Every experienced operator knows that coffee can be a profitable proposition when introduced in a micro market. Coffee becomes especially risky though when an operator is asked to invest in higher cost equipment, in a location where subsidies are reduced or absent altogether. Steeped Coffee, a relative newcomer to the coffee service business, offers a micro market solution for coffee that is both flavorful and easily profitable.
Coffee – Expand your offerings to be competitive in uncertain times
“We rarely see operators achieve much success with retail coffee sales in a micro market,” said Steve Closser of Translucent, the industry’s leading micro market consultant. “There are so many levels of competition within a workplace, including free coffee. Even if a bean-to-cup brewer within a market offers much more to the end user, free is hard to compete with,” said Closser. “In today’s workplace environment, the coffee offering must be well subsidized by the client, for the highest price point equipment to make sense.”
Steve Orlando, Co-Founder of Fixturelite, the leading supplier of micro market retail displays, equipment and design solutions — a longtime operator himself — adds that one of the biggest challenges to coffee service within a micro market is the required daily cleaning of equipment. “The concept of using Steeped as a micro market coffee solution is attractive to me because it is touch free, it is clean, can be part of an attractive display and at the end of the day, the coffee is excellent,” he said.
Steeped to the rescue
Steeped Coffee launched in late 2017 and started out by selling directly to end users. Nearly three years later, the company is aggressively pursuing operators to bring their product to the workplace. Steeped Coffee’s Single-Serve Coffee Bags are filled with 100% hand roasted specialty coffee and are crafted for quality, convenience, and sustainability. Every Steeped Coffee Bag is nitro-sealed for freshness within compostable and sustainable packaging.
Ron Scadina, the company’s vice president of sales, said that roasters around the country, like Mr. Espresso and Addicted Coffee, are now working with Steeped Coffee and the Steeped Brewing Method. “Some new and significant roaster partnerships are forthcoming,” he added. “Because we are a touch free solution, we have been hearing from many operators who are excited about what we have to offer."
To enhance their growth effort, Steeped Coffee now has distribution through Vistar and a broker relationship with G & J.
Teaming up with a water tower
Scadina said that the five popular varieties of Steeped Coffee, Sunrise Light Roast, California Medium Roast, Odyssey Dark Roast, Driftwood French Roast and Eventide Decaf, team up very well with a touchless hot water tower from Marco Beverage Systems. “It’s a combination that looks impressive and offers operators a very cost effective way to sell coffee in a micro market,” added Anastasia Chovan, National Sales Manager at Marco.
“From a design standpoint, sometimes the simplest of things can make a big difference,” said Orlando. “Steeped Coffee is a game changer for operators, both in micro markets and the OCS business.”
To learn more about the little things that can make a big difference in micro market design and profitability, go to www.fixturelite.com.
