Keys To The Shop : Equipping Coffee Shop Leaders

Creating an excellent cafe experience is a work of commitment and dedication to caring for both the staff and the community that you serve. The coffee shop functions as a cornerstone of a healthy social structure in any city and advocating for it needs to sometimes go beyond the operations of the shop itself but extend into action taken to change the civil environment a cafe operates in. 
Today I am very pleased to welcome to the show, Co-Founder of Kaffeine in London, UK, Peter Dore-Smith
Kaffeine is an award winning coffee shop business with 2 locations in London, UK whose stated aim is to be the one of the best coffee shops in the UK through tireless attention to every detail in quality and service. Peter Dore-Smith (originally from Melbourne) has been owner operator of the Kaffeine since its founding it in 2009. It stands today as a foundational cafe in the London coffee scene being one of the first to introduce customers to Aussie style coffee. 
Today with two stores, Kaffiene is focused more than ever on the constant pursuit of excellence in the details and especially on making the work of the bar and the experience customers have, something transformative and beneficial to each persons life. 
Recently Peter has been active in campaigning to lower VAT in the UK as the tax rate in harming coffee shops, pubs, and other shops similar.
This is the activism born from a desire to create better conditions to sustain the great difference coffee shops make in communities. 
We cover: 
The Genesis of Caffeine and Coffee Culture
Planning and Opening Caffeine
Challenges in the Early Days
Systems and Processes for Success
Maintaining Quality and Brand Identity
The Importance of Attention to Detail
Navigating Trends and Staying Relevant
Challenges Facing Small Coffee Businesses
Grassroots Advocacy for Coffee Shops
The Business of Coffee: Balancing Passion and Profit
Links: 
Change.Org Petition to Lower VAT
https://www.instagram.com/indycoffeeguide/
Kaffeine on IG: @kaffeinelondon 
 
 
KEYS TO THE SHOP ALSO OFFERS 1:1 CONSULTING AND COACHING!
If you are a cafe owner and want to work one on one with me to bring your shop to its next level and help bring you joy and freedom in the process then email 
[email protected]
of book a free call now: 
https://calendly.com/chrisdeferio/30min 
 
Related episodes: 
The Power of Questions and Connecting with Community
352: Music, Culture, and Coffee w/ Hip Hop Artist, Propaganda
Four Steps to Inspiring Your Staff
563: Founder Friday! w/ Jared Linzmeier of Ruby Coffee Roaster

I can hold an average weight business card in the furrow of my brow. Kinda proud of that. However in my career my natural resting face has inspired a lot of "interesting" assumptions.
Now, to some degree, there is a limit to what I can do, but in my work I want to make sure that what I want to communicate and display is actually clearly seen and felt. 

Today on Shift Break we will not just discuss my face, but we will discuss the importance of optics in the cafe and how each professional who desires to show hospitality should be open to adjusting how they present themselves in order to, like our friend Tom Henschel say on his podcast, be perceived in the work place the way we want to be perceived.
 
KEYS TO THE SHOP®  1:1 CONSULTING AND COACHING
If you are a cafe owner and want to work one on one with me to bring your shop to its next level and help bring you joy and freedom in the process then email 
[email protected]
of book a free call now: 
https://calendly.com/chrisdeferio/30min 
 
Related Episodes: 
 
SHIFT BREAK: Are You Open?
 



SHIFT BREAK! The Trend of Backwards Hospitality
 
SHIFT BREAK! Why The Best Hospitality Starts With The Transactional!

Roasting and brewing creates opportunity for mentorship and relationships that last longer than the sensory experience of the cup. Seriously pursuing technical excellence is a part of securing this opportunity and today's guest has been on a journey to bring both to the table. On this Rate of Rise we are talking with Purefi Coffee Roasters, Chris Johnson!

Chris is the lead roaster and co-founder of Purefi Coffee Roasters in Spring, TX where they use the service of specialty coffee roasting to mentor the next generation and to partner with local and global initiatives that create positive change in the world.  He enjoys roasting coffee and aims to excel at highlighting the quality and consistency of each coffee sourced, roasted, and brewed by his hands.  

We discuss:

- His beginnings in coffee
- How his story informs the vision and mission of Purefi
- Highlighting the unique characteristics of each coffee
- Why feedback from customers is crucial
- Mentorship and relationship in the business
- Sourcing simplicity
- Having a wider variety for more customers
Related episodes: 
RoR #39: Making Big Impact with Small Batch Roasting w/ Adrian Seligman Founder of Scandinavian Alps Coffee Roasters!
RoR#38 : A Better Way to Think About Roasting Dark, w Erik Johnson of Thinkwell Coffee
RoR #34: Roasting for Different Cultivars w/ Rob Hoos | Rob Hoos Coffee Consulting
RoR #30 : Challenging Dogma With Data w/ Coffee Roaster and Chemical Engineer Mark Al-Shemmeri
Our Sponsor for Rate of Rise!
www.millcityroasters.com

It is easy to become stuck in the ways that you first learned to do things. Especially if those ways have brought some degree of success. We take comfort in the familiar to the degree that even if it is not working, we will protect the known dysfunction rather than embracing something new better, but not known. Not to mention the fact that we can tend to reject it because we anticipate the resistance from staff.

On today's episode we are going back to a very old podcast that addresses how you can successfully retrain your staff on new standards and navigate the change gracefully.
 
KEY HOLDER COACHING GROUPS 2026!
Are you a coffee shop owner looking to join a community of other owners to help bring perspective, insight, encouragement, and accountability in a well curated setting? 
Then you need to apply to join Key holder Coaching Groups! 
Applications are now open for Spring 2026 Cohort:
Click below to learn more: 
APPLY TO KEY HOLDER COACHING GROUPS
 
 
KEYS TO THE SHOP ALSO OFFERS 1:1 CONSULTING AND COACHING!
If you are a cafe owner and want to work one on one with me to bring your shop to its next level and help bring you joy and freedom in the process then email 
[email protected]
of book a free call now: 
https://calendly.com/chrisdeferio/30min 
 
Related episodes: 
SHIFT BREAK : Setting and meeting Standards in the Coffee Shop
SHIFT BREAK! When Changing Things, Pay Attention to the Heart of the Business
SHIFT BREAK! New Managers: Learning Before Changing
080 : Changing things in the Cafe : A workflow for Refinement

I love cupping coffee. It is a great way to assess a coffee and learn how to identify defects, attributes, and nuances that allow you to make decisions about buying coffee and how to maintain consistency in roasting. But the issue we have in a lot of coffee is that cupping, a practice designed for the above scenarios, has been miss used in the front of house customer facing world of retail. 
Today on Shift Break we will be talking about cupping's place in coffee quality control and what we should be doing instead of cupping to better manage the quality of our coffee and more clearly communicate a coffee's attributes to customers. 
 
APPLICATIONS ARE OPEN! 
KEY HOLDER COACHING GROUPS 
Are you a coffee shop owner looking to join a community of other owners to help bring perspective, insight, encouragement, and accountability in a well curated setting? 
Then you need to apply to join Key holder Coaching Groups! 
Applications are now open for Spring 2026 Cohort:
APPLY TO KEY HOLDER COACHING GROUPS
 
KEYS TO THE SHOP®  1:1 CONSULTING AND COACHING
If you are a cafe owner and want to work one on one with me to bring your shop to its next level and help bring you joy and freedom in the process then email 
[email protected]
of book a free call now: 
https://calendly.com/chrisdeferio/30min 
 
Related Episodes: 
 
586: How to Dial In Your Cafe
 
SHIFT BREAK! How to Think About Quality
533: Principles of Quality Control
406 : Five Ways to Immediately Improve Your Coffee Quality