Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/491377
48 STiR tea & coffee industry international / Issue 2, 2015 (April/May) "When some of the Keurig K-Cup patents expired in 2012 and rogue K-Cups flooded the market, our clients inquired about them," said Corporate Essentials c.e.o. Judson Klein- man. "And even though our clients regularly requested these products for their homes and offices, we only offered Keurig licensed products." "I have to be honest, when one of our clients now asks for a new coffee with the name of a TV chef or other coffee celebrity, it will feel good to say: 'Sure we can get that for you,'" Kleinman said. Tom Martin, co-founder of PodPack, a coffee co-packer in Baton Rouge, La., that makes both pods and just started fill- ing capsules, predicts other OCS firms will respond to client re- quests for brands not offered by Keurig. Providing excellent service is the cornerstone of the OCS business and that's expensive, he said. Twenty years ago the OCS brand or regional brand carried by an OCS supplier was important to them, Martin explains. Keurig forced these businesses to offer national brands in capsules, excluding familiar local roasters, restaurants and hotel brands. Revenue from private label brands fell from 40% in 2010 to 28% in 2011 while revenue from national brands grew 6% for OCS operators. Unfortunately margins did not keep pace. Corporate Essentials will offer 60 brands in RealCup cap- sules including Martinson, a brand that dates to 1898 when Joe Martinson (known as The Real Joe) began roasting coffee in his mother's New York kitchen. Private label capsules that make great tasting coffee can be manufactured for 10 to 15 cents less per capsule and in smaller quantities than by Keurig. They can also be made more sustainable. Corporate Essentials switched to the environmentally friendly EcoCup capsule which makes it easy for users to re- cycle. "Our office clients are looking for coffee and tea solu- tions that are better for the environment and that make their employees feel better about their daily beverage consumption," writes Kleinman. Many OCS operators have stayed away from the single serve market due to the environmental impact, according to Keith Wright, v.p. sales, Intelligent Blends, a custom co-packer in San Diego, Calif. "Intelligent Blends has a great solution to this is- sue: recyclable polypropylene #5. Our Keurig-compatible cap- sules were the first oxygen barrier on the marketplace that re- quires no extra exterior packaging and also features a filter paper that is up to 88% biodegradable along with recyclable aluminum base lids," said Wright. Brewer options Corporate Essentials is not only switching brands, it is offer- ing new and existing clients an upgrade to a commercial capsule brewer manufactured by Grindmaster. The RC400 features a large reservoir, and plumbed capabilities, and is designed to be serviced on location, a trait shared by single-serve equipment supplied by Flavia/Mars Drinks. In addition to single-serve machines Keurig now offers the Bolt Carafe Brewer, a commercial grade system that brews 64 ounces of coffee in two minutes. The sealed and pre-measured Bolt packs are recyclable. Martin is optimistic that new generation brewers will sur- pass Keurig's own equipment with refinements that enhance office brewing experience such as cup strength. At the recent National Coffee Association conference PodPack demon- strated several next generation machines including the latest BUNN capsule brewers. Co-packer Robert Melikian, c.e.o. at Automatic Brewers and Coffee Devices, Inc. (ABCD) closely monitors the latest brew- ers on behalf of his copacking roaster and brand holder clients. ABCD is using the fully recyclable UpShot filter with its unique design to produces a richer cup of coffee in the cup, he said. "Pairing expertise in grinding coffee with this new filter design and technological improvements to brewers enables of- fice coffee suppliers to provide workers a superior tasting cup of coffee," he said. Recommendation Paying for coffee at-work does not meaningfully affect satisfac- tion with workplace coffee. The NCA survey revealed 48% of respondents who pay for coffee in the workplace are very satisfied. Among those who get their free at the office almost the same percentage (46%) are very satisfied suggesting that "employers who offer a less satis- factory brewing system might benefit from upgrading to a more preferred brewing system and asking employees to cover at least part of the cost." "This represents an opportunity for food-service coffee providers to increase use of single-cup systems in office and, through this, to increase employee satisfaction with at-work cof- fee," according to NCA. Most workplaces (71%) have a designated area to brew coffee. Vending machines can be found in 511,000 U.S. offices, 157,000 factories and 482,000 public locations.