februarymarch2024 - 24

your products, you need to create a
space that employees want to spend
time in. "
Bean-to-cup brewers are
leading the way when it comes
to OCS innovation, generating
both customer satisfaction and
operator revenue. In the CTW
education session, " Demystifying
and Maximizing Bean-to-Cup ROI, "
John Stavros, territory manager
for Evoca Group North America,
reminded operators that bean-to-cup
is an excellent opportunity to create
strong customer relationships.
" In the right accounts, beanto-cup
brewers have the highest
potential to match client needs, "
Stavros said. " From the modular
nature of the equipment to the everchanging
interface and experience,
providing coffee from whole bean
allows operators to control the taste
and branding of their services while
getting the most opportunity to
control their costs and formulate a
strategy for success. "
LESSON #3: OPERATORS
NEED TO BE PROACTIVE
AND CAPITALIZE ON
THE WIDE RANGE OF
OPPORTUNITIES.
While innovation is critical, it
takes a proactive approach by
operators to capitalize on the
opportunities in the workplace
that are often overlooked. In the
CTW education session, " Cold
Brew: Hot Opportunities, " Bill
Kirchoff, food service manager
at Distant Lands Coffee, and
Mike Hoeft, VP of sales at Bunn,
talked about cold brew coffee -
an opportunity for revenue that
many operators shy away from.
They pointed to the fact that
cold brew coffee is one of the
hottest trends in the U.S. coffee
market. According to a 2022
24 Automatic Merchandiser * February/March 2024
report, the total size of this market
stood at around $166 million in
2017, and by 2025, this figure is
forecast by Statista to increase to
around $944 million and could go as
high as over $1.37 billion, according
to research firm Technavio.
In their presentation, they cited
reasons why cold brew is easy to sell.
It increases productivity (keeping
employees in house), it is viewed as
a positive amenity so it attracts and
retains talent, it is often seen as a
healthier beverage than others, and
many consumers like the taste.
Don't overlook obvious revenue
In a convention floor interview,
industry consultant Orrin Huebner
said cold brew is just one of many
revenue opportunities that operators
need to embrace. He said that
operators especially need to look at
the water opportunity, with many
quality products available, like the
sleek point-of-use equipment from
Borg & Overström and others.
Huebner also believes that operators
are selling themselves short when
it comes to price increases and not
charging enough or anything at all to
perform certain services.
" Don't overlook the obvious
revenue that is available, " Huebner
said. " Nobody walks into your house
today to perform a service for less
than $80-$125. Yet, operators are
walking into locations and changing
the filters for free. We should be
looking at quarterly filter changes
and telling the story to the customer
that we are here for you, and part of
that is about good water and clean
equipment, because if you do not
have high-quality water and clean
water lines, it leads to potential
health concerns. Ice machines
should be flushed twice a year for
a fee. Kombucha should be flushed
out every month - there is bacteria
buildup. We just aren't doing it
enough. We can charge $85 to flush a
line. Your cost is minimal, and if you
schedule it correctly, you can change
filters, service an ice machine and
flush lines - that means three services
in one trip, which really cuts
your employee costs. It all falls to
the bottom-line. It's incremental
profit at that point. "
Huebner also said that
Photo 122265093 © Korn Vitthayanukarun | Dreamstime.com
operators are too focused on
adding new accounts instead
of looking at their existing
accounts. " There are so many
options from water machines to
ice machines, " he said. " The best
thing operators can do today is
look at their accounts and ask,
what add-ons are there? You
just have to look for them and
embrace them. If you can pay
off your water and ice machines
in 12 to 14 months, after that,
it becomes an annuity that just
keeps paying off over and over,
especially when service fees
become part of the equation. " ■
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februarymarch2024

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