Attendees to the National Restaurant Association’s annual hotel-motel convention this May can discover how to ride the espresso lane to bigger profits. That’s because Andrew Hetzel, industry expert with Cafemakers, will offer a presentation entitled “Achieve Grande Profits from your Coffee Service.” The show takes place May 19-22 at McCormick Place in Chicago.

“I am delighted by the way that the restaurant industry has begun to embrace espresso and specialty coffee as a valuable addition to their menus,” Hetzel says. “The rapid expansion and success of coffee shop chains has shown foodservice companies that there is a substantial consumer demand for these beverages.”

Recently, the NRA’s “What’s Hot and What’s Not” chef survey showed that “espresso and specialty coffee” placed in the top 10 among over 200 popular restaurant food and beverage concepts at the end of 2006. More than 70 percent of respondents rated specialty coffee “hot” while 15 percent consider the beverage a “perennial favorite.”

But in an emerging market segment, it’s hard to know exactly which trends will be profitable and how best to take advantage of them. In his presentation, Andrew Hetzel of Cafemakers will help restaurateurs learn the fundamentals of good coffee and how to make it a successful addition to their establishments.

“Restaurants are particularly well-positioned to benefit from serving better coffee. Our education session will show them how they can do so inexpensively,” Hetzel says.

Andrew Hetzel is the founder and director of Cafemakers, LLC, a business consultancy based in Hawaii that specializes in retail coffee business concept development and coffee beverage quality improvement.

The 2007 NRA Hotel-Motel Show will feature more than 2,100 exhibitors and more than 890 product categories. For more information or to register, visit www.restaurant.org.

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