life coffee polvo twitter: @PolvoCoffee FaceBook: Polvo
POLVO Where coffee and service meet The word Polvo means dust or earth in Spanish. So, what does the word polvo have to do with a coffee shop? - Firstly, the Spanish for ground coffee is polvo de café or café en polvo, literally coffee dust. - Secondly, the theme for Polvo will be an earthly natural look and feel. - Thirdly, the philosophical concept behind the name and the love for coffee, will be: LIFE, COFFEE, POLVO (meaning dust). In other words: Life (formed from dust), coffee (living in dust), Polvo (returning to dust). - Lastly, we aim to introduce a new cookie which will be served with every cup. These unique cookies will be called polvorones (dust cakes, also known as Mexican wedding cakes). Essentially Polvo wants to educate customers how to enjoy coffee and tea, as both form an integral part of our lives. If a love for coffee and tea is shared in an educational manner and proper accessories are sold in the store, we would be creating a market for speciality coffee beans and teas. We aim to do this by taking customers out of their comfort zone and bringing them into the Polvo comfort zone. Upon entry the customers will be greeted by Spanish music, South American memorabilia, coffee bags, and baristas in special South American attire and Panama caps. Coffee shops have changed the world over. In that vein, Polvo will become a destination shop. A foreign yet modern atmosphere will suit the business man on the go, the church group, as well as the discerning tourist. But what else will make Polvo unique?
SERVICE At Polvo it is our aim to breathe life into our mission statement: To be the place where coffee and service meet. In order for us to succeed, our service has to reach another level compared to those of competitors. For us the trick is not to force our service, but rather to engage with our customers, to show them that our high service standard comes naturally. Sub-standard service goes against the very core of what Polvo stands for. A prerequisite to working at Polvo is to have good social skills, to have the ability to communicate and interact with people on a daily basis. It is their task to create a comfortable environment for each customer. Knysna faces a huge influx of tourists during holidays and the variety of special events occurring throughout the year. Dealing with foreigners and tourists is a certainty all staff has to prepare for. At Polvo, words like fun, funky, enthusiasm and joy actually mean something. We think outside-thebox, embrace everyone s uniqueness and enjoy giving people a thrilling experience. PREPARED COFFEE Polvo will be selling a selection of coffees, all of which will be specialized South American and Central American blends. Coffees prepared or sold in store will not contain any African or Asian blends*. This in itself is unique because no other coffee shop only serves South or Central American coffees, because it is an acquired taste and caters for the discerning coffee enthusiast. *The only non-polvo coffee blend on offer will be Kopi Luwak coffee. This speciality single origin coffee will be made available to customers at R150 per cup. The coffee will be ground in front of the customer while the barista explains the unique farming method of Kopi Luwak coffees. The barista will then prepare the coffee at the table with a siphon method, serving the coffee in a special cups.
RETAIL COFFEE Polvo will be selling speciality South American coffee beans to the public. There will be at least three different blends or types of retail coffee on offer. All coffees will be specially blended for Polvo by three different roasters with their own unique roasting profile signatures. The beans will be packaged specially for Polvo in our own branded packaging. PREPARED TEAS Speciality teas will be exclusively prepared for Polvo by SA tea merchants. All teas will be certified organic and will all contain a small percentage of shredded olive leaf to make it more unique. Teas will be served in speciality teapots at the table, with the tea in loose form, not in teabags. RETAIL TEAS All retail teas will be especially made for Polvo in our own unique branded packaging. The design of the packaging will be colourful, funky and informative. The aim will also be to create awareness of the many health benefits of olive leaf in tea form. CROCKERY All speciality coffee cups and saucers will be sourced. The range will feature bright colours, inspired by collective Argentine-Cuban-Colombian colour profiles. Due to the nature of business and Polvo s focus, some of the cups will be costly items. DESSERTS A small variety of desserts will be made available. All desserts will be speciality South American desserts. On the menu the dessert name will be in Spanish, and the description below will be in English. All desserts will be prepared off-site and displayed in store. MENUS Our dessert options will be printed on environment friendly elephant dung paper, which will contribute to the earth theme. The coffee options will be displayed on a wooden pallet. The pallet will be attached to the wall, partially painted over with black chalkboard paint, and the drinks and prices written on in white chalk. All desserts and coffee options will be displayed in Spanish to add to the Spanish theme.
TABLES AND CHAIRS In keeping with the earth theme all tables and chairs will be made from discarded and recycled wood. The chairs will have a unique tall-back Cuban style to it, with wide arm rests. In large part the furniture will be rough and unrefined, only minor filing down of potential splinters to be done. Each table will have a glass top especially designed for it. A bar counter and a series of unique bar stools will be especially designed for the deck/porch area. BARISTAS Polvo will employ specialized baristas. They will be taught how to perfect the art of coffee-making and latte art. Each cup should reveal a passion for coffee. Precision coffee-making is paramount to Polvo s success. From the onset of their relationship with Polvo, all baristas should be aware of the need for constant improvement behind the espresso machine. And although absolute perfection is impossible, we constantly strive for the perfect shot, the perfect cup, the perfect latte design and the perfect coffee and tea experience. Our customers demand it, and we will deliver. BARISTA TRAINING In order to make sure the barista is on par with Polvo standard, they will undergo an introductory assessment and training process with the chief barista at Caloroso Cafe at Polvo s expense. At a later stage, all baristas will be sent for latte art training. Should the barista excel, Polvo will consider an assistance process to take the individual to the more advanced level of barista competitions. In time, Polvo will be offering barista training throughout the Garden Route. Any baristas interested in hosting or facilitating the training will be encouraged to do so. This will add to their talents and enforce their authority behind the machine. BARISTA COMPETITIONS As Polvo is a member of the Speciality Coffee Association of South Africa (SCASA), they will be hosting barista competitions in the Southern and Eastern Cape regions. POS SYSTEMS Polvo will make use of an interactive point-of-sale system, which will incorporate either a tabletdriven system or a small touch screen system. Payments will be done with a Nedbank PocketPOS (a small mobile device capturing card payments) or by SnapScan (a cellphone application-based payment method). This eliminates a cumbersome POS island where staff bump into each other to process transactions or ring off tables.
ARTS AND EVENTS Polvo will also form part of the arts by hosting special events during seasonal times. Polvo will offer cupping and coffee pairing evenings, all to gauge community interest and to create a market for retail coffee. Polvo will also host book launches, wine tastings, live music, etc. UNIFORMS All staff will be required to wear branded clothing which forms part of the South American theme. Staff will be issued with a paper straw panama hat. All staff has to wear the panama hat during trading hours and the hats will be left at the store after closing.
SETUP COSTS SHOPFITTING FURNITURE LEGAL AND BUSINESS REGISTRATION SAMRO UNIFORM ASSETS STOCK ON HAND RUNNING COSTS