Until recently, coffee has been used purely as a tool to wake you up in the morning. However, the act of ‘grabbing a coffee’ is becoming more and more about the social meetings behind the drink, and the appreciation of all of the new and exciting places in which it can be enjoyed.
Midlands-based coffee, kitchen and bar venue, BEAR, have delved deep in to the history of Coffee Houses, looking at the establishment and development of them throughout Europe and in to London during the mid-1600s. During this time, Coffee Houses were very popular as places of political debate, and women were often prohibited – an interesting contrast to coffee shops and cafes today, many of which attract a female-heavy audience!
After conducting this research, BEAR found themselves intrigued and fascinated by the many manner of reasons behind which someone would visit one of their stores. In January, they launched their #CoffeeConversations campaign, encouraging their customers to post their in-store photographs to social media, accompanied by a caption explaining why that person had chosen to visit BEAR at that time, on that day, with whomever they may have been visiting. The responses have been – predictably – very varied, including photos of smiling sweethearts captioned ‘Date Night’, lots of celebratory birthday meals, and even a team photo of a newly-established ‘Tuesday Morning Coffee Club’.
To continue the conversation, BEAR will be hosting their Valentine’s #ShareTheLove event between 14th – 17th February. Attendees of BEAR’s #ShareTheLove event on Facebook will be allowed to redeem a ‘Buy-one-get-one-free’ offer in-store. This offer is being held in order to encourage customers to bring their loved ones along and spend valuable time catching up with them over a coffee. Craig Bunting, Co-Founder of BEAR, states: “Coffee shops are, and have always been, places of conversation, debate, and socialising. These events are our way of building on that rich history.”