Feature: Hot Beverages
“And the greatest thing to remember is that consumers are still prepared to pay a premium for a good coffee or tea out of home as it is a luxury many people can still afford.”
Turning green!
The brains behind the innovative and time- saving ‘in-cup’ product have been turning ‘green’. Stewart Watson, managing director of The Paper Cup Factory based outside Cambridge has developed, in conjunction with a chemical company, an inert compound which, when added to different plastics, can result in the plastic becoming biodegradable. Polythene used as the paper lining is ideal to add to this compound and under the right conditions the cup will biodegrade in a few months. Claims Stewart “We began looking for something that would make cups biodegradable around two years ago and decided to avoid the corn starch route as we think that corn is better used to feed people. This is a chemical which, when added into the plastic lining of the paper cups, will result in oxy-biodegregation. Naturally the right conditions are necessary for this reaction to occur. Production of these cups will commence later on this year, and then in 2013 we are aiming to make our range of in-cups biodegradable.
with an average of one out of every eight-11 passengers buying a hot drink onboard. Other factors are the growth in passenger numbers on low cost airlines and the move of more legacy airlines to Buy on Board. We are selling a million hot drink cups to Norwegian and have recently signed up Danish Rail for our in-cup products. The Danish coffee market tends to be filter whereas Swedes prefer prefer strong and soluble coffee and in Finland they drink strong ground coffee.”
Quipped Julian: “The Finns drink more coffee per capita than any other country in the world. Perhaps it is to keep them awake in the dark!” Hot beverages can also help to drive sales of other products. Says Susan Nash, trade communications manager at Kraft Foods UK: “There is a high incidence of food
consumption alongside hot beverages, presenting a real opportunity to promote snacking onboard – 60 per cent of caterers agree that the majority of customers purchase a snack when they order a hot drink*. * Reed Business Insight, Feb/March 2011 Kraft’s popular Kenco 2Go! range features a wide variety of brands and sustainably sourced products in a ready-to-serve, in-cup format, with pre-dosed products kept fresh by a foil seal. All the operator needs to do is peel back the lid, add hot water and serve. The range now includes wholebean instant, Kenco Millicano, a combination of premium freeze dried instant coffee and finely-milled roast and
The use of well-known brand names on board flights has seen an uplift of some 20% in the sale of hot beverages
Whilst Stewart was not prepared to reveal the ‘secret’ ingredient, he did admit that the research has been a very slow process. The ‘new’ biodegradable plastic will have a timely launch if it is on the market by 2015 when a European directive will require all food product packaging be bio-degradable. Other plastics are still undergoing testing and results so far are very positive. It is hoped that by next year this compound can be added to other items such as plastic glasses and cutlery. Added Stewart: “I have worked within the airline industry for most of my working life and realise that margins are always very tight. However, we aim to introduce this new solution with nominal cost increases of between 5-8%, with the final objective of no cost increase at all if sales are sufficient”. This is a sensible approach compared with going down the corn starch route which can add as much as 30% to the cost of goods.
www.cupcompany.com
www.onboardhospitality.com 51
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