"What a waste!" This is often what I say to myself when I judge the quality of coffee in the Horeca. After enjoying a good meal in an excellent restaurant, I often order a coffee. However, fewer and fewer of us are doing this, as we are often disappointed once the coffee has been served. I am always amazed at how poor the coffee offered at the end of a meal in a restaurant is.
Why does the hotel and catering industry neglect this small but important final touch for many of us? To be honest, I don't know the exact answer, but I can give you the reasons why, if you run a catering business, you shouldn't neglect serving a good coffee at the end of your meal.
The final touch
This is the last impression you will leave with your customers once they leave your establishment. If the coffee is not good, the customer will have the frustration of having enjoyed a great meal but ending on a bad note. There is nothing more distressing than ending your meal on an unpleasant taste. This is what a poorly served and often poor quality coffee can do.
Respect for the customer
Serving bad wine or preparing menus with poor quality ingredients in your establishment is clearly a lack of consideration for your customers. So why should it be any different with coffee? You wouldn't serve something you know is bad, yet you are willing to do so when it comes to coffee. Doesn't the customer have the right to be served perfectly from start to finish when eating in an establishment?
The love of the good product
In many countries the importance of serving good coffee has been understood. The best example is Italy. I am often asked for Italian coffee, but there is no such thing. There is no coffee plantation growing in Italy. But the Italians have understood the importance of coffee and have a real love for making it. You can go to any establishment in this beautiful country and you will often taste an excellent coffee. They have the love of the good product and that until the coffee. So why not us?
Profitability
This argument should more than seduce you, it should definitely convince you to rent or even buy a machine. Indeed, there is nothing more profitable than coffee. It's no secret. After water, coffee is the most financially interesting drink to offer in an establishment. For a good quality coffee, you should count between 17 and 22 euros per kg. It all depends on the roaster, the rarity of the product and simply on your preferences. You can make up to 125 cups per kilo (7-8 gr per cup). If you sell the coffee at 2,50€, the calculation of profitability is very quickly done.
It's true that making good coffee has a cost. "The investment is too big and I'm not equipped well enough." This is the main argument that you, the bosses, put forward to abandon the world of coffee. Even if the investment is important, the financial loss of serving bad coffee is even more important.
Indeed, think carefully about the loss that you are likely to encounter if your customers no longer order coffee in your establishment. A customer will come to your establishment for the quality of your cuisine and will not come to eat at your place only because you have an excellent coffee. We agree on this point but, on the other hand, there is a good chance that he will not order coffee at the end of his meal. Simply because he knows full well that he will be disappointed. This will be a direct loss of profit for your establishment. Let's take an example: if we count 10 customers per day who don't take coffee anymore, let's count on 20 days of opening per month and... We will obtain a decrease of almost 6000€ of turnover/year. And yet, we are only talking about 10 coffees per day!
Investing in quality equipment and working with a good roaster will pay off far more than it costs! So think about it and choose your coffee supplier carefully ????
