Choosing a Coffee Supplier for Universities: Key Considerations

Choosing a Coffee Supplier for your University – Top Recommendations

Catering operations can be a huge driver of revenue for businesses in higher education, but with rapidly changing economies and consumer preferences, how can Universities ensure that their food and beverage arm is a positive brand and commercial arm of their establishments. We can’t speak for the entire sector, but we are very happy to share our knowledge and experience when it comes to coffee in higher education. In this article, we’re outlining our top tips for universities to select the right coffee supplier for their needs, and the four pillars they need to keep in mind when selecting their suppliers.

Now, let’s address our bias head on – we are a commercial coffee company that works with many universities, so you’re probably thinking we’re going to try and sell you on who we are and what we do. This is not the case. We want anyone we work with to be fully informed of their options, and if we’re being honest, we aren’t the right coffee company for everyone. However, in working with a number of universities across the UK, we’re very familiar with the common problems they run into with their existing coffee suppliers, and we know exactly what they should be looking for when it comes time to select a new supplier. So, let’s jump into the article and discuss what to look for in your university’s coffee partner.

First, let’s cover a few of the most common problems Universities are typically looking to solve when they begin searching for a new coffee company to work with.

What Problems do Universities Typically Face with Coffee?

Staff Turnover – a problem that is faced across all of hospitality. Entry level salaries combined with minimal opportunity for career progression creates a difficult dynamic within your team of baristas as well-trained competent staff are hard to keep hold of for long periods of time. Coffee companies can help their customers solve this issue through a number of means including resilient training plans and user-friendly machinery.

Machine Breakdowns – an absolute nightmare for coffee and catering businesses, machine breakdowns will cause your coffee service to grind to a halt. Using coffee equipment that isn’t up to the task, hasn’t been properly cared for and cleaned by your team, and is proactively serviced by a team of engineers will cause more frequent breakdowns and increased hits on your revenue.

Losing footfall to high street competition – This is a problem we have heard from our university partners – they are struggling to keep up with their local competition that includes nearby independents and high street household names. Even with a typically subsidised coffee outlet, universities often struggle with capturing demand and see the students walking off site to buy a coffee elsewhere.

Low Quality Products – consumer preferences are changing at a rapid pace, and a growing proportion of the market are now expecting more from their coffee, tea, breakfast and lunch. Combine this with rising prices and students struggling to manage their budgets, universities can no longer expect students to fork out money for a low quality product. This often stems from low quality raw ingredients, and staff who aren’t confident in getting the best out of them.

Those are the most common problems we see, and they aren’t unique to universities. At the end of the day, it comes down to having a coffee outlet that is causing headaches whilst not providing a commercial benefit for your university.

What to Look for in a University Coffee Supplier – Four Key Pillars

So, no matter the problems you face with your coffee offering, your supplier should be a trusted partner in ensuring the commercial success of your coffee outlet and eliminating any headaches you may be experiencing. In our experience serving universities, the four main pillars your coffee supplier should be focusing on are the following:

1. Proactive Servicing
2. Regular, Comprehensive Training
3. Quality Beans and Ancillaries
4. Reliable Machines

2. Regular, Comprehensive Training

As we outlined earlier, high staff turnover (and the subsequent knock-on effect it has on the quality of your staff) is one of the most difficult problems to solve when it comes to creating a high quality coffee outlet. However, the responsibility here should really be on your coffee supplier to ensure that the product being served by the end customer is of high quality. Your coffee company should be providing you with an initial training session for your staff to get to grips with the equipment and the coffee you’ll be serving, along with regular training visits depending on your needs. This should be outlined and agreed to during the onboarding period with your coffee company of choice.

What’s more, on top of learning the fundamentals, your staff could also stand to benefit from a coffee company that offers a formal level of education and progress for your baristas such as SCA training courses. Learn more about those here -> SCA Barista Training.

3. Quality Beans and Ancillaries

The main reason you need a coffee company in the first place is to have a regular supply of coffee beans, syrups, cups, mugs, sugars, teas etc. Making sure your coffee supplier has a range of high quality cafe supplies that suits the preferences of your customers should be an important step in your decision making process. Luckily, this is one area that most coffee companies will be proficient in, and should be happy to let you taste and sample their coffee and products before you make a final decision.

4. Reliable Machines

The final core pillar you should look for in a coffee company for your uni is one that can provide and support a wide range of high quality, industry recognised, reliable equipment. Universities are large establishments and often need a range of different coffee equipment types for each outlet such as bean to cup machines for self service, filter coffee brewers for events, and traditional espresso machines for cafes. Rather than just providing a set list of machinery, a trustworthy coffee company will provide recommendations based on both your requirements and your budget to make sure they properly suit your specifications.

Other Factors to Consider for your Coffee Partner

So those four main pillars are the core factors that should tell you whether a coffee company is going to be able to support your university for a great, hassle-free coffee service offering. There are however a few other, arguably optional factors to bare in mind when researching coffee companies.

In-House Engineers – Having an in-house team of engineers is often a source of headache and pain for coffee companies, which leads many to outsource their servicing work to third parties. This could be down to location, poor allocation of resources, or not having a wide enough team of engineers to cover all areas of the UK. Making sure that the people looking after your equipment also work for the same company that supplies your beans and trains your staff is a good idea in ensuring fast turnaround times and having one source of contact for your team.

Their Own Roasting Facility – Not all coffee companies actually roast their own coffee. Now that might not be important for everyone and doesn’t necessarily mean that the coffee you’re buying is of a worse quality, but it definitely means that you aren’t getting the best deal possible, and it also means one more step in the supply chain where control can be lost on quality control, sustainability, reliability of deliveries and account support.

Support from an Account Manager – having a familiar face inside the coffee company that you know like a colleague, who visits regularly and who you can be honest and upfront with is really helpful and is something we would absolutely recommend for all universities.

Sustainability – Universities are becoming increasingly more conscious of their impact on people and planet, with Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) being the acronym of the century. If your university is not yet prioritising CSR, they likely soon will be. Make sure that the coffee company you choose to work with at least has the option of providing you with a coffee that supports positive initiatives.

Branding and Marketing Support – Having point of sale resources, social media packs, white label and branding support options can have really positive affects on your coffee outlets from a marketing standpoint. Have a chat with the coffee suppliers you are considering as to whether they could aid with this, and they should be able to show live examples of their POS and branding support in the field.

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