“We definitely don’t want to copy Starbucks, we are part of the third wave of coffee shops”warns Carlos Eisler. The message from the operational manager of the Japanese coffee chain % Arabica does not surprise the American giant, the world leader in a sector that is struggling to recover its growth. From 1Ahem In October, a % Arabica camped in Paris, just a stone’s throw from the Cirque d’hiver. The percentage sign present on the brand actually represents two coffee cherries separated by a stem.
A return for the brand, after a first establishment in the capital in 2019. This time, the brand thinks big. Launched in 2014 in Kyoto by Kenneth Shoji, it already has 203 salons around the world and has three openings in Paris during the summer. “Coffee lovers, French and foreign, are here”the manager justifies.
Like any good coffee shop – the anglicism that designates them – the brand meets the right requirements: exceptional coffees prepared by baristas, quality roasting and a fair trade sector. On the menu, a brief menu of coffee or matcha drinks, about 6 euros a cup, and an assortment of sandwiches and pastries. The establishment has an elegant decoration: café con leche façade and light wood interior, lighting in the shape of a coffee pot with curves… “Kenneth is a perfectionist, he is the one who gives the go in every opening”says Carlos Eisler.
Numerous independent brands
The Japanese chain is just one representative among others of the growing wave of coffee shops sweeping Paris and the rest of France. To the point of making good neighborhood bars obsolete, proud of their zinc, their small blacks and their Richard coffee beans. A paradox at a time when traditional French bistros have obtained registration of their “social and cultural practices” in the UNESCO Intangible Heritage inventory. Do the neocafés mark the end of the old places of perdition of the triumphant bourgeoisie and the relaxation of the proletarians? The only certainty is that they are booming.
In Paris they are called Kapé, The Coffee, Copains, Coutume, Seamer, Phin mi, Jugetsudo or Nuage Café. In Lyon, Vélcroc, launched eighteen months ago, is already an institution. This former strip club now combines a cafe-restaurant and a bicycle repair shop. The city has also attracted a cluster of small roasters under the Café Mokxa, Loutsa and Bongoo brands, as well as a host of lounges, such as Tonka, Perko Café and Slake Coffee House. All listed on the Tripadvisor platform. Like those of other cities and metropolises in France. And during Art Basel Paris, from October 18 to 20, a Cha Chaan Teng, a typical Hong Kong cafe that combines East and West, took center stage under the vault of the Grand Palais.
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