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Foodservice coffee was a new experience for Rosario. The volumes are bigger, but there is less emphasis on personal service. “They are more money oriented,” he said of foodservice. Rosario found he missed OCS.

This year, Summit Office & Refreshment Services in Everett gave him an opportunity to return to OCS. The company was expanding into OCS after acquiring another vending operation that already offered OCS.

“He (Rosario) understands the core values of customer service,” said Ryan Wear, principal owner of Summit Office & Refreshment Services. “He knows how to handle every situation in OCS.” Wear is glad he hired Rosario since OCS is the company’s fastest growing segment.

One of Rosario’s first moves was to change the private label coffee. He believed the previous roaster was not providing the best quality and was unable to meet orders quickly.

The company now has two roasters. One strictly provides whole bean coffee for single-cup machines while the other packages OCS fractional packs and vend coffee.

In one year, Rosario brought 100 OCS customers. His main selling point continues to be good service. “If you keep your word to your customer, everything else just falls into place,” he said.

Even in Seattle, with coffee houses, drive-thrus and carts everywhere, single-cup in the office is a great convenience. “The convenience factor is huge for a lot of these customers,” Rosario said.

If the recession is having any effect on OCS customers, it is underscoring the economic benefit of OCS compared to other retailers, Rosario noted.

Single-cup remains the fastest growing part of the business. About half of all the company’s brewers are single-cup. Summit works with Avalon, Keurig and Douwe Egberts. Rosario is considering using a manual pod system, but has not yet decided on this.

Meanwhile, Rosario enjoys the opportunity to establish a high quality OCS operation in a market where quality service determines success.