It is pretty well known that curiosity killed the cat! But in Belco, we can’t help but look around us to discover the latest news and take note of all good ideas. We love to share experiences with roasters, trying to understand what consumers want, but we also love to search everywhere we can to discover the latest trends about coffee. We have lately found some nice ideas that seemed interesting to share with you.

To establish customer loyalty…

Coffee evenings In France, when you get to your wine caviste or cheese maker it is quite common to be invited to tasting sessions or discovery workshops. What a good idea to make you discover wines from New Zealand or goat cheeses! So why not offer thematic cuppings, once a month or every two months, to your customers? Cupping of Central American coffees, unwashed coffees or even an initiating session to slow coffee art? Possibilities are endless and fascinating! Why not start these educational workshops with your regular customers and ask them to come with one of their friends? Why not offer them a tour of your roastery, and continue the night with an explanation of the three main variables on coffee: varieties, process, and “terroirs”? Take advantage of the occasion to invite local artisans! That can help you creating fruitful meetings and why not new partnership?

Public coffee cupping at Rocanini – USA

Coffee boxes For more than a year, what has been fashion are thematic boxes! At the very beginning boxes were very girly with Birchbox, Glossybox, etc., but they rapidly spread to other sectors! We then discovered food boxes like Taste Guru, or wine boxes like My Viti Box and even for dogs with Bark Box!! So why not starting a business with coffee boxes? It could be a good alternative for clients that like good coffee but do not have enough time during the week-end to get to your coffee roastery. You can offer boxes online, or even directly on your shop by off line subscription… Here is a list of websites that already joined the adventure.

The new fashion of coffee boxes (Bean Box – USA)

  A good coffee speech The other day a roaster was asking me « What can I say to a client who found on a supermarket the same coffee, from the same region that I am selling, at a lower price? What can I Say when he asked for the difference between these two coffees? ». To establish loyalty, there is nothing more than making customers travel on a coffee journey and above all… being able to reach their sensorial expectations! Your main strengths, as an artisan roaster, is surely your artisan roasting, the traceability of your coffees, the quality of your coffees… and the quality of your speech! Keep a well-structured speech and learn about your coffees:

1. Listen to your clients. What are their consumption habits?
2. Offer coffee to cup on your shop and share on this cupping with your customer.
3. Speak about the coffee: its country, region, its producer, terroir and its sensorial profile.

That seems such a basic requirement for most of you, but it is essential.  

To bring new customer in you shop…

The boss coffee blend Price can be a serious impediment for a coffee brand regular consumer. That kind of client might not come to your roastery for practical issues, even if he would be sensitive to the difference of quality he will be facing. Why not offer on your coffee range an affordable « special » blend, made with good quality coffees for a faire price? This good cup, created by the « master roaster », would be a good coffee for a first approach. Add to this offer a good speech and you would definitively make him fall on your coffee universe!   Good morning Chemex!

Extract of our video clip Art of Coffee

What a nice idea to have a Chemex or a V60 when opening your shop! Some roasters took the good habits to brew a different coffee on a different coffee maker each morning, and then to keep it warm in order to offer it to customers arriving to the shop. It is a good manner to introduce slow coffee to your customers and to speak every time more about coffee…!  

And you, what are the tips that have been successful on your roastery ?

Emmanuelle, for the Belco team.