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Dilworth has been innovating and inspiring café owners and coffee drinkers for over 30 years. One of the ways we do this is by featuring certain coffees on PRO we love that you may not have tried. Another way is sharing new scratch made beverage recipes with you each month using our products to delight your customers. Of course, a consistent menu and reliable products are essential to retain customers, but sometimes mixing it up can bring in a whole new customer base you’ve never had before. So shake it up a little, why not.
Customers come back to your shop again and again because of the products you serve. Consistency is key to customer loyalty and retention. But featuring new coffees and drinks is a great way to identify and attract new customers. You may even inspire your regulars to spice up their coffee routine and try something new. Perhaps your shop sells mostly hot drinks, why not feature a seasonal iced drink during the summer months. A whole world of iced coffee drinkers is out there waiting for you.
New coffees and drinks diversify your menu. Being able to create a range of items at a high level shows good management and attention to detail. New drinks are fun and help you engage in seasons and local trends. Featuring our Pumpkin Bread flavored coffee in November or advertising a Pumpkin Spice latte around thanksgiving are simple ways to show your customers you are engaged with the world and the trends around you.
Featuring a range of seasonal beverages allows you to add a new price point to your menu. Often you can sell a seasonal drink for a dollar more because of the premium you’re placing on it. You’re putting craft and extra time into this beverage for a limited amount of time and so you’re going to charge more for it. Customers are okay with this! Especially since they will only buy that drink a few times while it’s featured.
New items allow your baristas to be creative in their job and on socials. Baristas get bored of making the same drinks every day. Spicing it up and adding new items let their creative juices flow with garnishes and new drink names. Allowing baristas to be involved gives them a personal stake in the drink’s quality. Seasonal drinks also look great on socials and provide ample opportunities for creative photoshoots for both you and your customers (not to mention, that’s free marketing!).
Of course, this is all easier said than done. A lot of coordination, training, and planning is needed to seamlessly incorporate a new item into your menu or educate customers on a new single origin you’re serving. The first thing to do is figure out and distribute a SOP (standardized operational procedure). Recipes and SOPs need to be provided to all staff, so they know what they’re making and how to assemble it properly.
The next step is awareness. Customers need to be told about new offerings days or even weeks ahead of time on socials and in person. This may seem obvious, but so often customers don’t order things from you because they just don’t know you sell them. Education, in part, comes with observing competitors in your area. Is the drink or coffee you want to feature sold somewhere else? If it’s brand new, it might require a lot more effort from you and your staff to educate your customers. You should continually be observing trends and local shops to maneuver your menu in the right direction.
Once the baristas are familiar with the new menu items, and your customers are informed, the next step is execution. SOPs are a huge part of this, but another is providing your baristas with the right tools to execute your vision. Without the right tools, the quality of the drinks will decline, no matter how good they are.
Another aspect of proper execution is single sizing and pricing. It’s common with seasonal drinks or coffees to only offer 1 size like 16oz with a single price. This ensures that everything is the same, and if the drink uses a special and limited ingredient, the right amount is being used and money is not wasted on the product. Customers don’t need to be able to customize seasonal drinks by size because the drink is what it is and will be gone when the next seasonal drink comes.
Dilworth is always providing you with great beans and new ideas for your business or café. Every month the PRO site is updated with new featured coffees to highlight their backstory, origins, tasting notes, etc. to learn a little more about what you and your customers are sippin’ on. We also feature seasonal beverages we create for you to use in your shop. So keep an eye out, because your next bestseller is just around the corner.
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