Jas Gill rang me on the helpline to say that he did a stocktake recently at his store in Newcastle and pinpointed some slow-moving lines. He put them on special, got rid of them and freed up enough space to install either a coffee machine, a slush or an in store bakery. What did I suggest as best?
I didn’t feel qualified to answer so I went online to the private Booker symbols site to ask whether anyone knew the best option from an easy-to-run point of view versus profitability?
First up to reply was Samantha Coldbeck who said: “Coffee machine would be my first choice. Easy to maintain and all year round sales. Bakery needs attention but high profit return. Slush would be last on my list.”
She got four thumbs up last time I looked and I have to say, it makes sense. Slush is seasonal. Freshly baked bread, on the other hand, is a real come-hither. Nothing smells better…unless of course, it’s coffee.
Another retailer, who calls themself Londis Towpath, observed: “Both have their pros and cons…in store bakery requires space for oven, hygiene ratings and training…coffee machine requires maintenance, loads of cleaning.
“As for sales…both can work well. Bakery requires you to stay on top of range and can end up with heavy losses at the beginning if certain products don’t sell. Coffee machine has an advantage due to minimal input or knowledge from the store.
“Are they looking at a counter top coffee machine/slush machine or a full unit? I would always opt for counter top as, if storage permits, you could switch between coffee and slush dependent on weather.”
That also sounds like a very good idea.
I did a bit of online research on coffee machines and randomly came across Caffia which says: “Combining powerful automatic bean to cup coffee machines from Franke with our Caffia branded pods that have practical storage and dispense areas allows convenience stores like Costcutter, Spar and Nisa, Tesco or Morrison’s to make more margin and better customer satisfaction from a self-service speciality coffee by purchasing or leasing our pods complete with 3 years parts and labour warranty.”
The company offers point of sale material to draw in customers as well as double wall paper cups and lids.
It says: “Having your convenience store coffee machine on a 3 year lease rental deal gives you a fixed cost that is spread out in a tax efficient way so that you can earn as you go; with our offering you make the maximum profit per drink on self-service coffee machines. We are a friendly and flexible family-run coffee business with UK-wide reach in logistics and repairs.”
Well-known brand Nescafe & Go offers a machine and variety pack of 56 drinks including 50 lids. It is suitable for serving up to 15 cups per day. The recommended retail price per drink is £2 and each variety pack should bring in £112 (£56 net profit).
The company says it’s quick and easy to use: initially heats in approximately 11 minutes and then maintains a high temperature. Each drink is dispensed within 10 seconds. Small and compact: the machine is 623mm high x 485mm wide x 386mm deep. Energy: approx. 80W to run once at temperature and approximately 2.4kw to heat the water from cold.
Each drink is individually foil-sealed for freshness and has a 12 month shelf life.
And it claims fast returns: 15 cups sold per day at £2 would develop into an annual net profit of £5,475.
The ubiquitous brand Costa says it is incredibly easy to restock and clean its machines, taking staff only 30 minutes per day to maintain.
Apparently Brits knock back a total of 95 million cups of coffee per day so it does sound like a winner (have to admit here that I don’t like or drink coffee so I guess I’m weird).
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