The past year has been a challenge for many businesses, especially those in food services. According to Euromonitor, the COVID-19 pandemic is the most disruptive event to have ever happened to the modern coffee shop with global café sales declining due to lockdowns, lost consumer spending and social distancing.
Despite these challenges, we have seen incredible resilience throughout the food service industry with cafes and restaurants re-thinking how they can work better as we move forward post pandemic.
In this post, we will be exploring how cafes are using brand partnerships to support their bottom line and overcome cafe business challenges.
Working with the right partners can make a huge difference to your business’s bottom line. Strategic supplier selection is a core way businesses can look at getting the right partners on board to increase efficiencies and free up the precious time of business owners and managers.
The right coffee supplier can ensure you have a business partner who can work with you to create value and efficiency in your business beyond the bags of coffee beans. Reliable, consistent quality coffee should be a given, but what about reducing the time taken by your team to process invoices and place orders each week?
Working with one supplier to service a range of your hot beverage needs can be a key driver of efficiency. From chai, hot chocolate, tea, take away cups - getting your weekly ordering done in one go frees up valuable time in your operation. In addition to this - suppliers who can provide you with equipment financing, loans and solutions to meet your needs provides your business with security as well as flexibility to evolve as your business changes.
How to choose the best brand partnerships for your business
1. Choose brands that complement your offer and signify quality
Leveraging well known and respected brands can elevate your in-store experience through their range of branded tools and assets such as umbrellas and signage. Of course, this is also helpful from an operational and outdoor dining perspective. The branded partnership is a win-win for you and the supplier as you can access centrally procured items as part of a larger commercial deal. Some suppliers even often offer access to regular newsletters providing the latest trends and insights to support your strategy and to help you drive foot traffic into store.
2. The support and training makes all the difference
When push comes to shove it’s important to have partners that value you and the success of your business. After-sales support, responsive technical servicing and training are all critical to ensuring your staff are always empowered to deliver an exceptional quality experience that keeps your patrons coming back for more.
Look for partners who value the total business performance rather than a set and forget approach. Suppliers who care about how their end product is presented to the consumer are also more likely to invest in staff training that can benefit your business as well as staff engagement. In fact, according to HBR, opportunities for learning and development at work is the second most important factor contributing to workplace happiness.
3. Intangible value helps the bottom line
Consumers are becoming increasingly conscious of not only environmental but also social impacts of the businesses that they frequent. According to Euromonitor International this is expected to continue to increase post-pandemic - 61% of respondents indicated they plan to balance both social and environmental issues more in the future and 68% are supporting local communities during the pandemic.
Partnering with suppliers who can ensure supply transparency is one way you can ensure consumers feel positive about your business offer. Coffee consumers are keen to understand the sustainable sourcing of their favourite morning ritual to ensure they are contributing to positive social and environmental outcomes with their choices.
Are you ready to overcome your cafe business challenges with an exciting brand partnership? Lavazza Australia has an incredible business partnership model for cafes and restaurants. Our 360 offer includes locally roasted and sustainable coffee blends, iconic Italian blends, world class equipment solutions, premium branding and visibility solutions and world class SCA accredited training programs. Check out who we’re already working with and how we can support you.
