VENDING & WATER COOLERS
This is pretty much a given – but how can FMs support this idea through a coffee strategy?
Firstly, despite the trend for barista coffee, there is still a place for instant coffee –according to Mintel, one in five Britons still drink instant coffee more than once a day (above the European average). But at home, where most of the instant coffee is drunk, there has more recently been a push towards capsule and pod machines that use blends of both Arabica and Robusta beans giving a deeper, earthy, bold flavour.
The high street coffee is largely from second-wave roasters such as Costa, Starbucks and Cafe Nero. Costa has a blend of Arabica and Robusta – dark roasted, oily coffee; very bold, with heavy tones of dark chocolate and caramel. For a black coffee drinker, this is very harsh on the palate and why the Americano is popular (watered down) or the milk-based latte, softening and sweetening the flavour. Starbucks use 100% Arabica coffee, though they roast very dark and develop dark chocolate flavours, serving in large sizes to soften and sweeten the coffee too.
“THE UK COFFEE
INDUSTRY TURNED OVER AROUND £7.2BN IN 2014”
The speciality market focuses primarily on high-quality Arabica beans only. These are generally roasted at lower temperatures for longer, keeping the flavours of the beans inside until they are ground for brewing. Lighter roasted coffee beans develop balanced flavours and depending on where in the coffee belt the beans are sourced they will develop a balance of sweetness and acidity.
Whilst happy with a relatively unsophisticated offer at home, coffee drinkers are far more discerning in their purchasing than
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you might think and favourite brands and blends can easily span this spectrum. This should be reflected in the choice and range of coffee in the workplace and how it’s served. Leesman Index data claims that 91.6% of people surveyed said quality tea, coffee and refreshment facilities had a positive impact on their work. Vending machines and a kettle do not cut it any more.
In order to meet the expectations of your people, it’s essential to engage with them and allow them to influence and make decisions about their workplace and the services within it. Flavour profiling of coffee is as complex as wine tasting and running coffee master classes, in much the same way as you would a wine tasting with food pairing for a new hospitality menu, is a worthwhile investment. This can help to select the right flavour profile and create the right café experience for the building demographic.
Some of the leading suppliers that Gather & Gather team works with – The Roasting Party, Union Roasted, Ariosa and Artisan Coffee - frequently hold events to educate consumers about coffee. This includes demonstrating how the beans are grown, selected, roasted and ground and how each stage can influence the end result. The popularity of this approach is reflected at the London Coffee Festival in April at the Truman Brewery where around 40,000 people visit to learn more.
When you understand that a simple cup of coffee does in fact have the potential to be such a sophisticated product, then you start to understand why the vending machine alone is no longer the right solution for a forward thinking employer.
To provide great tasting coffee in house, that competes on equal terms with the high street, FMs need to be knowledgeable and to understand what the high street offers. Only then are they equipped to make decisions on the part coffee has to play within overall workplace strategy.
www.gatherandgather.com TOMORROW’S FM | 27
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