Coffee trends Coffee and vending – insights and trends


The past 16 months have thrown up all sorts of difficulties in all industries. A key challenge for vending companies in particular has been managing supplies into factories and warehouses. Commercial director of Masteroast Matthew Mills offers some insight into industry trends


F


or some vending companies COVID has provided an interesting opportunity. Feedback from customers of the coffee company, which celebrates 40 years in business this year, indicates that large-scale


manufacturing companies are increasingly moving away from using catering companies for the supply of lunches, drinks and snacks for staff, and instead, are investing heavily in automatic vending machines. Vending is an ideal pandemic solution in that it provides quality


product and service, whilst minimising human interaction, facilitating contactless payment and, for some companies that may have struggled financially through the past year, reducing overall costs. In a post-pandemic world, the more we can minimise the need for contact and optimise staff overheads without impacting quality, the better.


How is the coffee industry changing/developing? Coffee consumers are increasingly discerning when it comes to the quality and flavours of coffee. The huge surge in the quality and variety of coffee brands, formats, blends, brewing methods, equipment and accessories is evidence that coffee has become a fashionable and aspirational product. The provision of coffee has gone beyond a basic necessity to


become a status symbol for businesses. And with the quality of coffee having been proven to positively impact productivity and staff happiness, the company coffee choice is certainly not a matter to be overlooked. The other crucial development for the coffee industry lies in consumer


interest in and focus on sustainability practices, ethics, traceability of products and the manufacturer's accountability. Consumers are increasingly driven by the story behind the coffee brands and by the emotional connection to those stories.


The future of coffee: where coffee is going? What’s the next big thing? Product quality and accountability will continue to evolve and improve in the coffee industry. What will be key is the definition of coffee brands. The way in which they deliver their messages to the consumer via design and packaging to ensure buy-in and inspire confidence. Products – and the delivery of those products – need to meet all


the necessary criteria: a competitive price point, good quality, reliability, consistency of service and robust CSR policies, but the branding must be spot on to achieve success. A company's environmental stance is also becoming critically


important. So, as tech and infrastructure continue to develop, so will the way in which coffee brands meet environmental expectations in terms of the recyclability and/or compostable nature of product and packaging. This ever-growing interest in environmental commitments will


apply too to manufacturing processes. Customers and consumers are demanding not only coffee that is sourced ethically and packaged sustainably, but also look to the environmental impact of all stages of production. Masteroast is also seeing a trend towards smaller, more regular


orders from customers looking to better manage freshness and quality, and to also help cashflow. This shift in purchasing has enabled these companies to remain lean and tight during a difficult year and looks set to continue.


Commercial director of Masteroast Matthew Mills


We are also noticing an increased need for customers to be able to


cover a whole range of formats in their orders to meet the differing needs of staff, clients or customers – whether that means orders of bulk brew and bean to cup, filter coffee options plus capsules, coffee bags and grounds, or a combination of all of these.


Which brands will excel and why? Brands that are doing well and will continue to do so are those that are achieving a good balance between getting their message correct, offering a great quality product, and having the service level to back it up. The strongest players are price competitive, however; if a coffee company can follow this up with a good looking and good tasting product and is successfully driving the emotional connection to both product and brand by way of doing right by the planet and its people, they'll be meeting all the necessary criteria for the customer and ensuring continued loyalty and success.


Risk management and how to survive volatile markets. The double whammy of Brexit and COVID-19 has been challenging for all forms of supply chain. Over the past decades supply chains have been really squeezed, so, already in a super lean and tight position, the fallout from the past year on supply chains has been huge. In order to manage this fallout, investment – in people, in relationships


and in stock – is critical. We are in a unique position; being interdependent with both suppliers and customers means we can better manage the pressures throughout the chain alongside them. A major issue has been lead times on packaging, which we've


seen increase by three to five times over the last two years. We have spent a great deal of time working with suppliers and committing to raw materials rather than finished product to give suppliers the opportunity to mitigate their risk. This in turn, has allowed them to transfer less risk up the chain and


provide a better service to us. The happy result of these carefully managed relationships is the ability to pass on the right stock to customers at the right price.


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