Quality of the coffee, experience, service, and just about anything else in the cafe will always be something an owner and leader focuses on. These days we tend to concentrate our efforts on the acquiring of quality, instead of the creation of it. All the potential those great beans, your wonderful staff, and even our space have, is just potential until you take action and render, create, and realize that potential in the cup, in the moment, in the real life of the business.

Today on Shift Break we will be talking about some ways that we should be thinking about quality, the need for constant focus, maintaining excellence, and the dangers of the claim that quality is something we have already achieved and can move on.

• 533: Principles of Quality Control
• SHIFT BREAK: Quality Still Matters
• 406 : Five Ways to Immediately Improve Your Coffee Quality

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:

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

chris@keystothshop.com

of book a free call now:

https://calendly.com/chrisdeferio/30min

Making your cafe run better, improving service, increasing profitability, and leveling up quality and value for your guests naturally brings to mind a host of new and different services, products, and strategies that we believe we need to employ. But the truth is that we often only need to look deeper into the existing opportunities we have to find the solutions we seek.

Today on the show we will be discussing a few areas of your shop that deserve a deeper look and more focus. Before you assume you have done all you can with what you currently have, listen to this episode and let it inspire you to maximize your existing opportunities!

We will discuss:

• Your Community
• Your Current Menu
• Your Drink Quality
• Service + Hospitality
• Local Business Networks

KEY HOLDER COACHING GROUPS ARE BACK!

Spring 2026 Applications are now open! Become a part of a small focused group of experienced coffee shop owners in this powerful mastermind cohort hosted by Keys to the Shop!

APPLY HERE!

Learn more at this link:

https://keystotheshop.com/key-holder-coaching-groups/

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

chris@keystothshop.com

or book a free call now:

https://calendly.com/chrisdeferio/30min

SPONOR

The world loves plant based beverages and baristas love the Barista Series!

www.pacificfoodservice.com

Related Episodes:

• SHIFT BREAK! The New Classic Cafe: An Era of Understated Excellence
• 505: Maintaining Excellence in the Everyday Work of Coffee Shops w/ Maxwell Colonna-Dashwood
• Defining Excellence and Success

It seems like the conversation we have around what can be done for staff to create more value, longevity, etc never gets around to a place where you can look at what you are doing and have done and say, you know what, that's pretty good, that is enough. Honestly it feels weird even typing it because we do want to be always maintaining and cultivating value.

Today on Shift Break we will be chatting about when it is ok to look at the things you offer to your staff and say it is enough, when to pick back up the search for more value, and how not to let that natural tension drive you and your business into the ground with fear.

• SHIFT BREAK! Engaging in the Right Conversations (or how not to accept undue guilt)
• SHIFT BREAK! Why Following Through is the Key to Better Coffee Shops
• SHIFT BREAK! Holding Baristas (and Yourself!) Accountable
• SHIFT BREAK! Adding Value in the Cafe
• SHIFT BREAK: Adjusting Our View of Labor Cost

CONSULTING + 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

chris@keystothshop.com

of book a free call now:

https://calendly.com/chrisdeferio/30min

Thank you to out sponsors!

Everything you need for back of the house operations https://rattleware.qualitybystainless.com/

The best and most revered espresso machines on the planet: www.lamarzoccousa.com