With coffee drinking patterns relatively unchanged in recent years, a recent study by Mintel Intl., a leading market research and analysis firm finds that coffee companies must center their focus on younger customers.

The study shows that “Two thirds of Americans have a cup of coffee every day.  However, only 27 percent of the coveted 18-24-year-old demographic drink coffee on a regular basis.”

Attracting younger adults into coffeehouses and cafes is very important to successful long term growth.  Discussions about what could attract more of this target market could start with a coffeehouse’s employees, which in many instances are part of that demographic.

Creating a casual atmosphere with music, available wi-fi, offering Fair Trade Organic coffees as well as a food menu of items that would appeal to this group is a great starting point.  Becoming a destination for social get-togethers -  live music, open mic nights, poetry readings and movie nights could prove to be fun as well as profitable.

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According to “Today’s Specialty Food Consumer 2010,” the NASFT’s annual report on consumer purchasing habits and trends, sixty-three percent of consumers have purchased specialty foods this year, a 37 percent increase over 2009.

The increase to 63 percent of consumers purchasing specialty food in 2010 – up from 46 percent in 2009 — means 51 million consumers have come back to specialty food after cutting their spending during 2008 and 2009, said Ron Tanner, VP, communications and education at the New York-based NASFT. That’s a return to 2006’s specialty food consumption numbers, he noted.

What are they buying?

Among specialty food consumers, natural or organic products were the most purchased in the past 12 months. The top five specialty food purchases reported were coffee, chocolate, olive oil/other specialty oils, cheese and cold beverages.

Who is buying?

Consumers age 18 to 34, especially those in the 25-to-34 age bracket with $100,000-plus household incomes, are 35 percent more likely to buy specialty food. These consumers tend to be in the Northeast or the Western United States, college educated and Hispanic.

The research was conducted in July 2010 by Mintel International and Toluna USA.

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Is this a Sand Trap, or Bunker?  Dustin Johnson thought, as virtually all the fans on the course and at home thought, it was a path, not a bunker.  But it is a bunker designed by Pete Dye, the course designer.  Dustin Johnson put his club on the ground behind the ball; in golf language he grounded the club.  A no no in a bunker.  So after finishing the hole, and tying the PGA Championship, on national television, he was penalized two strokes and dropped out of the playoff with two other players.  A real shame.  But…

Golf pros are their own CEO and the CEO is responsible for knowing the details when he or she is making a decision.  Routine situations, even ones disguised by trampling, are not routine when the CEO is involved.  So there is a lesson for all of us to learn.  Know the rules, know the details.  In this case the ball is resting on sand, and might have raised a question in Johnson’s mind, but it did not because the bunker was trampled.

At first I thought it was a path, but the rules chairman explained that “local rules” were clearly spelled out in handouts and signs, and the local rules made it clear that every sand area on the course was a bunker.

Tough.  Very tough.  But…  Johnson missed it.

So we must all stay current, read, research, learn, go to school, read the NY Times online (my bias), read books, stay technically current, know your accounting, know your pricing, know your costs, and know your customers.  There are no small decisions.  Know the details and pursue them relentlessly.

Dustin Johnson is a stand-up man who I think will be back to win other major golf championships.  Lets hope this bad decision doesn’t cripple him.  Another trait of the CEO must be resilience.  We make mistakes, we have to move on, correct the work, and get on with running a profitable business.