Spoiler alert – office coffee sales are increasing. Most of you already know this as you’ve seen it in your own operations and reported it in the survey that would become the State of the Coffee Service Industry Report, out next month. But some of the numbers surrounding the coffee business might surprise you.
Mobile payments & software
I’m not going to go into detail for this blog, you will have to wait until the official State of the Coffee Service Industry report; however, there are some interesting numbers regarding OCS business practices. According to responses from the industry, coffee customers are billed most often via invoice (57 percent) and a large majority by credit card online or phone, but 7.94 percent of operators report using mobile payment systems sent with the delivery driver.
Nearly half, 42.27 percent, use coffee-specific software to manage the OCS side of the business. And many operators commented about the need for other coffee-specific technology innovations in the segment, as many of the recent innovations have been geared towards the vending channel.
Regional research
Geographic region placed a role in the increase OCS providers saw in revenues for the past year, at least as an aggregate. In the 2014 State of the Coffee Service Industry Report, Northwest OCS providers reported the greatest increase in revenue for the past year, while operators in the Southeast indicated their revenue change was more modest.
These numbers are somewhat similar to a recent report I found on Millennial purchasing habits published by Money Level, an app that helps smartphone users budget their money. Using member data, Money Level calculated that in Maine, coffee drinkers spend an average of $300 a year on coffee purchases. That is a serious habit. Massachusetts and New Hampshire come in second and third place in coffee sales, with $277 and $263, respectively, for annual spending per person for coffee.
In most Southeast states, the drinkers aren’t so addicted to their coffee drinks. They spend the least, $73 or less, with Mississippi the lowest with $47 per person spent annually on coffee.
Regardless of the region, however, consumers are increasing consumption of coffee and that drives the positive growth operators are reporting for their coffee business. Coffee is in a resurgence, if it ever indeed declined in popularity. With more people drinking coffee, these trends aren’t going anywhere. I see consumers getting even more selective and wanting more options to meet their individual coffee needs. It’s something operators need to consider and be ready to discuss at the upcoming CTW, November 11 to 13. See you there.
