COFFEE NOTES JULY 2020
Over the last few weeks, we’ve been delighted to get some small amount of normality back, with some of us having spent 10 days on set filming our new barista training videos for We Proudly Serve Starbucks (watch this space)! But as businesses start to reopen across the UK, we’ve also been keeping an eagle eye on how the easing of lockdown has affected consumer habits, as well as looking at ways operators can adapt to help drive sales. This edition of Monthly Coffee Notes includes thoughts on the changes in purchasing habits and a few notes on why coffee shops are ‘going cashless.’ We’re also exploring the rapid momentum of plant-based milk alternatives and their rise to fame, and as promised last month, looking at how farmers are fighting coffee rust — with snails! Enjoy this editionof Monthly Coffee Notes with your favourite drink, and as always, don’t hesitate to let us know if you have any thoughts or questions.
5-MIN READ
DRIVING SALES AFTER COVID-19 While the collective focus of our industry is quite rightly on the safe and successful re-opening of our cafés and restaurants, we’re taking another step forward to look at ways operators can drive sales once their new normal is in place. What can those of us in the business of beverages do to start driving footfall in a safe and profitable way?
REASSURE CUSTOMERS THAT YOU’RE PUTTING THEIR SAFETY FIRST, AND TAKING THE CORRECT PROCEDURES TO ENSURE THEIR PROTECTION — AND YOURS. Signpost social distancing requirements for waiting or queuing, keep numbers manageable in-outlet, and offer hand sanitiser where possible. If customers know they’ll be safe in your café, they’re more likely to visit.1 Give them the reassurance they’ll need to visit your café again, and prepare your team for the new normal so that you can become a source of confidence for every customer’s return.
MAKE CUSTOMER SERVICE A PRIORITY — NOW MORE THAN EVER. Your customers will be excited to be able to order their favourite drink again, so why not celebrate? Put your friendly, knowledgeable team front and centre, ensure they’ve had all the relevant training for any new offers or drinks, and create an atmosphere that encourages traffic and repeat business. With the introduction of plastic safety screens to separate customers from team members, it’s never been more important to focus on the expression of positive body language so that your customers can continue to receive the fantastic service they’re used to, and feel welcomed and safe in your café.
CREATE CLEAR REASONS FOR CUSTOMERS TO VISIT.
DEVELOP A WELL-DEFINED MARKETING PLAN.
Shout about your re-opening menu, and display your POS prominently to communicate your offers, rewards and safety procedures, to keep building that trust and confidence. Customers will need clear direction on what is and isn’t available in your range alongside memorable and comforting customer service.
If you haven’t already, start putting your marketing plan together for your café and use your promotions, offers and updates to foster trust and loyalty with your customers. Ensuring that tasks are defined within the plan, and that the correct POS and marketing materials are in place are simple ways to keep customers updated, reassuring them that you’re re-opened and ready to go.
Source: 1 - Brits keen to visit their local hospitality businesses ‘as soon as possible:’ The Caterer, 21st May 2020.
2-MIN READ
TREND TIMELINE: PLANT-BASED MILKS 1981 Alpro is founded by Philippe Vandemoortele, using new plastic technology to package soya milk. Launches to a mixed reception in the UK.
1994 Oatly is founded by Rickard Öste in Sweden as another healthy dairy alternative. Its oat milk foams and doesn’t split when used in hot drinks.
LATE 90’S US brand Whitewave decide to move their refrigerated soya drink, Silk, to the dairy milk aisle in supermarkets and market it as a ‘healthy alternative,’ causing a huge boom in sales.
EARLY 2000’S Soya milk has its own health scare due to overstated fears that it disrupts hormones, hurting its reputation and ultimately its sales.
2008 Seeing the success of Silk, various other almond milk suppliers in the US and Europe move their products into the refrigerated dairy aisles.
2013 Almond milk overtakes soya as the best-selling plant milk in the US.
2013 Rude Health, a start-up in London, starts selling three key milkalternative products: oat, brown rice, and almond.
2013–2016 Reduced demand for cow’s milk leads to the closure of 1,000 dairy farms in the UK, highlighting the boom of plant-based milk products.
2017 Alpro turnover reaches in excess of £183m. Oatly launches in the US and China with hugely promising sales.
2019 Rude Health expands to include 10 different types of alternative milk within their range.
Source: The Guardian: ‘White Gold, The Unstoppable Rise of Alternative Milks.’ January 2019.
5-MIN READ
PREDICTED CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR IN THE COVID-19 ERA As the UK lockdown eases, we’re continuing to keep a close eye on changes in consumer lifestyle and purchasing behaviours. While those in the coffee business start to cautiously re-open their doors, it’s never been more important to consider the transformational effect that the pandemic has wrought upon consumer behaviour to help us all prepare for the next wave of habits in ways that will benefit our bottom lines, our teams, and our customers. KEY CONSUMER NEEDS THE NEED FOR TRUST:
92%
OF CONSUMERS ARE TAKING PRECAUTIONS TO PROTECT THEIR HEALTH AS A RESULT OF COVID-19.1
THE NEED FOR CLEAR COMMUNICATION:
4 OUT OF 5
CONSUMERS ARE MORE LIKELY TO VISIT VENUES THAT THEY RECEIVE FREQUENT COMMUNICATIONS FROM.1
75%
OF CONSUMERS WOULD BE MORE WILLING TO PURCHASE A PRODUCT FROM A BRAND THAT ‘BEHAVED ETHICALLY’ DURING THE COVID-19 OUTBREAK.1
71%
OF CONSUMERS CONSIDERED IT IMPORTANT FOR EATING AND DRINKING VENUES TO HAVE COMMUNICATED WITH THEIR CUSTOMERS DURING THE COVID-19 OUTBREAK.1
THE NEED TO MAKE LIFESTYLE CHANGES:
24%
ARE BUYING FOODS PERCEIVED AS ‘HEALTHIER.‘ 1
THE GROWTH OF THE PLANT-BASED LIFESTYLE IS EXPECTED TO ACCELERATE. 2
HOW CAN WE ADAPT?
“In the COVID-19 era, consumers and their behaviours will be characterised by lower disposable incomes, stress and anxieties about the future, and paramount concerns over hygiene, physical health, and mental wellbeing.”3
As we move hopefully towards a full-scale re-opening of society, coffee shop services will need to adapt to accommodate the minimal contact requirements as dictated by the new consumer needs and behaviours that have arisen, such as social distancing. As a result, it’s likely that we’ll see an increase in takeaway menu items and a new emphasis on ‘contact-prevention technologies,’ such as cashless payments. 3 While we rebuild, it’s imperative that all communications are free from ambiguity. This clarity will be key in reassuring consumers that they can still get all their favourites in a safe space, which in turn helps to further highlight the quality of your offer and encourage trust and belief in your ethos. At the crux of it, both brands and operators will need to communicate their renewed hygiene and safety standards, and any changes to operations more clearly than ever before as the UK lockdown eases further. Sitting across all dayparts and interactions, these modifications can also be aligned with the consumer’s desire for ‘healthy’ menu options — such as alternative milks — in order to nurture their trust and subsequently kickstart sales upon re-opening.
Source: 1 – CGA BrandTrack, The Lockdown Consumer Report. April 2020. 2 – WGSN Coronavirus Food & Drink Change Accelerators, April 2020 3 – Coronavirus Will Transform Consumer Behaviour, Market Research Blog, Euromonitor International, May 2020.
3-MIN READ
FIGHTING COFFEE RUST ...WITH SNAILS Coffee rust is an agricultural disease that causes irreversible devastation to a coffee farmer’s crop, which in turn has a huge impact on their livelihood. But according to a report from the University of Michigan News Office, snails and slugs may offer an unlikely helping hand in the fight against this destructive disease.
WHAT IS COFFEE RUST? COFFEE RUST IS A PATHOGEN THAT FORMS ON THE LEAF OF THE COFFEE PLANT, RATHER THAN THE BEAN.
THE DISEASE PRESENTS ITSELF WITH YELLOW SPOTS AND BURN MARKS, LIKE ITS NAMESAKE, AND PREVENTS BEAN-PRODUCING CHERRIES FROM GROWING.
IT’S A DESTRUCTIVE DISEASE WITH THE POWER TO COMPLETELY DEVASTATE A CROP, RENDERING IT USELESS ONCE THE RUST HAS DEVELOPED. WHEN THE DISEASE IS DISCOVERED, THE ENTIRE CROP WILL REQUIRE QUARANTINE.
HOW CAN SNAILS HELP? While conducting fieldwork in 2016 throughout the coffee regions of Puerto Rico, University of Michigan researchers found a surprising discovery. Officially named ‘Bradybaena Similaris,’ Asian tramp snails had been eating the rustcausing pathogen on coffee plants all day, every day for quite some time. Although the use of snails in combatting coffee rust is an entirely new and rather unorthodox method, there is no indication that using them would offer a cure-all solution for this devastating disease — especially on a large-scale farming basis. However, as climate change is expected to exacerbate the effects of this rust across all coffee-producing countries, it is heartening to see that positive possibilities, however unusual they may be, do exist in the fight against this disease.
READ MORE
5-MIN READ
WHY GO CASHLESS? It’s hard to recall a time when payment by cash only was the norm. Nowadays card is king, especially in the era of COVID-19 where consumers are wary of using notes and coins due to a perceived possibility that they could hold droplets of the virus, despite the lack of concrete evidence to support this.
“To date, there is no evidence of the coronavirus having been spread via euro banknotes — and, if it had, the number of infections would be way higher.”
— Dr. René Gottschalk, Head of the Health Department, Frankfurt, Germany.
Regardless of whether or not the risk is real, this level of national concern over which objects do and don’t pose a threat of viral spread has resulted in operators across the country being forced to reconsider the use of cash in their cafés. As part of the re-opening strategy, ‘going cashless’ has been promoted as a way to help foster some much-needed reassurance among consumers as they start to take responsibility for their own safety needs when visiting cafés and restaurants. But what does a cashless café look like in today’s new normal, and how does it benefit operators?
WHY MOVE TOWARDS A CASHLESS PAYMENT SYSTEM? • I t aligns with changes in consumer behaviour around cashless, which have been fast tracked further since the outbreak of COVID-19, i.e. social distancing precautions, perceived risk of spread. • It provides a level of comfort and reassurance, fostering customer trust as lockdown eases.
BUT BEYOND COVID-19, CASHLESS HELPS TO: • Reduce queue times and improves speed of service • Encourage an increase in average transaction value • Minimise cash held on site, reducing safety risks.
CAN CAFÉS FORGET ABOUT CASH? Of course, there may be a need for customers to pay in cash — and many retailers won’t have the choice when it comes to going fully cashless — but it’s clear that implementing contactless systems and self-serve hot beverage solutions (and therefore cashless payments) could have positive effects on sales, footfall, and in the way that your customers perceive your café as a safe place to visit. From premium bean-to-cup to countertop soluble self-serve solutions, there’s endless choice for operators to support the growing demand for a cashless experience. Contactless payments are available on a global scale, including those for sites where receiving a Wi-Fi connection is an issue. And with 1.6 billion transactions seen on UK debit cards in March 2020 alone — 4.9% more than in March 2019 1 — it’s time for operators to recognise the true value in going cashless.
READ MORE Source: ‘Card transactions by UK cardholders both in the UK and overseas.’ UKFinance.org. July 2020.
Nestlé Coffee Partners offers a range of brands and solutions to fit your customers’ requirements. If you’d like to talk through any of what you’ve read and explore how we can help you leverage the insight we’ve shared this month, or if you’d simply like to catch up over a coffee, we’d love to hear from you.
We’re available on +44 (0)203 124 1029 (Option 2) or at StarbucksSupportEMENA@nestle.com