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Concern about customer satisfaction shouldn't cease when the customer walks out the front door. Certainly, you devote lots of attention to ensuring that the coffee or tea you serve is of high quality, but an essential part of providing customer satisfaction is ensuring what happens when they leave the store and head to their cars, a train, or their office where they will consume the coffee.
Is the cup easy to carry? Does the coffee or tea spill out of or drip from the top of the cup? Is the cup cool enough to carry by hand? You should consider these and many other questions when determining which vessel you want to use for your take-out coffee or tea. A careful review of your disposable options will help ensure customer satisfaction, and will simultaneously help increase
beverage sales.
The growth of coffee cafés and tea shops has provoked continued interest in attaining dependable disposable cups for hot beverage categories. To that end, manufacturers seek to provide solutions that guarantee that the cup doesn't leak, that the liquid stays warm, and that its 'fashionable' design looks great and carries a brand out onto the street.
Disposable options for serving hot beverages are either foam (polystyrene), which is suitable for either hot or cold beverages, or the paper cup. Cost, effectiveness, and aesthetics should influence your decision on which option to choose. It is imperative that the operator experiment with different cups before arriving at a final decision. The following are a few parameters you should test.
Once you fill up a disposable cup, keep tabs on how long the coffee or tea remains hot. During that time, experiment with the cup's feel -- it needs to feel substantial in your hands while you're consuming the beverage. Make sure to test multiple sizes since the larger cups will hold larger volumes of coffee or tea and will require slightly more stability and durability during use.
Also note whether the cup is hot to the touch when it is grasped. Many single-walled paper cups don't provide sufficient insulation and therefore, require cup sleeves. For many retailers, the cup sleeve is a safety item that gives them the security of knowing that 'hot hands' or slippage are not issues, and eliminates the need to double cup every time a hot beverage is ordered. Other retailers who may have limited inventory space or who want to minimize the number of items on the self-serve condiment table prefer a cup that provides the added insulation without the need for a sleeve or double cupping. Although this may aid in the reduction of inventory, it does require a double- or triple-insulated paper cup in order to furnish proper insulation.
Many manufacturers now offer lids that fit multiple-sized cups, which helps reduce inventory but slightly increases the cost of the cup. Therefore, it is important to perform a cost comparison to determine which option works better for your business.
Two common concerns about lids include their inability to prevent the beverage from dripping and them popping off when the cup is grasped.
The introduction of the domed lid to the hot beverage market has eliminated numerous problems and increased customer satisfaction. Domed lids are easier to drink from, are often sturdier, and help alleviate most dripping or spillage problems. Recent modifications to the domed lid allow the lid to fit the cup lip both inside and outside; in other words, it wraps around the cup so that when the cup is squeezed, the lid doesn't pop off. Some manufacturers even claim that their lids will remain in place even if the cup is knocked over.
One of the current design issues being analyzed is the modification of the sipping hole. Most domed lids incorporate an uncovered sipping hole. This allows some heat to escape, and for some retailers, especially drive-thru operators, eliminates concern about coffee 'spilling' out while it's being served to customers. A new introduction includes a domed sip-through lid that includes a plug that closes when it's not in use.
Cup sizes continue to increase. Where once eight-, 12-, and 16-ounce cups were the standard offerings, today, 12-, 16-, and 20-ounce ones are the most popular sizes, with 24-ounce cups gaining support. Perhaps the trend towards a larger cup size reflects research that indicates consumers are drinking three cups of coffee per day on average. By purchasing a larger cup of coffee in the morning, the customer saves time and money. But parallel with growth of the cup's size are rising apprehensions about the cup's design. The challenge is to keep the higher volume of liquid hot for a longer period of time, while also providing the necessary stability in a larger cup. One manufacturer explained, "A single-walled paper cup can't safely serve 20 ounces of coffee because it is extremely hard to make that single-walled cup stable enough to safely hold the coffee."
To allow customers to more easily purchase multiple cups of coffee (perhaps to bring coffee to the office for co-workers), one manufacturer recently introduced a decanter that holds eight 12-ounce cups of coffee. This innovation presents a great opportunity for retailers to increase their average register ring, especially for customers who won't buy more coffee than they can carry.
An upscale, custom design is also important to coffee café or tea shop operators. Aside from concerns that the cup will perform its primary task, consumers also want it to be a fashion accessory. Carrying around an attractive to-go cup of coffee or tea that displays the coffee café or tea shop's name is more popular today than ever.
While styrofoam cups keep coffee and tea warm, many operators are choosing paper simply because they feel that the styrofoam connotes a convenience store feeling. Unfortunately, it is a stigma that styrofoam cups must overcome, since many operators don't feel that these cups represent the upscale image that they want to convey to customers. In fact, while styrofoam cups are offered in an increasing array of upscale designs to combat this notion, many convenience stores have switched to paper options in an attempt to upgrade the look of their coffee containers.
While custom designs are a great way to brand your beverage program, stock designs are the most cost effective for the majority of retailers. Custom designs may be costly because they require minimum runs that often preclude the small operator.
Undoubtedly, disposable cup suppliers continue to work on creating better products to make the experience more enjoyable for the customer and to help operators get more servings out the door. Take a few minutes to review your current offerings to ensure that you've chosen the best disposable options for your business.