The San Diego Food and Beverage Association is a trade group made up of hospitality trade professionals that lend ?the power of many? to individual members in the forms of training for business needs and operations, service referrals, resource finding and recommendation and perhaps most importantly, representation to government at local, state and even federal levels.

Since 1945, SDFBA has worked with all elements of the food and beverage trades, tailoring responses to its clients? needs in a variety of fields and adding an impressive number of services to its trade offerings. Accounting, ADA consulting, ASCAP concerns, architectural plans and permits, ATM installation, Cal/OSHA compliance, construction, CPR, insurance concerns, employee staffing, training and certification and yes, espresso and coffee system management are part of what the association offers to hundreds of member outlets in San Diego.

The SDFBA, under the leadership of Stephen Zolezzi, a San Diego native and former restrateur, is now looking to add more coffeehouses to its member list. With over three hundred scattered throughout the county, all with specific needs, coffeehouses may represent an important, and as yet untapped resource for the association, as well as a specific subset needing an infusion of special care

San Diego?s coffeehouses have long operated under some specific difficulties; they were the stepchildren of the restaurant trade in the 90?s when they first began to grow and were indifferently regulated-which meant that they were often at the mercy of county health inspectors and code enforcement officers who could seemingly find no end of violations of the law to cite and fine them for. Besides that, coffeehouses are prone to surprise ?re-insepctions? by the county which often result in threats, fines and loss of business if various elements-usually plumbing and electrical equipment-are not immediately upgraded. Restaurants generally seem to escape these attentions by the county regulators and the popular belief of many in the coffee trades is that coffeehouses are leaned on as a revenue enhancer for the county. As if that weren?t difficult enough for the businesspeople to stomach, independent coffeehouses seem to notice that their main chain competitor never finds itself on the short end of county code enforcement. Stabucks, Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, Border?s Books and Peet?s, as well as others, never seem to hang up in permit processing or are required to rebuild ceilings, modify espresso makers under plastic ?sneeze guards? or build custom ramps for ADA access the way many of the independents have. Some trade watchers believe that the time for a trade organization with knowledge, muscle and years of experience to help the indies prosper is long overdue.

Since 1994, the coffee trades have twice attempted to organize into a trade association. The San Diego Coffee Alliance was the first and most successful of these efforts and achieved a modest level of return for its membership, but it foundered due to the intense competition between suppliers for the growing coffeehouse markets. A later attempt in 2000 that followed a proposed law that would have regulated coffeehouses like bars if they offered entertainment failed for the same reason. Recently, however, the pressure from chain competition has made the intelligent growth of the coffeehouse trades more pressing, which got some of the local traders to draft Zolezzi and the SDFBA for its skills.

Though most hospitality business share wide compatibility with regard to regulation and legal requirements, Zolezzi listened to some local coffee trade input about their realities and later told ESPRESSO that ?maybe a subcommittee for coffeehouses might be necessary to work on their concerns.? He said that it may also be necessary to offer specialized assistance to entrepreneurs at the outset of their ambitions to own coffeehouses and get them better prepared for the realities of business through better planning and training.

Zolezzi and his association drew great praise from at least one coffeehouse owner. Basilio (insertname) of Caf? Bar Europa was effusive. ?He?s the greatest. Steve worked with me and made everything a lot easier; I can?t thank him enough for all his help.? Caf? Bar Europa is a caf? in the european tradition-it has a full bar in addition to a well developed coffee service and was a unique challenge to the SDFBA. It opened on schedule with the associations? help. The recent Free Refill series of trade engagements held at Caf? Moto have seen Zolezzi?s name come up repeatedly as a logical source to organize the coffeehouse owners and other traders. ?At least we won?t have to re-invent the wheel, and he?s done a great job with everyone else,? said Torrey Lee, CEO of Caf? Moto at last month?s meeting.

For more information about the San Diego Food & Beverage Association, contact Stephen Zolezzi at 619. 298-1890