Reading Roars!

I stopped at Reading’s Picnic for another coffee this morning. I sat outdoors in the sun with a Cafe au Lait, croissant and Travel section of The Guardian, and felt momentarily happy.

Directly opposite was another cafe, adjacent to Costa Coffee. Opposite Costa Coffee were two more chains, Coffee Republic and Pret a Manger (with Giardino’s upstairs). Behind Coffee Republic was another Costa, inside Waterstone’s, and opposite Costa was the Japanese restaurant Wa, also serving coffee.

Have we all gone coffee mad? Do we need another coffee outlet? What makes Picnic so different? The answer to that last question is quite a lot. In a nutshell, or coffee bean if you prefer, Picnic is a cafe with a conscience. Here are my 4 reasons why Picnic is unique:

• Excellent, ethical coffee. The Picnic people don’t do novelty coffees. You won’t find a blended mango minty choccy bambinoccino with hazelnut syrup and crushed ice there. The Picnic people instead offer normal coffee - cafe au lait, cappuccino, americano, espresso etc. - done very well. Plus, and this is a very big plus, their coffee is ethical. Picnic customers seem to like it a lot as they are marking a blackboard inside the cafe with votes in favour.

• Service with a smile. Staff are friendly and attentive - and they bring coffee to your table. Furthermore, they look happy and relaxed. Contrastedly, there is one restaurant chain in particular, whose coffee is also excellent, with terrible customer service (indeed, I walked out recently as no one came to my table). Customer service is supremely important, in my opinion, and the Picnic people are great at it.

• Relevant, reading material. Ok, the number of newspaper titles provided for customers to read is somewhat limited (one). However, that one paper is The Guardian, and that goes very well with their ethical coffee.

• Fresh, homemade food. Picnic’s style is somewhat rustic and familiar. Their food includes cake, croissants and baps. They also do salads, unlike the bigger coffee chains, so another tick in the social responsibility box.