Isn't this just an excuse?
Why do we need people to be sophisticated to appreciate something good? To me, this means that enjoying something good requires some sort of education. This would then infer that quality is qualified. Goodness is not based, then, on internal substance, but on external opinion or consensus.*
When examining St. Louis, I do notice a much smaller number of successful restaurants and cafes that are able to survive from the merit of their core products. Most great drinking establishments also supply something to eat. Great eating establishments have broad menus. There are, however, quite fewer people living in St. Louis than the more "sophisticated" markets (New York, San Francisco, Portland, London). This results in a lower demand for these core products, so purveyors must offer a wider array of products to stay afloat. These smaller markets cannot support as many of these small, simple concepts.
The secondary result seems to be then, that people are less exposed to such products – at least in a way that demonstrates quality. For instance, there are many places to get coffee in St. Louis, but few places that support themselves solely on that product, therefore the most commonly consumed coffee is that made with sub-standard brewing methods because the purveyor's attention is focused elsewhere. This leads to many fewer people actually being exposed to quality products, which leads to slower growth of a product. I believe this really accounts for our lack of so-called "sophistication."
To break it down˚:
lower population = fewer people that demand quality coffee experiences
fewer people that demand quality coffee experiences = fewer sustainable coffee-focused purveyors
fewer coffee-focused purveyors = slower growth rate of people that demand quality coffee
higher population = more people that demand quality coffee experiences
more people that demand quality coffee experiences = more sustainable coffee-focused purveyors
more coffee-focused purveyors = higher growth rate of people that demand quality coffee
So, the rate at which customers actually are exposed to quality coffee experiences greatly increases in higher-population areas and increases the percentage of people in that population that demand quality coffee experiences. It's a sort of beast that feeds itself (sustainable).˚˚
What I'm getting at here is that markets perceived as more "sophisticated" really just have a much more exposure to quality, focused products (specifically coffee in this case).
What makes this hard to see is that we have true shit-slingers on both sides of the game. People too focused on sophistication** to work in these smaller markets and people in these smaller markets too stuck in unsophistication*** to want to something better. These opinions can be really distracting and can quickly dissuade anyone from doing a better job at exposure. Also, exposure is often only thought of in terms of buying advertising.
So, how do we measure if increased exposure works in smaller markets? Also, how do we make it sustainable? Exposure does not always demand cost, but it certainly will help. Is there a way to make exposure in a smaller market just as sustainable as the high-population model above works? Immediately, I think of social media and online grass-roots type efforts as potential tools. I've also seen some nice examples of businesses trading customer bases through sharing spaces (like a pastry case) or events without needing to remove focus from their core products. I'm curious to hear your thoughts. Anyone have a good example of a smaller market with a booming coffee or specialty product market?
My thoughts turn to small communities that have produced great music over the last 20 years - specifically Chapel Hill and Omaha. Both are small communities with many fewer artists than cities like New York or San Francisco, but the quality of music and art being produced was substantial, especially when compared to larger markets. These cities were producing nearly as many (if not more) notable artists as larger population markets like New York and San Francisco. I'm not sure either of these "music scenes" were/are sustainable, but I'd argue quality, when it comes to music, is much harder to measure in an objective matter.
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*I do accept that people sometimes need a great guide to access flavors within very concentrated or unusual food & drink like coffee, espresso, whiskey....even beer & wine for folks closer to the legal minimum age
Stereotypes of these type of people:
**"I can't believe he wore flip-flops and a cut-off shirt into my restaurant."
***"Don't give me none of that frothy bullshit, just give me a damn coffee."
˚assuming x% of any random population demands quality coffee.
˚˚anyone know if there is an economic theory similar to this....I'm unlearned.
