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Convenience
The global health crisis neither conceived nor in- Australia, was one of the first known self-serve batch brew
spired customers to demand convenience, but it has
certainly kindled these trends to new heights. As the
world transitions into a new normal, businesses are com-
pelled to explore omnichannel retail offerings to stay
above the market—even as consumers leave the comfort
of their homes.
A recent study from the e-commerce automation
platform, Linnworks, found that while cost is still a major
factor in purchasing decisions, nearly one in two consum-
ers surveyed stated that convenience was now more im-
portant to them than price when choosing retailers to shop
at. What does this mean for specialty coffee shops, and
how can they act to adapt to the needs of consumers while
maintaining the good name of their brand that they have
worked painstakingly to establish?
Food delivery is a booming industry and has been
over the past five years. Even though today we’re legally
permitted to step out into the open world and touch some
grass, there’s a bunch of us (you know who you are) who
would much prefer setting up camp in front of our com-
puters rather than take a hike and get some fresh air, or
lunch. Adapting for delivery has been a challenging process
for dining establishments, having to assemble a dedicated
delivery menu while allowing customers to customize their
At the end of the dishes based on dietary preferences, rethinking store
design and kitchen flow to keep up with delivery orders,
day, the solutions to and some are even extending hours to meet the growing
demand for off-peak orders. Essentially, food delivery
balance coffee quality gives customers only a taste of an establishment’s offering
and convenience but many prefer it as a more convenient option. Moreover,
the establishment has to provide a wide variety of food
are as unique as the and drink options all at an affordable price to counterbal-
ance the commission and delivery fee imposed by the
environments in which delivery service.
Specialty coffee businesses have been resisting au-
they operate. tomation wherever possible, believing it would detract
from the quality that they take pride in. Albeit, the long-
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term shift of global demand toward instant coffee is only turers have begun developing biodegradable and even
growing stronger, with close to no developed countries reusable coffee capsules and filter pouches. These are
left where the majority of coffee consumed is instant, and mainly made from recyclable composites that can be bro-
the demand is more than enough to compensate and keep ken down into microorganisms to reduce the dent caused
global growth projections quite positive. These complex- by waste and pollution, promoting sustainability.
ities inspire business leaders to differentiate and leverage Instant specialty coffee, yes it’s a thing. It comes in
technologies in new ways to make their offerings stand different shapes and forms. On one hand, we have frozen
apart from the competition and better adapt to consumers’ coffee capsules from the likes of Cometeer, and on the
changing preferences. other end of the spectrum, we have instant specialty cof-
Ready-to-drink coffee is growing to be a norm in fee which utilizes a low-impact freeze-drying process to
specialty coffee shops. You might be familiar with the form instant coffee granules rather than the typical com-
usual suspects such as cold brew or even nitro on tap, but mercial methods of creating instant coffee through a high
have you ever had hot black coffee from a tap? Conceived heat drying process which negatively impacts the flavors
in 2018, the now prominent Single O from Surry Hills, and aroma of the coffee. They do have one thing in com-
mon though, and it is that all we need to do on our part
bars. The proprietary prototype supposedly brews a whop- as consumers is to add a little hot water, give it a good stir,
ping forty times faster than a traditional espresso machine and enjoy a delicious brew of actual specialty coffee made
and promises to serve up your morning joe in no more in seconds.
than 15 seconds. It was a bold move for the cafe to invest At the end of the day, the solutions to balance coffee
in its black coffee offering but an unsurprising one con- quality and convenience are as unique as the environments
sidering that batch brew coffees have grown to make up in which they operate. One look at the evolving retail
an average of 23% of orders in coffee shops these days. landscape demonstrates that there is no “one size fits all”
Let’s not forget about the offerings available to our approach. The retail environments we visit on a regular
avid home brewers, an “athletic” lifestyle choice that we basis will always reflect a focus on the coffee experience
take pride in. While some of us have just started exploring with unobtrusive solutions, minimal waiting time, and
the world of brewing higher-quality cups at home, some- expanded beverage options. Whereas the reality is that
times we simply do not have the luxury of time in-between the majority of coffee drinkers at home will prefer auto-
Zoom meetings to fully immerse ourselves in an extended matic drip or single-serve pod machines because they
brewing process. Coffee capsules and coffee drip bags, or appreciate the convenience and minimal fuss.
what some of us may call coffee pouches, are quick and So how important is convenience in coffee? Simply
surefire methods of brewing a decent cup of coffee at put, the demand for convenience is certain to increase at
home. While some may argue that the trade-off for qual- a staggering rate, even as we transition back to our usual
ity is simply not worth it, there are many in the industry routine. That being said, consumers are willing to sacrifice
that have been working to address this concern. quality for convenience so long as the trade-off does not
Following in the footsteps of Nespresso™, automat- surpass a certain threshold, which varies for each individ-
ed home brewing apparatuses have been sprouting up over ual. All in all, convenience and sustainability seem to be
the past decade or so. The most notable contraption that two complexities that are here to stay. The good thing is
has made strides in recent years would be The Morning that they are not mutually exclusive, and it is up to the
Machine, an intelligent Nespresso™-compatible pod ma- industry to provide solutions that satisfy both. So, what
chine that brews your coffee to perfection every time, just do you think will be the next complexity introduced in
the coffee industry?
as the roaster intended. Roasters are able to dial in dedi-
cated recipes for different capsules and upload them onto
a database, which users may access from their smartphones
connected to the device through the mobile app, in which
the coffee will be brewed according to the pre-defined
parameters. The Morning Machine allows for custom rec-
ipes to be defined by the user, and also features a mode
for brewing drip bags!
While all that is impressive, coffee drip bags and
capsules have raised environmental concerns as they grow Nespresso™ is the world leader
in coffee machines and coffee maker
increasingly popular in households. In response to the technology. Cappuccino, coffee,
negative environmental impacts, coffee product manufac-
lattes, for home and business.
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