WHERE’S THE BEAN?

As restaurants wake up to its profit potential, coffee remains a hot commodity.

Whether your cup is cappuccino, frappucino, mocha, espresso, or just plain ol’ bottomless, it seems beverage companies and restaurants are eager to offer you the exact coffee you desire — wherever you are.

McDonald’s and Dunkin’ Donuts are determined to loosen Starbucks’ clutch on the fancy coffee crowd. Though certainly far from the soiree ambience of the Buckster, the fast-foods’ premium coffee is said to be close enough to coffeehouse to satisfy at a fraction of the price (and without little tip jars).

While McDonald’s zigs, Wendy’s is determined to zag. Waking up to the profit potential in serving breakfast, Wendy’s is teaming up with P&G to serve their Folgers Gourmet brew. Whether or not the consumers view Folgers Gourmet as an oxymoron remains to be seen. Not even in the same league as Starbucks, Wendy’s can hope to serve up something close to McStarbucks without the consumer screaming, “Where‘s the bean? Where’s the bean?”

Meanwhile, Coca-Cola is dusting off Juan Valdez as it offers a “branded liquid coffee system” that will improve coffee-making efficiency for restaurants. Though Coke isn’t fooling itself – it isn’t saying anything about quality– we can only hope for its success. Competing against “estate” coffees in every other Latin American country and Africa as well as upcoming environmentally friendly coffees, it would be nice, speaking of Coke, if coffee could be as profitable as Colombia’ s other main export.