Office Coffee Accounts

[jeremy8810]

I'm looking into trying to pick up some more office coffee accounts for my roasting business. I have the small pre-portioned bags and labels for them. I'm just trying to figure out a pricing and plan package to approach office managers with.

Have any of you guys had any experience setting up these accounts in the past? What type of brewer do you typically supply or recommend for smaller offices (thinking in the range of 50-100)? What type of fee or premium on the coffee do you charge to stock sugars, creamers, filters, etc.?

 

[IslandRoast]

I've got accounts with churches, small hotels and real estate offices that I supply with pre-portioned bags. I don't provide any equipment or supplies but will advise them on what machines I think will suit their needs and point them towards a restaurant supply company for the purchase of the equipment. Between roasting, delivering, boxing for shipping, maintenance, etc. I don't have time to get into the equipment game. For pricing your pre-packs take into account the additional time it takes to package and label as opposed to your other size bags. Bagging 12oz, 5lb, 10lb is a lot faster for me than doing the smaller 3.5oz-4oz bags and my minimum order on pre-packs is 1 case which is 100 bags. Your price will also depend on the coffee you're packaging, I've got customers that want higher end coffees and some just want a good blend. Most of my office accounts have come from people that had either purchased my coffee retail or had it at a local restaurant or coffee shop and wanted it at work. I also went around to local lawyers offices, realtors, churches and dropped off sample bags. Hit up larger churches in your area, I've got one that has 1200 members and they drink a lot of coffee.

 

[rickycp]

Hey Jeremy,

It really depends on your business model. We were in the very high-end specialty coffee market, and offices were not interested in serving their people coffee that costs 5x-10x what they are already spending (on Folgers, Starbucks or Kirkland Signature). Plus, if this is the business you choose to enter, be prepared to spend tons of time researching, buying, delivering, maintaining, and fixing the office's equipment for a low fee. All this to say - unless you can price your coffee extremely low and have the time to manage equipment issues, I'd steer clear of office coffee service. Hope thats helpful!