SCA calls on specialty roasters and retailers for global survey

The Specialty Coffee Association (SCA) is calling on coffee roasters and retailers to take part in a global study to benchmark the specialty coffee financial landscape across multiple markets. The SCA’s ambitious Roaster/Retailer Financial Benchmarking Study (FBS), will capture trends across the industry as a whole, while offering roasters and retailers worldwide the opportunity to gain valuable financial and operational insights that will help them to grow their business. “One of the most common questions we receive from our members is, ‘do you have any data to help me build my business plan?’” says SCA Project Manager and Market Research Manager, Heather Ward. “Coffee roasters and retailers want to know what others are doing in the specialty coffee industry – for example, what are their sales, operating expenses, and business threats? This global study will not only provide them with those answers, but also a tool to use that data to directly improve their business operations.” The SCA Research Centre initiative builds on the Financial Ratio Report conducted three years-ago by the Specialty Coffee Association of America (SCAA). It was an attempt by the member-based association to collect financial, sales and operational data as a means to set a benchmark for the industry worldwide. “While our 2015 study collected a great deal of important information and highlighted some emerging trends, the final report did not provide a dynamic comparison that would allow roasters to compare their performance against other roasters and retailers in the community,” comments Ward. In response, the 2017 survey has been redesigned in partnership with Dynamic Benchmarking, a New Hampshire-based surveying company, to deliver a sophisticated online platform where data can be entered and results can be accessed securely and confidentially. Roasters and retailers are able to freely take advantage of a range of powerful online tools to create personalised performance reports and make direct comparisons against similar-sized operations in the market. The platform also offers a range of functionalities including sales targets, roasted volume, market data, and geographical facility locations in order to understand the market better with up-to-date commercial insights. “Dynamic Benchmarking has made it easier for roasters and retailers to filter the raw information in multiple ways. The new platform has been repurposed to deliver real-world answers instantly, showing the business landscape in a way that is meaningful to our members,” says Ward. Roasters and retailers who want to use the latest commercial insights to help grow their business can participate in the global survey by accessing the Financial Benchmarking platform here. The survey closes on 07 August 2017 and its key findings will be announced by the SCA in the northern Autumn.