[25.02.2004, 11:20]
Saint Petersburg restaurant owners are reluctant to expand through franchising
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Franchising offers a vast opportunity for expanding the market. However, franchising of food brands in St. Petersburg has not spread as widely as it potentially could. Players of the local market are not ready yet for this form of business, whereas for Moscow and foreign entrepreneurs, franchising presents too much risk. The market of restaurant chains in Saint Petersburg, where franchising could be widely utilized, is very little saturated.
According to the Committee on Economy, Trade and Industrial Policy in St. Petersburg, the number of fast food places in the city is estimated to be about 1,350, with unbranded coffee shops and eateries accounting for the main share of the total number.
Very few franchising agreements are signed in St. Petersburg and across Russia. Saint Petersburg companies prefer to open their own enterprises. The failure of several foreign firms negatively influenced domestic companies’ attitude to franchising.
Among Petersburg chains, only “Chainaya Lozhka” (“Tea Spoon”) is known to have made up its mind to expand its business through franchising. According to Boris Krupkin, Director General and co-owner of the chain “Chainaya Loshka”, unsatisfactory rates of development of their business led the company to take this step. Using franchising, the company will be able to open 40 to 50 locations a year, while only 12 could be opened by their own efforts.
Other Petersburg companies are reluctant to take on such a risk.
General Director of the Saint Petersburg coffee shop chain “Ideal’naya Chashka” (“Perfect Cup”), Jakov Pak, believes that the development of the franchising market in Russia is constrained by the lack of clarity of the legal environment. Besides, local businesses have very limited knowledge of the mechanisms and advantages of franchising. “No one can guarantee, that we will benefit from such a cooperation in the long term future,” said Mr. Pak.
Source:
//Vedomosti.ru//
[20.02.2004, 13:30]
New coffee shop chain will be opened in Saint Petersburg
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Ltd. “North-West Coffee Company” plans to open two coffee shops in Saint Petersburg at an estimated investment of $55 thousand for each shop. According to Director General of the company, Christopher Spairs, the company is working on plans to open 4 coffee shops during the year 2004. North-West Coffee Company is also planning to set up its own distribution chain in the Northwest region of the Russian Federation. According to the Director General, the company’s turnover is about 250 thousand roubles per month, with the monthly increase of the figure by 20 percent. The production output of the company is 2 to 3 tons per month, RBK reported.
Reference:
Ltd. “North-West Coffee Company” was officially registered in August, 2002 and started its activity in March 2003. The company is engaged in elite coffee roasting, which is distributed to coffee shops and nightclubs in St. Petersburg. The company purchases coffee from 15-20 countries (Cameroon, Costa-Rica, Brazil, Indonesia, Salvador, India, Kenya, etc.)
//Lenizdat.ru//
[20.02.2004, 11:40]
GTK RF and the Association “Rusteacoffee” start cooperation.
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On Thursday, February 19, 2004, the working session between the head of the Federal Customs Revenues Department, Elchin Safarov, and Director General of the Association “Rusteacoffee” Ramaz Chanturiya was held, press service of the GTK RF (State Customs Committee of the Russian Federation) reported.
The meeting discussed the issues related to cooperation in controlling customs value of coffee and tea, as well as participation of the Association in the activities of the Consultative Council for Customs Policy of the State Customs Committee of the Russian Federation. The meeting reached a preliminary agreement on the exchange of information on European and Asian tea and coffee stock exchange and auction prices. The participants of the domestic market have mostly approved the GTK measures on strengthening control over the customs value of tea and coffee, Ramaz Chanturiya was quoted as saying.
GTK RF is starting cooperation with the Association as part of its program on enhancing cooperation with business circles.
Source:
//Customs.ru//
[19.02.2004, 10:00]
MaRHo - 2004 starts with a Barista Day
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Early March the Ukrainian capital will host participants and guests of the 9th International Trade Show
of Equipment for Shops, Restaurants, and Hotels MaRHo-2004. The exhibition focuses on the developments in the fields of trade, service and food industry, representing new technologies, full rage of equipment, furniture and accessories for shops, restaurants, and hotels.
The first day of the exhibition will be a Barista Day, with special seminars and master-classes devoted to barista profession (professional coffee makers) and the culture of bean coffee consumption.
Congress of Restaurant Business will also be held as part of the Trade Show. For the first time the Conference “Franchising: Opportunities and Practice in Ukraine” will be held within the frame work of the exhibition, with two sessions of the conference devoted to opportunities, principles and successful models of franchising in Ukraine.
//Liga.net//
[13.02.2004, 11:30]
The Governmental Commission for Protection Measures receives new proposals regarding coffee
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The Russian Agriculture Ministry, together with the “Rusteacoffee” Association addressed the Governmental Commission for Protection Measures with an official request to increase the customs tariff rate on imported roasted coffee from the current 0,2 EUR/kg to 0,4 EUR/kg. According to the Economic Development and Trade Ministry(EDTM), the request was prompted by the increase in the price of packaged roasted coffee to 4 USD/kg in the world market. Due to the low customs tariff rate, many importers understate the price on the customs declaration form, general director of the “Rusteacoffee” Association was quoted as saying.
//Vedomosti.ru//
[10.02.2004, 10:30]
Ceylon Tea Master
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Merrill J. Fernando - a world famous Ceylon Tea Master, the founder of Dilmah tea brand, which had been highly popular in Russia before the 1998 crisis, arrived in Moscow. Merrill J. Fernando has been engaged in tea business since his early twenties. From that age on he devoted all his efforts to changing the status of his country as a rough source and giving the Ceylon tea its own name. Profits from high quality Ceylon tea, packaged in other countries, usually went to transnational corporations. Merrill J Fernando felt obliged to overcome this great injustice. Years passed, and finally Merrill J. Fernando’s dreams came true, when in 1988 Dilmah, now worldwide famous tea brand, was founded. Merrill J. Fernando’s tea business has drastically influenced the economy of the region, restoring its confidence in the future prosperity.
As against the major rivals - global transnational corporations, Dilmah is a family company. Its full name is MJF Dilmah, where MJF is the acronym of the founder - Merrill J. Fernando, and Dilmah is the abbreviation from the names of his two sons - Dilhan and Malik.
Mr. Fernando came to Moscow to make the Russian consumer familiar with the new product lines of his company, take part in the work of Prodexpo 2004 exhibition and form an impression of the current Russian tea market.
Mr. Fernando said to the correspondent of coffeetea.ru, that the new product lines still maintained the traditional Dilmah principle of “Single Origin Dilmah Tea”. When creating the collection, the specialists took into consideration the latest trends and preferences of the young generation of tea trinkers. The Master believes the “Gourmet” concept, which is being used in quite a new project ”Tea Bar”, will evoke interest of the young generation to tea - ecological product, with a large range of tastes and originally designed packages and accessories contributing to the collection’s popularity.
[02.02.2004, 15:00]
Coffee and Zuckerbrot
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Saturday 31st, January marked the 290th anniversary of the establishment of Kunstkammer, or the Cabinet of Curiosities. January 31st, 1714, the Russian tsar, Peter the Great ordered to transfer all his personal collections of unique items to the new Russian capital and arrange them in the Summer Palace, the first residence of Peter the Great on the bank of the Fontanka River in Saint Petersburg. It was decided to name the museum the "Kunstkamera" (kunstkammer in German) according to the European fashion, which in translation meant "cabinet of rarities”. The tsar was very proud of the first Russian public museum. He loved to visit it and even hosted foreign ambassadors there. The entrance was free for visitors. Peter the Great used to say: "It is necessary to teach and treat people, but not to take money from them!". The tsar allocated funds to treat visitors of Kunstkammer to “coffee and zuckerbrot”, Hungarian wine and for those who wished vodka was offered.
//Radiomayak.ru//
[02.02.2004, 13:00]
The third coffee house Montana Coffee in Moscow
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End January 2004, the third coffee house Montana Coffee, which was located close to the Paveletskaya Metro Station, hosted its first visitors. Since early 1990s, the Montana Coffee company has been delivering to Russia mountain washed Arabica from Columbia, Costa-Rica, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Kenya, Ethiopia, Jamaica and Sumatra. Coffee is processed at the company’s own coffee-roasting facilities in Moscow. Thanks to the investments that the company has managed to attract, it is now looking into setting up a vast chain of coffee shops not only in Moscow, but also in other cities of the country. In this connection the company has started looking for reliable franchising partners.
//Montana.ru//