not too much of a surprise, I'm not a regular customer so am not too sure on their loyalty offer - I think they're the dominant chain and I've certainly had a pottery cup when I've sat in.

Another offending  Pret near NPG

Costa is not the best coffee for me and they tend to have a confused queuing system (for what reason I don't know) - they were early to electronic loyalty cards (not sure if they still have these) - they have some food but none which I've fallen in love with and it seems pricey for what it is.


[They do though as part of bigger business pay their taxes)

So now we come to crux of the matter - I've begun to like Pret a Manger, they're very well run and staff are nice -I like the charitable stuff they do and really like the Cheese Ploughman's Baguette, there's no loyalty card (but at least their not capturing data about me) - great I could ghave a coffee at somewhere I was broadly in line with and the coffee is in my top 2 - Problem is most of the shops do not provide a pot cup for the customers who sit -The Ealing one does but most others (certainly inner London) don't and the disposable cups it seems  are going to landfill - they're not bio-degradable- so until things improve I will (when I remember) ask for coffee to be in a proper cup and if it's not possible I'll go elsewhere.

Some of the branches I've been in are bigger enough I'm sure to accommodate a dishwasher.

[I have tweeted about this and the company responded that they have this as a goal - my view is that they need to start making it happen -it's worth bearing in mind what an important part 'Loyalty' is of the Coffee chains business plan is - 5+ visits a week over 10 years or so is quite a revenue stream.]

See it is possible

The Ealing Branch

So perhaps what I need to do is be a more active 'consumer' and check out the best independents?

Making connections in the brain, Observation and Red 147

What computers and their associated programming have so far failed to do and which humans can excel at is making connections between seemingly disparate pieces of knowledge - think of (for me a great example) how Supermarkets became 'banks' offering those customers short of cash (using charge cards to pay for items) the chance to have cash back - by the nature of things (currently) supermarkets have cash and can minimise the amount they have by offering a tangential service - great joined up thinking.

Drop in for a drink and a package

I've made a couple of collections recently from Tesco and Argos of online orders.

My idea is for Coffee chains (Starbucks/Cost/Nero etcetera) to start offering a delivery collection option, lots of people use Cafés as a virtual office or meetup point  - customers will inevitably have a hot beverage and there'll be something of an improvement in high street footfall.

Observation

And on the subject of the brain..

yesterday I mentioned how things are overlooked - this is an example from me - on my allotment this colourful specimen  only jumped out at me yesterday - how can that be? (it reminds me of a Thinking Fast Thinking Slow example where a US policeman running was oblivious to a crime).

How could I have missed this on the top of my allotment plot?

Red 147

This footwear is displayed almost like jewelry

Something to covet?