K-Cup coffee shop?

[JimKurby]

I was wondering if I could replace my coffee machine with k-cups. I could have variety of K-cup brands i.e starbucks, dunkin donuts for customers to choose. I would not go through the maintenance of the machines neither I need to train the staff to make the coffee. Has anyone heard of a coffee shop that does k-cups only? How is the idea overall? I understand it would be a bit expensive but on the other hand I would have variety of K-cups to sell.

 

[Musicphan]

Fail.... there is only 6-8 grams typically per k-cup and who knows how old it is...

 

[JimKurby]

Even if it is starbucks its doubtful? Moreover, Its a small town where we dont have starbucks or any other major coffee shops. Having k- cups coffee will be a big thing here... any thoughts?????????

 

[Musicphan]

Yes.... why would anyone come to you shop when they can simply pop a k-cup into a machine and out comes the same coffee?

 

[JimKurby]

may be because I would carry variety of flavors in k cups from major brands....

 

[ensoluna]

it seems like your mind is already made up.
so, please try it and see what happens.

however, right now, the low cost K-cup machine is at around $15 range. and K cup pod pricing is between $0.50 to $0.60 each.
so, perhaps, you need to price your K cup coffee from your shop at around $0.65 to $0.70 each to be competitive. Okay. that is too cheap. because you need to add "cup", lids, sugar, cream, stirrer, and labor cost plus shop rent & your profit. so, around $2.75 per cup?

I wonder how many people will pay five times more when they can just buy a cheap machine and K cups for their own home. I just hope that there are no stores that sells K cup machine and no other on-line companies do not deliver to your town.

best of luck to you.

PS: by the way, I am not being sarcastic. Because I do not know you nor your town situation. Just do some serious marketing research before you open a shop that only serves K cups.

 

[Mr.Peaberry]

Hi Jim,

I think you may know by now that most of the regulars here at coffeeforums.com are passionate about coffee. Many here earn their livlihood in the specialty coffee niche of the coffee world. I too am highly doubtful about your idea, and at first I thought you were just 'pranking' us to see if we would bite, so I did what I do with my own ideas...look to see if this is already being done. Guess what? It is...and it doesn't surprise me in the least.

So let me see if I have this right. You have a coffee shop...and by "coffee shop" you are not referring to a 'coffee house' that specializes in coffee like a Starbucks or a Peete's, right? You have a coffee shop/diner/restaurant that serves coffee? Then check out these folks, as they help restaurants, just like they help businesses like hotels and car dealerships, set up a coffee program based on K-cups. Now that I can see...your offering of coffee is not the reason for a customer to come to your restaurant, so they are actually delighted to have choices in what they can order with their meal right? BIG DIFFERENCE. Yes, I not only think your idea will work, and it probably is a less appealing alternative to offering specialty grade coffee with pour overs, a reusable Kcup, or a french press, but the choice is yours. Have you ever polled your customers to get their input??

Hope this helps...not really, just saying that to be nice....lol! What I hope is that you come to your senses, and just provide better coffee to your customers, not Kcup just because it's convenient...oye!

Peaberry

 

[JimKurby]

Hiya Ensoluna and Mr.Peaberry,

I must say I find this forum very interesting and informative and I am delighted I came across this .I will give you a brief info about my business. We sell desserts as in cakes and pastries mostly. Since my associate whose a chef uses swiss and other imported chocolate, our desserts are very hot selling in town. Some of our cakes as in cheesecake sells as high as $4.25 per slice and we are doing well overall.

We received a 2 group espresso machine as part of the baggage when we got this place which was a coffee shop before. This machine is pain in the ass type. Shortly after the new dessert setup it broke down and after several desperate attempts I was able to find someone who would charge heavily and take a few days and fix it. Now having gone through all this, after 2 months it broke down again and I was told that since its an old machine I will have a difficult time arranging its spares. Not to forget that I had a very difficult time arranging someone who would both be the barista and cashier( had him visit the city to a friend who taught him the basics)

My partner is busy baking and I have other work to take care of (or you could call me lazy) I am no coffee expert and its very difficult finding the resources here. I will do well even if I dont sell coffee here but the thing is that the community here likes to have coffee specially the brands they see on TV or if they have had it while their trip to the city. The idea popped up to me when I was at my sisters place in the city. She asked me what flavor I would like and she just popped up something and wahla out came the coffee.

ensoluna I think people would pay $3.50 for a starbucks, folgers or dunkin donuts k-cup coffee. Even if I make $1.00 after expenses and I sell 100 cups a day, I ll still be adding to the revenue. There is no major brand in the area so I think people would love to have em since there is no other option for them to have starbucks.

Mr. Peaberry, I really enjoyed reading your message with the humor you used to express the norms of this forum and lower my high. I have already gone through the practice of asking my customers about the k-cups and seriously no one knows about it. I had to explain them what is it really and it was funny how they reacted and some very very excited as well. I was feeling proud of myself for a while because I knew what they didn't. Mr. Peaberry do bear in mind that our town is small, growing at a steady pace and we might have starbucks here may be in 5-10 years when and if their franchise model is feasible for businessmen. There are people here who have never tried starbucks but they have heard about it and they would definitely try it if there is an option. If I use k-cups I dont need to train anyone, I dont need to care about the hastles of machine, extra inventory/equipment which is part of the traditional coffee. I agree K-cup coffee is for lazy people or those in a hurry. I also agree that the there would be difference in the taste as well if we compare coffee coming out of fresh beans vs K-cups but for a lazy bum like me who wants to sell coffee with minimum effort, K- cup is the answer may be. What are your thoughts now after hearing my background?

 

[ensoluna]

thanks for your back ground. appreciate it taking your time to write it.

What is the name of your city/town and which state? Just curious. I know that you do not have Starbucks, but what about McDonald's?

here is my suggestion.
Forget about the espresso machine. Keep breaking down and unless you have a good barista, you won't be able to serve some good specialty drinks, so forget about it.

K cup. okay. you can try it. It is an interesting idea since most of town people does not even know what K cup is.

However, I also suggest that you should make some normal brewed coffee. SOME GOOD BREWED COFFEE with some of the great beans all around the world.
all you need is simple coffee brew machine and few beverage insulated dispensers.
Getting some great roasted beans should be easy. Even among our forum members, they can sell you some awesome beans, Bob from JumpinJakJava. PeterJSchmidt and even Doug/Mr.Peaberry can supply you some great beans from all over the world.

Perhaps, you can introduce 3 different kinds of beans (example. Ethiopia, Guatemala, Sumatra) for July. Then, for August, maybe Peru, Colombia & Kenya...etc
And whether gets hot, you can make some iced coffee (again, you do not need much of equipment)

And maybe, just maybe... couple of years from now, you can introduce Chemex, Aero-press, Vacuum...etc at higher pricing (from $5 to $9 per cup... you would be surprised that many people will pay for it if coffee is good)

How to make these coffees are very easy and you can learn pretty much from youtube.
also, equipment is very low cost and they will not break down because they are very simple machines. Easy to operate.

Well..... this is my suggestion.

 

[Mr.Peaberry]

Jim Kurby, I have never gotten where restaurants seek to offer the best of what they do to their customers, like you with your cakes & pastries...a world class experience no doubt...and then fumble the ball when it comes to serving a beverage that, in so many ways, is the perfect compliment to what they excel in making. Please do yourself a favor and just offer a pour over, and/or french press coffee, and watch where these folks settle in. $3.50 for a Kcup coffee?? Dude, if you prove that that people will pay that much for Kcup coffee, I will eat a bug...a big bug.

Cheers,

Doug

 

[Musicphan]

Jim...

OK.. we now have a better idea of what your challenges and trying to accomplish. I will still stand behind my statement that K-cups are a fail for a commercial business. There simply isn't enough coffee in those little cups to brew more than 6 oz at a time. And, you have no idea how old it is ... you wouldn't sell week old pastries or cake - why serve coffee that could be months old?

The key to good coffee is simple - buy whole bean coffee, use clean/cold water and grind just before brewing. For your situation, I think I would follow ensoluna's advice and ditch the espresso based beverages. Keep it simple, keep it fresh and use good ingredients. A basic airpot / satellite brewer with a grinder would be the perfect solution.