You can’t beat a good, honest chat over a cup of coffee

Ireland is in the midst of another boom. Thankfully, this is one boom that is unlikely to bring to the economy to a shuddering halt. If anything, it is keeping the whole show going, and the outlook for the future is getting tastier by the day.

Coffee has become something of a phenomenon among Irish consumers in recent years. Three quarters of us now drink it, with seven in 10 drinking more than one cup a day.

Sales of fresh coffee are continuing to grow. A report by Mintel from 2013 showed that the retail coffee market was valued at €111.8m. That is predicted to grow to €176m by 2020.

At the heart of the revolution are independent coffee houses such as Filter, Idaho Cafe, Alchemy, Cafe Velo, and Cork Coffee Roasters but there is a new kid on the block. Cork-basedFrank and Honest coffee has just opened its newest outlet on Talbot St in Dublin. This is its fourth café, it has two more in the capital and one in Charleville.

“Overall, the bar has been raised in terms of what people can expect from a coffee experience,” says Frank and Honest founder Ciaran McNally. “During the recession, sales of coffee didn’t drop and I think people are prepared to spend that little extra to enjoy the few moments they have during the day to have that coffee. But if they’re paying a little more they just don’t accept poor quality anymore.”

Though some might scoff at the stereotypical image of the bearded hipster treating the making of a cappuccino like the cultivation of a bonsai tree — McDonald’s latest ad is a an example in point — most of us are delighted that the days of tasteless, flat, scalding hot coffee are gone.

Ciaran, who spent 11 years as a product designer with Musgraves, has brought all of his experience to this new venture. Everything from the lightweight, custom-made cappuccino cups to the spongy couches is designed to give the would-be coffee drinker that moment in the day that the Tipp man refers to.

But as well as the ultimate latte or flat white, Ciaran is keen “to have a bit of craic” with the brand.

As part of the drive to get Frank and Honest out into the frothy ether, the company has started a social media campaign inviting people to tell those little tales to the public they may have never told anyone before — and certainly not their grannies.

To help them the company drafted in Snapchat star James Kavanagh and comedian Joanne McNally.

“It was really quite easy to find people, from all walks of life,” says James. “I think because Irish people are always up for a bit of craic and tend to be quite open and say it how it is. And obviously all the conversations ended up being funny.”

In total, James and Joanne managed to coax 12 different groups of people into chatting to them about their most intimate secrets, which included cheating on partners, the stealing of a Creme Egg and the revelation that Enda Kenny was the leader of Sinn Féin.

“It was great fun,” says James. “We had a great time doing it and I think it’s rubbed off on me. It’s actually opened me up a bit more to conversations I’m having with strangers on the streets.”

In addition, and with the help of Joe.ie and Her.ie, the coffee house has drafted in six Irish celebs to share their intimate secrets over a cup of Frank and Honest coffee in their Dame St store.

First up was singer songwriter Gavin James, whose chat has already garnered more than 67,000 views. There are more to come, but who these behemoths of Irish society actually are remains a closely guarded secret — for now.

“We knew that Frank and Honest as a name would work for us,” says Ciaran. “We could do a lot with it. We could be frank and honest about our coffee but we could stretch it too.

“We thought we could have a bit of fun with it. And we want the public to get involved through our Facebook page and it’s working very well. We’ve had very good feedback from people on social media all of the brand awareness is really being done via that and it’s great because you get real time feedback.”

Having sampled their coffee in their Dame Street cafe I can give them some old media feedback. Yum.

frankandhonest.ie

Snapchat star James Kavanagh and comedian Joanne McNally’s video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V1PI6j1KbQI&feature=youtu.be

The Lie Detector experiment: https://youtu.be/F7Y5nJhD6CI

Coffee-drinking rode out the recession, and its enduring popularity means new entrants to the market, such as Frank and Honest, have to find a new angle, writes Jonathan deBurca Butler

Irish people are always up for a bit of craic and tend to say it how it is. And all the conversations ended up being funny