Raising a Tostao to Bogotá

Exciting times out there. A middle-class revolution (of sorts) is in the Bogotá air.

You see, there was a time when those of a perceived certain standing in these parts wouldn't be seen dead in what would be considered a more normal establishment. They had a reputation to keep intact. One couldn't be mixing it with the ordinary folk, now could one?

Tostao: Modern, relatively fancy yet at affordable prices. (Photo from Facebook.)

Yet, this misplaced mentality that if you spend more on something this means it's better and/or elevates you to a higher social stratum appears to be changing somewhat. 

The more well-to-do types, relatively speaking in any case, are voting with their feet, turning to places that don't sell things at ridiculously inflated prices and only market themselves to ‘desirable’ folk.

True enough, we can say with reason that middle-of-the-road options had been conspicuous by their absence until recently. 

Not too long ago, in terms of going for an afternoon coffee or the like, the basic choices were a fairly costly Juan Valdez or Oma (let's not get started on Starbucks) or your bread and (no) butter, bog-standard panadería (our favourite, of course, once we've established the proper prices).

That's all changed now, thanks to the arrival of Tostao' Café & Pan. 

It offers fairly decent-quality fare at affordable prices in a modern, half-fancy environment -- OK, what constitutes 'fancy' for us may be open to questioning, but it's well kitted out nonetheless. From an Irish and UK perspective, think Costa Coffee or Insomnia Coffee Company.

Regardless of how it's viewed, Tostao certainly has caught the imagination of large swathes of the Bogotá public. 

Pass by any of its now ubiquitous cafés and there's a good chance there'll be a sizeable queue waiting to get their coffee and 'whatever you're having yourself' fix, especially in the morning and at lunchtime. It does seem to be the, um, toast of the city right now.

In a similar fashion, the Aldi/Lidl-style D1 and Justo & Bueno stores have changed the grocery shopping habits of the working-to-middle classes. 

They aren't, though, low-cost leaders for all household goods. The more established Éxito and Olímpica can still offer lower prices and similar quality, depending on the product type. 

Plus, we've the smaller supermarket outlets as well as the local fruit and veg stores which very often offer better value for the same kind of quality.

The thing is, the local store, just like our beloved local panadería for coffee and bread, isn't cool enough for some to frequent. 

Tostao, on the other hand, has hit a sweet spot for many Bogotanos. It's certainly in right now. A sign of a ‘race to normality’ is how we’ll put it.
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Chasing a star(bucks)

Wow! How the lot for some Colombians is improving considerably.

'James, you haven't a spare euro or two?' (Photo from Facebook.)

For one, the country's new hero, James Rodríguez, has ensured Real Madrid will have about 40 million new followers thanks to his big-money move to the Spanish giants. 

OK, footballers operate in a completely different galaxy to us mere mortals. Thus, that things are looking up for James should be put into its proper, ludicrous context. It's not his fault, of course, that this is the way the football world is, so we can only wish him well in his new life as an overpaid galáctico.

On a slightly more comprehensible and, going by the reaction, palpable level, Starbucks' arrival to the home of coffee has signalled the country's passage into the big league; or so some locals appear to believe. A case of: 'Now things will change; we've got Starbucks.' 

It certainly does gel in nicely with that popular Colombian notion that 'outside (especially North America) is better than home.'*

So having the US coffee label here is another step towards becoming 'US Americanised'; that should fix all the problems. Then again, maybe not.

In a way, the opening of the company's flagship Colombian café in Bogotá is a further sign of the country's growing middle class and, with that, the extra disposable income in a few people's pockets. 

Plus, it shows in a very visible way that multinational companies no longer see the country as the big risk it once was in which to do business, or indeed most activities.

Yet, the much-publicised excitement exuded by a segment of the population on Starbucks' grand opening has only served to demonstrate yet again the huge inequality that exists in this land. 

On the one hand, you had people queueing for up to an hour to get their hands on a cappuccino retailing at 5,500 pesos (almost $3US), while alongside them, as they waited to enter, you had street vendors selling their equivalent for less than ten per cent of that price.

Starbucks Bogotá: The fancy decor has a price (photo from Facebook).

Yes, those in the know will talk about the quality of the Starbucks fare (alongside the local equivalents such as Juan Valdez and Oma), but at more than ten times the price of a perico (coffee with milk) in my local panadería, it just doesn't make sense to me. 

And whatever about it not making sense to me, for a large chunk of Colombians, paying 5,500 pesos for a coffee is just not a runner, ever.

If your monthly earnings are about 600,000 pesos ($320US), roughly Colombia's minimum wage, and you're in a six-day-a-week job where you have to commute by public transport, you're not left with much money to play around with. 

The transport costs alone would be more than 72,000 pesos per month.** Take food and general living expenses out of the remainder and you can see why 5,500 peso coffees are a pipe dream for many. Throw dependants into the mix and the picture is even grimmer.

Such inequality is not unique to Colombia, although the scale of it here is intense. Like many others before him, re-elected president Juan Manuel Santos has made reducing it one of his priorities.

But while we strive to improve the lot of the poorest in society, we also have to look at the other side of things. 

That is to say a much more even distribution of the world's current wealth. Many of us could have as equally a fulfilling life – if not more so – minus a lot of the non-essential extras we accumulate.

Something to mull over whilst sipping on your Starbucks cappuccino watching James make his Real Madrid début. Isn't life just bliss?
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*Colombia's police often exhibit this trait that the Western foreigner knows best. For more on that see Colombia's good cops.

**It has been brought to my attention that a travel allowance of 72,000 pesos is available for those earning 1,232,000 or less. While this is no doubt a help, it still won't see the masses flocking to Starbucks.