Page 45 - #45 English

the globally expanding Starbucks franchise business has rials and the fair price policy began to grow substantially.
led the trend of converting an semi-automatic machine This specialty trend allowed people to pay attention to the
into an automatic machine because it competed against quality of materials, the technical ability of baristas and
the large-scale fast food franchise businesses. That is to the intelligence of machines; thus, espresso has become
say, Starbucks has pursued for volume growth; as a result, a tool of expressing the quality and techniques thereof.
many of the professional staffs have quitted Starbucks and That is to say, South Korea’s espresso has been a high-end
they have led the growth of independent specialty coffee expensive machine without accurate information from
culture in the United States. This trend also flowed into the mid-1980s to the mid-1990s. Also, it has been an
South Korea as well. In addition, the growth of global ingredient of delicious menu from 1985 to 1994 and also
barista competition has increased the popularity of profes- a tool to express the quality and technology from 1995
sional baristas. As a result, the independent business start- to 2014. Thus, it has made a lot of contributions quietly
up market with young and unique feeling has been vital- to the growth of South Korea’s coffee market. However,
ized. These new start-ups gave emphasis to the promotion the market in which espresso has been actively leveraged
of unique features. Also, they even purchased high-end for about 30 years was a microscopic movement from an
professional espresso machines or directly imported industrial perspective rather than a consumer perspec-
coffee beans from rural areas and provided inexpensive tive. People discusses on espresso as a means of quality
prices through direct trade. Therefore, the specialty cof- evaluation or an ingredient of menu. However, it was a
fee, which was deemed as a global phenomenon, has also merely hard and sour existence that was floating around
become a main issue of South Korean baristas and compa- the coffee related industrial world. People began to debate
nies rather than the issue limited to the coffee producing on what was right and wrong for creating a cup of espresso
areas or the developed countries with an advanced coffee based on too many numbers. Furthermore, the authentic-
culture. This has led to the import of more functional and ity of espresso has been altered because people tended
intelligent professional machines in addition to the open- to undervalue the way of drinking espresso with sugar.
ing of trendy cafes and the promotion of training to inform People ignored the fact that the authenticity of espresso
the entire process from production to consumption. With belonged to consumers. The authentic Italian espresso
such market trend, a large number of new cafes have been begins with the lives of ordinary people. It is served as
opened everywhere in South Korea; thereby, leading to the a stimulant to refresh the fatigued body of a driver who
market saturation with abundant supplies. drove a car for a long time. Also, it is served as an energy
source for office workers who start their day. Moreover,
Espresso came to South Korean soil unintentionally in the it is served as a dessert that people enjoy deliciously and
mid-1980s. It took 10 years for people to call it espresso conveniently after they have meal. That is, it provides a
after it was finally separated from the Japanese style drip temporary rest between daily works. Espresso fulfills its
coffee and the US style instant coffee. After the mid- assigned function only when it moves and breathes among
1990s, the import of Italian espresso coffee became a hot consumers. Korean people’s espresso has been regarded as
trend for a short period of time by being combined with an existence that was hardly accessible since it has been
the professional machines. However, the emergence of hidden or interpreted in a difficult way. Nonetheless, pre-
large-scale franchise businesses made it a mere compo- paring an opportunity to convey the purity and basics of
nent of many delicious menus in an easily accessible place. espresso that is preparing for a new decade in 2015 would
Espresso had been deemed as an ingredient of popular be our duty for espresso that has sacrificed for the South
menu. It was pushed away and it vanished in the cultural Korean coffee industry in the past 30 years. Finally, it is
trend called specialty since 2005. It was because people the time for us to return espresso to its original place and
began to recognize coffee as one of agricultural products the consumers with delicious taste.
and the speciality market emphasizing the quality of mate-