Quality, branding and

Quality, branding and experience

With Masteroast set to celebrate 40 years in business this October, the company’s commercial director, Matthew Mills (main picture), acknowledges the sector’s achievements and likely future challenges.

INCREASING IMPORTANCE

Over the last decade, the palates of coffee drinkers have become ever more sophisticated, leading to a marked growth in the quality and variety of coffee brands and available formats, blends, brewing methods, equipment, and accessories. As it becomes a more fashionable product, coffee-loving Brits are even willing to stake their reputation on their coffee choices.

The importance of product quality was once largely confined to the high street, but with increasingly discerning coffee connoisseurs taking a ritualistic approach to coffee prep at home, it is now also essential within the domestic sphere.

This heightened coffee appreciation doesn’t stop in the home or on the high street; coffee is now often deemed a business status symbol too. Corporate coffee communities and employees are demanding better quality and variety from employers. Unsurprising, considering that better quality coffee has been proven to positively impact staff happiness and productivity.

Whilst great quality product is always vital, the story behind the brand and the ability to emotionally connect with that story is increasingly driving consumers today. Sustainability practices, ethics, the traceability of the product, and manufacturer accountability are key consumer considerations, and with the robustness of a company’s CSR policies and practices inspiring confidence in a supply chain, the industry benchmark with regards to sustainable practice is continuously rising as coffee brands are stepping up to meet demand.

FUTURE CONSIDERATIONS Branding

Product quality and accountability will continue to evolve and improve in the coffee industry. However, the definition of coffee brands is what will be the key to success. Whether through retail, foodservice or coffee shops, branding is critical to customer uptake, with the effective use of design and packaging and delivery of key messages ensuring buy-in and inspiring confidence.

It is essential that coffee products meet the necessary criteria of a competitive price point, superior quality, reliability, consistency of service and robust CSR policies, but branding must be spot on for brands to triumph.

Brands that are doing well and will continue to do so are those that get the proposition right; those that are achieving a good balance between correct messaging, 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.

Sustainability

From investors and stakeholders to employees and customers, a company’s environmental stance is on everyone’s agenda, so as tech and infrastructure continue to develop, so will the way in which coffee brands meet environmental expectations.

As pioneers for responsible practice, Masteroast supports all customers in making the necessary moves to deploy fully recyclable packaging - in some cases even subsidising packaging options on behalf of customers. With regards to compostable packaging, while this is an ideal goal, there is still a long way to go for it to become a reality due to complicated processes and the vast amounts of R&D required.

The ever-growing interest in environmental impact extends also to production and manufacturing processes, significantly driving accountability among roasteries. Ahead of the curve, Masteroast has invested significantly in some of the most energy efficient roasting technology on the market, boasting catalytic converters to manage carbon emissions and on-site nitrogen generation, for example. All of this is possible thanks to our flexible economy of scale structure.

Purchasing shifts

A major coffee purchasing trend we are seeing here at Masteroast is smaller, more regular orders from customers looking to better manage freshness and quality, and to also help cashflow. This shift in purchasing has enabled companies to remain lean and tight during challenging times.

We’re in a unique position at Masteroast in that we can tailor our response to customers to support these necessary shifts with a fast turnaround, which means they in turn can improve quality and service for their customers.

Another purchasing shift we are encountering is the need for customers to cover a whole range of formats in their orders. Just like consumers, businesses are developing more sophistication in their choices, going above and beyond to deliver different coffee options for the varying needs of their own 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, corporations - and especially the larger ones - are increasingly diversifying their ordering patterns.

Single serve

Single serve options - capsules or coffee bags - continue to prove popular in the domestic market. The two different formats meet differing consumer needs; the capsule provides a great domestic execution of an espresso and is more brand driven, whilst the filter coffee bag caters well to convenience seekers. Providing a hygienic and convenient coffee preparation option, demand for single serve shows no signs of abating.

MANAGING RISK AND VOLATILE MARKETS

The last week of July saw the first major frost to hit Brazil in 27 years, posing a huge threat to the world’s largest producer of coffee crops. Having shot to the top of the news agenda, it is anticipated that the damage could reduce the potential of production for 2022-2023 by around five million bags.

Whilst the industry has of course acted accordingly, the impact on prices, which are set to soar as product availability shrinks, is inevitable. The strength and stability of supply chains is going to be paramount to the survival of many within the coffee industry over the next 18 months.

All forms of the supply chain this past couple of years have been subject to huge stresses due to the double whammy of Brexit and Covid, and now, this latest crisis in Brazil. The global economy has squeezed supply chains to breaking point over the past decade, so, already in a super-tight position, the fallout from recent events on supply chains has been enormous.

Investment in people, relationships and stock is critical to managing this fallout. At Masteroast, we have taken a cautious approach in terms of taking on additional buffer stock and worked closely with customers to plan strategically and manage projections for the best possible outcomes. As such, we have so far managed to weather the storm.

Increasing lead times for packaging has been a major issue; rising three to five times over the last two years. To counter this, we have worked with suppliers - committing to raw materials rather than finished product - to give them the opportunity to mitigate their risk. This has allowed them to transfer less risk up the chain and provide a better service to Masteroast, which has meant that we can then pass on the right stock to customers at the right price.

Sourcing over 200 types of green coffee and producing over 2,000 blends, we feel that we are in an enviable position at Masteroast - everything we produce is entirely bespoke for our customers.

Managing such a vast range is no easy feat, but 40 years of experience, the knowledge and skillset of our staff, and long-term direct trade relationships have afforded flexibility and consistency in order to successfully manage challenges and facilitate incredibly effective execution throughout the sourcing and manufacturing process despite volatility in markets, challenges with freights, or extended periods of supply chain difficulties.