Shepherd Neame is helping its tenants tap into booming coffee sales with the launch of a branded concept: Coffee & Ale House.
Exclusive to the Kent-based family brewer and pub operator’s tenanted licensees, the new Coffee & Ale House offer includes branded equipment, cups, menus and signage, staff training and, above all, great coffee which can be enjoyed in the pub or offered as a take-way option.
Tailored to customer demand
The concept has been carefully tiered to enable tenants to tailor their offer to customer demand:
- At entry level, pubs serve coffee in a cafetiere that includes a timer telling customers the perfect moment to ‘plunge’
- In the mid-range, a bean-to-cup machine makes a prefect cup of coffee to order from freshly ground beans, with both one cup or two cup machines available
- At the top end, a traditional coffee machine enables pubs to make barista-style coffee.
Coffee blend created by coffee specialist Roasted
The coffee itself is a unique blend created by coffee specialist Roasted, which has worked with Shepherd Neame since 2008. Pubs at all levels will serve coffee in branded drink-in and take-away cups. Pubs with bean-to-cup and barista machines will be able to offer a range of speciality coffees including espresso, cappuccino and latté.
Every Coffee & Ale House pub will receive on-site training to ensure staff will serve coffee to the highest standards, and each will be audited by Roasted twice a year to ensure that quality is maintained.
Competing with coffee specialists and managed pubs
Greg Wallis, Tenanted Operation Manger at Shepherd Neame said: “Britain’s coffee boom continues, with sales continuing to rise every year. A high quality coffee menu enables pubs to compete both with coffee specialists and managed pubs, and to target new customers and different trading times throughout the day.
The best place in town to enjoy a cup of coffee
“We believe we are the first pub operator to provide tenanted licensees with a premium, branded coffee offer. Just as our pubs are great places to enjoy freshly-cooked food and great cask beer, the combination of high quality coffee, well-trained staff and the appeal of the Coffee & Ale House brand means there’s no reason why they can’t also be the best place in town to enjoy a cup of coffee.
“The Coffee & Ale House concept has been developed to further enhance the specialist direct support we offer our licensees, enabling them to diversify their offer and broaden their customer appeal. In particular, having appointed Carol Haime as development chef for tenancies last year, adding a strong coffee offer alongside our increased support for food makes perfect sense, enabling pubs to grow sales of both.”