The assortment of teas, however, has room for improvement
Casa Santa Luzia is, for Brazilians, what Fortnum & Mason is for the British, keeping, of course, the proper proportions. While the British was inaugurated by Hugh Mason, in 1707, in Picadilly, London, Portuguese Daniel Lopes, a little more than two centuries later, in 1926, inaugurated Casa Santa Luzia, in the Jardins neighborhood, in São Paulo, which was already beginning to emerge as a noble place in the metropolis.
Santa Luzia is recognized for the quality, freshness and variety of its products, offering the best produced in Brazil and abroad to its customers. Imagine that, currently, it offers between 32 and 33 thousand different items. An enormity!
With such diversity and behind the shelves, more than 600 employees work in the two thousand and two hundred square meters that the brand’s unique store occupies in Alameda Lorena.
It is correct to say that Casa Santa Luzia was the first to offer a variety of specialty coffee brands nearly 20 years ago, when Brazilians had no idea of the difference between specialty coffee and commodity. “Currently, we work with 55 specialty coffee brands, many of them since the onset, such as Santa Grão, Bravo, Pessegueiro, Prima Qualitá, Café do Centro etc. In the beginning, we didn’t know exactly what specialty coffee was, but our team started to follow the specialists, BSCA, barista Eliana Relvas, and we started to learn,” explains nutritionist, Graciette Breuer. “Then, we created the café fortnight, right after the opening of the Mezzanine Space (Espaço Mezanino), with tables only for different coffees, and with attributes that our audience did not yet know about,” she explains.
And she continues: “it was a time of a lot of learning for us, as we were learning along with the increase in the consumption of specialty coffees. Only in this way could we help our customers to choose the one that best suits their personal taste. It was a time of a lot of learning for us,” she says. Currently, Casa Santa Luzia offers around 55 specialty coffee brands, next to the store’s cafeteria, which has six trained baristas working two shifts and serving around 350 coffees a day. “Over the weekend, that number doubles,” says Graciette.
The cafeteria’s layout is super-interesting: the supplier chosen to star in the promotion fortnight is responsible for taking its own espresso machine, for its assembly and maintenance, and also for training the baristas. These, in turn, will prepare espressos, cappuccinos, etc., which can be of single origin or a blend. On the date we visited the store, there was a promotion for Café Baobá, which was prepared in a La Marzocco spot.
The Bean to Bar Chocolates
Next to the specialty coffee area, there are also more than 20 brands of Brazilian bean to bar chocolates, right next to the most traditional imported chocolates. “What’s best on the market, we have it. It’s important because we work in real partnership with suppliers. So, they offer Santa Luzia customers tasting and presentation of their products,” she says.
At first, the patrons of the house found it strange that Brazilian chocolates had almost the same price as imported ones. “But soon they understood that we were offering chocolates made with higher percentages of cocoa, coming from the best farms in the country, which have no other additions and are free from child labor. In other words, they are sustainable,” she says.
The Teas
Despite the high number of tea brands, around 100, they are not separated by teas, specialty teas and herbal teas. Bagged teas are mixed with bulk tea offerings. But you can choose between bulk teas, medicinal, imported, green teas etc.
However, the best Brazilian specialty tea, produced at the Shimada Farm, in Registro, in black and white versions, is not included in the Santa Luzia mix. But all a customer should do is to refer a brand they would like to consume and the establishment’s staff will go research it. If it meets the house’s requirements, it will soon be on the gondolas. Here, the customer is definitely always right!
How the analysis is accomplished
According to the nutritionist, all employees at the house undergo extensive training. Each sector has its own nutritionist-consultant, who is responsible for giving classes on products such as specialty chocolates, water, coffee, tea etc., to sellers and stockers, who become experts on the subject, given that the proposal is not to change their area.
The store has a general procurement committee, made up of buyers from each sector of Santa Luzia, which meets daily. At these meetings, products are evaluated for their quality, sensory profile, as well as items such as packaging, nutritional information, etc., which are also taken into account. Only after approval by this committee, products can be sold in the corridors of Casa Santa Luzia.
“In the beginning, as there was less demand, we were able to help more directly those brands that were just starting out, but that were already standing out in terms of quality. Unfortunately, nowadays, it is no longer possible due to the huge demand. Today, it is important that the supplier already has a good product, as finished as possible, with the correct packaging and nutritional information. In this way, the chances of us becoming interested in the product are much greater,” she concludes.
Casa Santa Luzia – Alameda Lorena, 1471 – access the website
Customer Service +55 11 38975000
sac@santaluzia.com.br; www.fortnumandmason.com
