Feb 26
2008Gourmet Coffee, the Best New Product Potential
Filed Under (OP News & Views) by Don on 26-02-2008
Many leading dealers around the country are discovering that coffee/beverage services are a great way to further solidify existing business and to gain deeper account penetration. Sometimes it is even easier to break into the account by beginning with a coffee service to demonstrate the quality of your service up front. Most office’s have a coffee maker/machine and a beverage service is a perfect fit for most. This category, if properly positioned, could generate as much as 10% of your business. But most of all it can give you the ability to enter many businesses that may have been closed to you before. If you have a well trained person on these routes they can be the eyes and ears of any potential to enter that business.
Thanks to places like Starbucks and other specialty coffee shops our tastes have turned to more upscale varieties of coffee’s. These gourmet coffee’s represent a different type of consumer. This consumer is willing to pay a little more for convenience and for a better cup of coffee. Forward thinking dealers such as Kennedy Office Supply in Raleigh, NC have identified this potential. They are going to market with the Keurig coffee system that utilizes the K-cups and offers the Green Mountain coffee line. They have invested in a quality machine backed by high quality coffee’s and trained their people on how to sell this product. Because of this they are experiencing growth within the segment and increasing revenues. My congratulations to the Kennedy team for recognizing this new potential. Dealers would be well advised to recognize the potential in this category. If you can’t differentiate yourself from your competitors then how do you expect the prospects to see you as someone who can meet all their needs and expectations?
Are you offering a beverage service to your customers or is this in the planning stages? What’s your opinion?