The recent UK Coffee Leader Summit featured a presentation by Oliver Cock, Managing Director, Commercial, Compass Group UK & Ireland, who outlined some of the work Compass is and has been doing to take a fresh look at their supply of coffee to consumers in the workplace.
Compass serves 3 million consumers every day in their many and varied UK sites, using a total of 1400 tonnes of coffee every year as part of those operations. And today, no less than 15% of cash revenues result from hot beverages. As can be seen, therefore, coffee is not only important in financial terms, it’s also very important in terms of satisfying customer expectations.
Consumers want great coffee
They want great coffee at home, in the workplace, in the high street – indeed, they expect high street standards in the workplace and, if they are not delivered, are quite prepared to walk to the nearest location where they can get it!
Research and action
Recognising the need to understand what their customers require, Compass has been undertaking a range of actions:
- Research with Allegra into consumers and their needs
- Working with suppliers for their insights and innovative ideas
- Reviewing the full range of hot beverages offered by Compass
- Developing offers and training staff in order to deliver ‘winning’ products
Key messages
As a result of its research and analysis, Compass has received and taken on board a number of key messages:
- Quality is vital – even more important than convenience
- Consumers look to brands to deliver quality, especially artisan brands
- Convenience IS important
- There is no ‘captive’ consumer who will simply accept what is provided
‘Need states’ across the workplace
Customers across the workplace have different reasons at different times for drinking a cup of coffee:
- Functional: thirst, habit…
- Energising: as a pick-me-up or energy boost (for example in mid-afternoon)
- Indulgent: a period of time-out, rewarding oneself for the stresses of the day…
- Social: enjoyed with colleague(s), relaxing, socialising
These ‘need states’ drive consumers in all types of workplaces and locations but, of course, there is not a ‘one size fits all’ solution – consumers have different ‘need states’ in different organisations, buildings or locations!
Compass has therefore to identify and develop the right offers, environments (where part of the service), and partners in order to deliver the right beverage solutions in the right places – the solutions that will meet the value perceptions of their consumers.
Pricing
As already identified, consumers are knowledgeable and, in order to obtain the quality they require, will pay as much in the workplace as in the high street – if the product is right.
Provenance
It’s also a ‘given’ that consumers expect the provenance of their coffee to be ethical and fully traceable: the principles of Fairtrade increasingly apply not just to coffee but to supplies and suppliers of all types.