FEATURE NEWS
Coffee in the fast lane
The drive-through coffee market is booming and an end-to-end solution from Container Concepts makes it easy and accessible to enter.
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OVID-19 has changed many aspects of the coffee landscape, from the way cafés operate to how customers interact with them. Brett Bolwell, CEO of Barista Technology Australia, says people have grown more used to the speed, simplicity, and convenience of buying products and they expect the same from their coffee. “COVID has shifted the dynamics of how we do things and one of the things that has absolutely boomed during COVID is drive-through coffee. People are time poor and want their coffee quickly. They don’t want to have to find a park, get out and walk to the café, then wait once they’re there. The drivethrough is fast and gives the market what it wants,” Brett says. “I’ve been talking with several major coffee chains and all of their predictions and market feedback says that, for 2022 and beyond, we’re going to continue to see huge growth in drive-through.” Australia is often considered a trailblazer in the specialty coffee arena, but Brett suggests the drive-through is one area where the commercial coffee chains and markets like the United States and Europe are leading the charge. “There’s a big focus on drive-through in the United States and Europe. Two massive American coffee chains, Dutch Bros and Caribou Coffee, have registered for initial public offerings on the stock exchange thanks to the growth of their businesses,” Brett says. “Here in Australia, if you look at McDonald’s, Zaraffa’s, or any of the other leading coffee brands, you’ll see considerable volumes going out the drive-through window. At McDonald’s, drive-through accounts for 85 per cent of their coffee business – in some stores it’s more than 90 per cent. They’re even developing new concepts with a second or third additional drive-through lane to
The Australian drive-through market is predicted to grow in 2022.
cater for the growth.” Many of the businesses interested in the drive-through market are also looking towards pop-up or mobile café solutions, like modified shipping containers, to take advantage of the flexibility and scalability they offer. Brett says Barista Technology Australia was experiencing such high demand for its shipping container café fit-outs that it became necessary to launch them under their own brand umbrella, Container Concepts. “We built Container Concepts based on key conversations we’ve had with global quick service restaurants who laid out their big drive-through plans for the next two to three years, as well as independent business owners looking to enter the market,” he says.
“We knew we needed to put this service together properly and spent the last 18 months building the brand, finding the right partners, and getting the designs right. We’re able to offer an end-to-end solution, with a complete in-house design service, compliance and certification testing, equipment fit-out and advice, training if required, and even offer assistance in finding sites.” Barista Technology found building partners across Australia, from its home state of Queensland to New South Wales and as far as South and Western Australia. Victoria is the most recent state Container Concepts has extended its services to with Melbourne emerging from lockdown in late October. A shipping container café can be set up practically anywhere, alongside
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