July 18, 2019 · Team HG
DThe first round of the Café Top 100 2019 is behind us. Expert jury members have visited all the cafés that registered. 125 cafés are advancing to the second round. Four of the nine registered Groningen businesses have advanced to the second round, Beer Pub Café De Koffer, Café De Oude Wacht, The Horn and Specialty Beer Café PintelierMost cafes come from North Holland and South Holland. Looking at the cities, Rotterdam and Nijmegen stand far above the rest in terms of the number of cafes.
The expert jury members of the Café Top 100 have been out and about, submitted their reports, and these have been reviewed and assessed by the main jury. In short: round 1 of the Café Top 100 2019 is over.
All participating cafés have been notified whether or not they have advanced to round 2, in which the mystery guests will visit the cafés. 125 cafés have made it through to that second round. They come from all corners of the country; all twelve provinces are represented. But North Holland stands out with 25 cafés, closely followed by North Holland and North Brabant with 24 and 22 establishments respectively.
In round 2, the top 125 will be revisited, this time by a mystery guest. This visit will take place unannounced and anonymously. Mystery guests are trained guests who evaluate through the eyes of the consumer. The mystery guests are deployed by an agency specializing in qualitative research with mystery guests.
In 2019, the Café Top 100 will assess traditional pubs and grand cafés separately for the first time. While a single list will still be published, this approach ensures that cafés are better judged based on the specific types of establishments they are. How does this work, and what does the jury look for in each type of café?
Whether a café is judged as a grand café or a traditional brown café is entirely up to the café itself. On the registration form, the owner indicates whether they own a grand or a traditional brown café. Based on this, the jury member is shown the questions for that category. Many questions will be the same: for instance, hospitality, cleanliness, service, and other such aspects must naturally be top-notch in every café. However, it has been decided that for traditional brown cafés, the emphasis will be placed slightly more on beer, while for grand cafés, food will play a slightly larger role.
Want to know more about the Café Top 100 and what the jury looks for? Read here further
