beyond coffee, what else are you offering for sale in your shop?
hey everyone!, rather new to the community here, and i'm lovin' it! (where have i heard that slogan before?) when i started my coffee biz 8.5 years ago, i was hoping to sell coffee and only coffee related drinks from my mobile unit. didn't happen. kind of found out that not every passer-by is in love with coffee. can you even begin to imagine such a poor soul?! so, tea sprang up, smoothies surfaced, i slipped someone a coke or pepsi here and there, and i'm even admitting i slushed ice and shaved ice to offer those sugery must-haves during the meltdowns of july and august. so, my curious question is: approximately what percentage of your shop's sales are derived from coffee and coffee related drinks, and what products account for the rest of your sales? do you offer smoothies, do you sell sodas, teas, slushies, icees, snow cones, shakes, etc., etc? personally, i'd only offer coffee and only coffee related drinks if i could make a decent living from it. sadly, demand and economics dictate my menu to extend beyond the coffee bean. how about you and your shop? would love to hear your stories, offerings, and experiences!
thanks!,
sage/the coffee hound
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by luke hudek on
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Soda, made with syrup+carbonated water....granted I will be doing this in the upcoming spring at events not at a cafe I still know it has done well with our test market.
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Permalink Reply by Kathy Fadorsen on
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When we started out we did not want to sell anything but coffee.... 4+ years later we sell breakfast, lunch, pop,ice cream, milkshakes,smoothies,frappe,tea hot and cold green black. But we still only use the highest quality items. Our standards our high. So everything we do is set to the same standard of our coffee.
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Permalink Reply by David Lanning on
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Two things to remember...
If you try to please everyone, you'll end up pleasing no one.
Pigs go to slaughter. (Don't try to sell something [anything] to everyone that walks in your door)
In my opinion, it comes down to how you want your BRAND to be perceived. Do you want to be a coffee/espresso bar? Or, do you want to be a cafe? There is a fine, but distinct difference.
If you want to be known for coffee, then keep that as your focus. All of your add ons should compliment and be directly related to coffee. There are lots of products that you can offer customers and keep your focus very tight.
On the other hand, if you want to be perceived as a cafe that has good coffee, then that's a different business model.
Not to say one is better than the other. But, if you don't have a clear vision of your BRAND, neither will potential customers.
Just an opinion...
Dave
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Hey Rick,
KFC = chicken (or, something that resembles chicken), Pizza Hut = pizza, Taco Bell = tacos. Pretty focused companies in my mind with tightly defined brands.
First off, I don't think anyone on this forum is in the same league as the aforementioned companies. So, you have to compare apples to apples. Most of the people here are not multi-national corporations.
Second, if you look at the most well respected and successful coffee bars (Stumptown, Intelligentsia, Grumpy, Blue Bottle, Gimme) they all focus on the coffee.
So, it still comes down to what you want to be known for....
Coffee? Or, crepes?
Dave
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Permalink Reply by Brady on
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rick hirsch said:David,
Many of the corporate success stories of the last decade or so have involved "co-branding" i.e KFC/Pizza Hut/Taco Bell). Limiting your "brand" to only coffee is a sure sign for failure. I agree that you need to be extremely selective in picking the additional offerings, but as S'bucks (and others) have figured out, if you offer them only coffee, they will go elsewhere for other complementary items. One of the more successful models that we have helped to grow is the Cafe/Creperie- perfect complimentary items that have done well for many years in Europe and now are proliferating the west coast of the USA and moving eastward. David, I couldn't disagree more. With the numerous options that have popped up in the last decade that that now sell"gourmet coffee" (McD, Dunkin D, etc. - even your local gas station now sells Green Mountain or some equivalent), the fastest route to failure is the coffee shop that concentrates only on coffee.
Pile it high and watch it fly- your customers want other items at your cafe; they expect them , and deserve them as part of the complete experience.
(this portion edited to remove commercial content)
Rick
Mocha Magic
Let's please all keep in mind the Terms of Acceptable Use for this community. We can discuss the original topic without repeated self-promotion.
If it continues we'll close this discussion.
Thanks.
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rick hirsch said:Though it only represents a small part of your overall sales, don't take your eye off the "add-on" items like chocolate covered espresso beans, biscotti, cookies, etc. Not only may that be your most profitable sales per square foot, but it ensures the complete experience for the customer and they come back for items that they can't buy anywhere else. (edited) Rick
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We made a conscious decision to keep coffee at the center but add a pretty broad range of offerings. Shooting more for "comfortable neighborhood coffee place". We're in semi-rural suburbia - surrounded by subdivisions (3 golf courses), 45 minutes from city center. We offer coffees, espresso drinks, baked goods, bagels in the morning, a limited housemade sandwich menu at lunchtime, sweet snacks too. Beverage menu includes typical coffeehouse offerings (hot, iced, and blended), hot and iced teas, smoothies and juice based drinks, plus a selection of bottled sodas.
This grew organically. We started with the idea that people would come for coffee. Understanding that those on their way to work would want to grab a quick breakfast to go OR meet friends or coworkers for a light breakfast, we offered the bakery items and fresh fruit.
What we found was that people would come and meet friends, have business meetings, or study all morning. Then leave at lunchtime (or ask to bring in food from other establishments). The shop would sit empty until afternoon coffee time - so from 10ish to 3 or so. Rather than close during those hours we added a simple cold sandwich menu. Now we have people stay for lunch, and come for lunch, or grab to-go lunch with their morning coffee.
For merchandise, we sell bagged coffee, prints from local artists (all customers), handmade greeting cards (made by a customer), and a limited selection of handmade jewelry (made by a customer). You see a trend? All of this (with exception of the coffee) is displayed off to the side and away from the primary ordering area... within view but not cluttering the primary purpose - to sell drinks. Sales are very low, but those customers are good regulars and now they feel like partners in our shop - sending even more of their friends in.
Breakdowns: Drip coffee and espresso beverages make up the large majority of our beverage sales, though the balance between the two changes through the seasons. Baked goods and sandwiches make up most of the remainder of the total. Deli drinks, iced tea, and merchandise items are all small contributors.
Why bother offering other stuff (like sodas) if they aren't big sellers? Every group that meets seems to have one non-coffee-drinker. If you offer something for that person, they'll happily go along the next time someone suggests meeting at your place. If not, they'll want to go somewhere else. That coke might be worth 4 lattes next week, and the week after...
I look at it this way, your customers want to come for your coffee. They like your place and want to spend time there and support your business. If you give them something else to come for, they can come more often.
It depends on you - your interest, your customers, your location. If you can draw enough customers with just coffee, great. Some locations can't support this. Not all KFCs had to pair with Taco Bells to stay afloat, but some did. Know your business and do what makes sense.
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Permalink Reply by sage on
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popping back in to say thanks everyone that commented on my question. i didn't state this request, but i'm still curious as to a percentage of what's sold in your shop...such as do all your coffee and coffee related drinks constitute 90% of your sales, more?, less? what is the next highest selling ticket item?...bottled drinks, snacks, smoothies?...just curious. as for me, its a seasonal thing. with my clients it usually goes coffee/hot chocolate drinks are neck and neck in the cooler and colder months, and then smoothies and frappes are the main ticket items in the hot summer months.
thanks, all!
sage/the coffee hound
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brady, thanks for taking some extended time to share what works well for you at your shop. seems you have a good feel for what your customers want. appreciate your input!
sage/the coffee hound
Brady said:We made a conscious decision to keep coffee at the center but add a pretty broad range of offerings. Shooting more for "comfortable neighborhood coffee place". We're in semi-rural suburbia - surrounded by subdivisions (3 golf courses), 45 minutes from city center. We offer coffees, espresso drinks, baked goods, bagels in the morning, a limited housemade sandwich menu at lunchtime, sweet snacks too. Beverage menu includes typical coffeehouse offerings (hot, iced, and blended), hot and iced teas, smoothies and juice based drinks, plus a selection of bottled sodas.
This grew organically. We started with the idea that people would come for coffee. Understanding that those on their way to work would want to grab a quick breakfast to go OR meet friends or coworkers for a light breakfast, we offered the bakery items and fresh fruit.
What we found was that people would come and meet friends, have business meetings, or study all morning. Then leave at lunchtime (or ask to bring in food from other establishments). The shop would sit empty until afternoon coffee time - so from 10ish to 3 or so. Rather than close during those hours we added a simple cold sandwich menu. Now we have people stay for lunch, and come for lunch, or grab to-go lunch with their morning coffee.
For merchandise, we sell bagged coffee, prints from local artists (all customers), handmade greeting cards (made by a customer), and a limited selection of handmade jewelry (made by a customer). You see a trend? All of this (with exception of the coffee) is displayed off to the side and away from the primary ordering area... within view but not cluttering the primary purpose - to sell drinks. Sales are very low, but those customers are good regulars and now they feel like partners in our shop - sending even more of their friends in.
Breakdowns: Drip coffee and espresso beverages make up the large majority of our beverage sales, though the balance between the two changes through the seasons. Baked goods and sandwiches make up most of the remainder of the total. Deli drinks, iced tea, and merchandise items are all small contributors.
Why bother offering other stuff (like sodas) if they aren't big sellers? Every group that meets seems to have one non-coffee-drinker. If you offer something for that person, they'll happily go along the next time someone suggests meeting at your place. If not, they'll want to go somewhere else. That coke might be worth 4 lattes next week, and the week after...
I look at it this way, your customers want to come for your coffee. They like your place and want to spend time there and support your business. If you give them something else to come for, they can come more often.
It depends on you - your interest, your customers, your location. If you can draw enough customers with just coffee, great. Some locations can't support this. Not all KFCs had to pair with Taco Bells to stay afloat, but some did. Know your business and do what makes sense.
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Permalink Reply by Marek on
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Tightly defined brands...
McD's is selling breakfast n' frappes. Wendy's and Burger King are selling Pizza, Domino's is selling Subs... and Subway is serving eggs for breakfast...
KFC and Taco Bell... maybe, but the rest... ugh...
Our rule is ... we don't COOK.. we do pastries, because we are in a warm climate we do frappes ... and we do salads and sandwiches ... everything bought fresh daily and nothing premade.
It's what our customers want... and yes we have both added and removed items from the menu because of customer feedback...
But our focus and primary business is and always will be ... coffee...
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Permalink Reply by Ray Weisgerber on
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If you don't mind a comment from a customer, rather than a cafe owner, I would say one of the differences in how a business approaches the balance between offerings is the nearby restaurants, bars, and fast food joints. For example, if there's hardly any place around to get pastries, you'll probably sell plenty of them. If there's a bakery next door, why bother? I happen to be someone who doesn't drink coffee (so why am I here??) but I do drink tea and hot chocolate. And I love scones! I often go to a coffee shop just to get a scone, because they almost all have them, and my wife does drink coffee.
So I guess what I'm saying is that your business can fill in the gaps of what's not very available around you. Does that make sense?
When I read this discussion, the first thing I thought of, though, is the drive-through I spotted in Discovery Bay, Washington. They sell live oysters. Sounds crazy, but they are located practically across the road from great oyster beds, and people in the area stop, get great oysters, and go on their way quickly. Can't vouch for the quality of their coffee, because I didn't have any, but there's no real reason it can't be good. (The photo I shot of this d-t is in Driven to Espresso, but I hope this doesn't make my post sound commercial.)
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