COFFEE MEMO: The Convenience Sector and Specialty Coffee
Mike Ferguson, Fresh Ground Consulting
Specialty coffee retailers, listen carefully to me. Ignore the sounds of rumbling from the valley, where the giants fight and play. You are on the high road and must pay attention to your footing.
When consumers are asked why they go where they go for coffee, the two top answers, in a virtual tie for the top spot, are convenience and quality. Make it good and make it easy to get. The convenience sector realized several years ago that they could capture a greater share of the quality-driven market, not by serving coffee that scores 80 plus on the SCAA cupping form, but by serving slightly better coffee than the stuff they had been serving.
Most specialty coffee consumers (70%) also drink traditional coffee regularly. These consumers do not expect to find a great cup of coffee on every street corner, but they are looking for a cup of coffee that is "good enough" along the way. This is the coffee consumption dollar that the convenience sector has targeted, coffee that is good enough. If coffee that is good enough is part of your business model, and you can compete on convenience, then good luck in the valley.
Not long ago I overheard a woman talking on her cell phone as we loaded up our cars in the Sam’s Club parking lot. She said into the phone, “Have you tasted the iced coffee drinks at McDonalds? They’re pretty good, and they only cost $1.89.”
If that is where you want to compete, where the best thing a customer can say about your coffee is that it is “pretty good,” then prepare yourself to battle with giants. If you’re interested in making coffee that is so good that customers are willing to be a little inconvenienced to get to it (and, just imagine, drink it only 12 ounces at a time, out of a porcelain cup even), you will find a niche on the high road.
This piece by Mike Ferguson originally appeared in Specialty Coffee Retailer Magazine