Cyprus is like a victim with many assailants, only the assailants are corporate coffee chains. All the usual suspects, tax-dodging Starbucks and Caffe Nero, Coco-Cola owned Costa, followed by many may not have heard of, Greek versions of Starbucks Coffee Island and Coffee Berry, the Canadian equivalent of Starbucks Second Cup. The lastest to join in the affray, Mikel Coffee, yet another Greek Starbucks clone.
Though Cypriots have only themselves to blame. Open a chain coffee shop, no matter how bad, and Cypriots flock to it like flies around rotting meat.
Walk into Mikel Coffee in Paralimni and it screams corporate, it is like walking into a McDonald’s without the stomach gut churning stench.
A long wait to be served. Yes busy, though not many waiting to be served.
A cappuccino served in a 16 oz cup, a takeaway cup, a plastic-lined non-recyclable takeaway cup. This is the regular size. Asked if want sugar. A battle to obtain 8 oz. At least no chocolate dumped on top.
Even those sitting in, actually sat outside not running down the street with takeaway cup in hand, served in a takeaway cup.
Questioned on this, they admitted bad for the environment, but so far have been unsuccessful in obtaining ceramic or glass.
On sale ceramic mugs, but only on sale, not for serving coffee.
A plastic stirrer popped through the plastic lid. Not asked for.
All the utensils plastic.
The coffee was undrinkable. Too hot, milky, insipid, a strange smell, not of coffee. I took one sip, and that was enough to make me feel sick.
What looked liked factory cakes. When asked did not know where the cakes supplied from.
No cold water brought to the table as the norm in Athens. When questioned on this, hope to provide in the future ice cold water, help yourself.
Χιλιάδες άνθρωποι ήδη κρατούν στα χέρια τους το νέο ποτήρι Mikel. Εσύ;
Έλα σήμερα σ’ ένα κατάστημα Mikel και ανακάλυψε το νέο, συναρπαστικό, πολύχρωμο κόσμο του!
Join The Coffee Community now!
Thousands of people already hold their new glass of Mikel. You;
Come today at a Mikel store and discover its new, exciting, colorful world!
Join The Coffee Community now!
The Mikel Coffee website is all about selling a franchise, nothing about the coffee. And one of the dumbest videos I have ever seen, on youtube a series of follow up videos.
The video promoting their cup, their takeaway cup, their plastic-lined, non-recyclable disposable throwaway takeaway cup.
Why does any company with to be associated with trash, why paint your logo on trash, unless of course trash is your business?
Join our club, celebrate joining our club. Why would anyone wish to join a club to trash the planet, let alone celebrate joining a club to celebrate trashing the planet?
There is though a reason for the large size cups. The punters think they are getting a great deal, the supersize phenomena, they are not, they are getting lousy coffee.
But it is to make the coffee shop use more milk. Milk that is bought from Mikel Coffee and shipped out from Greece.
The same milk scam by Tim Horton in Canada. Ludicrous size coffee cups, far too large, undrinkable coffee, coffee shop forced to buy more milk, not from the local shop or dairy, but from Tim Horton at inflated price.
At least they were not using long-life milk which they had been using.
The same scam with the takeaway cups, coffee shops forced to buy from Mikel Coffee.
They did offer a 25% discount if brought in own refillable cup, but only if Mikel Coffee cup.
This is like the pubco tied pub scam in England. Pay extortionate rent to pubco, and on top of that, have to buy all drinks through the pubco at double the market rate.
As with Second Cup, Mikel Coffee is a franchise scam and they will do all they can to milk the franchisee.
Starbucks was due to open in Protaras at the beginning of the season but has yet to open, and does not look like opening any time soon. On the road leading to Fig Tree Bay Miyu Coffee, in the centre of Protaras Café Amárena.
Why open a franchise, serve bad coffee, why not work in a coffee shop, learn about coffee, then open a coffee shop?
If you wish for coffee worth drinking, cross the road, at the traffic lights head into the centre of Paralimni and a couple of minutes walk away, Robustos.
Why are Cypriots attracted to these corporate chains? It clearly cannot be for the coffee. No, not the coffee, it is to be seen, even worse to take pathetic selfies to be seen. To be seen in a ghastly chain where the cool, those with style, would not wish to be seen dead.
The darker side is, not only draining money out of the local economy, as these are all foreign owned chains, draining money out of the Cypriot economy.
Plastic is killing our seas. Cyprus is an island, dependent on the sea. It is not only corporate chains serving hot drinks in plastic-lined papers cups that cannot be recycled, cold drinks in plastic cups, so to are too many cafes, though not the specialty coffee shops.
If Cyprus is serious about reducing use of plastic, it must bring in a 25 cent levy on all non-recyclable takeaway cups, discourage takeaway, encourage relax with specialty coffee in an indie coffee shop served in ceramic or glass.
Individual Cypriots must do there bit and encourage their friends to do the same, boycott any coffee shop serving in takeaway cups.
The only exception, compostable coffee cups, with special bins for their collection.
Indie coffee shops must do there bit to discourage waste, not only by discouraging takeaway, but also putting out the used coffee grounds for customers to take for their gardens.
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