Finding Your Perfect Cup: 3 Key Decisions to Make about Office Coffee

You can’t start your morning (or fight the post-lunch slump) without it – coffee! In the workplace, our relationship with coffee and other hot beverages has experienced a shift. Gone are the days when generic drip coffee and powdered creamer were the only options. Now, a variety of choices are available for your caffeine fix. And workers, especially in the Millennial generation, demand more choices which often require different office coffee equipment and higher-end products.
Since most of us start the day with a cup of joe, having the right office coffee setup sets the tone for the entire workday. Catering to your employees’ different tastes keeps them happier, drives productivity, and helps keep them onsite instead of running to the coffee shop down the street.
So how do you choose the best office coffee service for your team? Here are three decisions to make when customizing your coffee choices.

1. What types of coffee, other hot drinks, and flavorings will you provide?

What consumables will you make available to your staff? Here are some different categories to frame up your decision:

National coffee brands like Starbucks, Peet’s, and Green Mountain

  • Wide variety of roast types, blends, and flavors
  • Well-known and trusted by your staff
  • Ground and whole bean options available
  • Mid-range prices

Local/craft coffee roasters

  • Wide variety of roast types, blends, and flavors
  • Smaller-batch production
  • Usually whole bean but some ground options may be available
  • May be more expensive than national brands but support the local economy

Private label coffee brands

  • Light, medium, and dark roasts available but other flavors may be limited
  • Ground and whole bean options available
  • Can be half as expensive as other options but don’t offer the same taste/experience some employees may prefer

Espresso

  • Dark roast and whole bean
  • Strong, rich, premium cup of coffee
  • Fastest-growing trend in office coffee
  • Mid-range prices

Additional hot drink options

  • Hot tea
  • Hot chocolate
  • Speciality coffee drinks like lattés, mochas, cappuccinos, etc.

Beverage add-ins

  • Sweeteners like sugar, Splenda, Sweet-n-Low, etc.
  • Cream, half-and-half, and flavored coffee creamer (requires refrigeration)
  • Powdered coffee creamer and single-serve cream (no refrigeration)
  • Flavored syrups






What office coffee equipment do you need?

Once you’ve decided which beverage selections you want to offer, you’ll be able to choose the right equipment to support them.

  • Traditional glass coffee pots or air pots: Good for serving large groups the same brew, and when you want to keep coffee hot for a long time, this is the simplest, most traditional coffee option.
  • Single-cup/pod brewers: From simple K-cup pod brewers to more advanced systems like Newco’s Café Express that can create speciality coffee drinks like mochas and lattés, this type of solution gives everyone their own personal, customized cup.
  • Bean-to-cup brewers: Grinds beans to brew fresh coffee and other specialty drinks. Systems like the Starbucks Serenade Brewer offer a high-end barista-type experience.

Learn more about Florida Fresh Vending’s variety of office coffee brewing options.



3. What cost structure will you use for your office coffee?

This comes down to a decision about who is going to pay for the coffee, tea, and other consumables. Some companies choose a pay-per-cup model to pass the cost of coffee on to their employees. But many companies opt to work with an office coffee services provider to install and maintain the equipment and pay for the consumables, offering a free perk (literally) to their staff members.

At Florida Fresh, we offer coffee brands like Starbucks, Green Mountain, Peet's, Route 66 and Wawa for variety that is sure to please all the individual tastes of your staff. Serving Tampa, Orlando, St. Petersburg, Clearwater, Cocoa, Melbourne, Jacksonville and more, we’d be happy to customize an office coffee solution for you. Learn more about our office coffee services today.



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