Smokin' Bean Testimonial: Hereford County Hospital, Costcutter
Costcutter at Hereford County Hospital has had a Smokin’ Bean coffee offer for nearly 3 years now. Smokin’ Bean National Account Manager, Tony Lewis, says “Costcutter have led the way in reacting to current shopper trends by helping their retailers to embrace food to go. They have been pro-active in recommending great stores to showcase Smokin’ Bean, Hereford County Hospital being one.”
“Costcutter have led the way in reacting to current shopper trends by helping their retailers to embrace food to go”
The store previously did not have a coffee offer, nor did it focus on food to go. They decided to re-vamp their store, modernising the look and considering consumer demand. Steve Hynard, National Account Manager at Costcutter says “when we started the development of the store, we knew there had to be a real focus on food to go. Removing our magazine area gave us the perfect location for coffee and food to go!”
As coffee is one of the key drivers in food to go growth, it made sense to look at a brand like Smokin’ Bean. They loved the look and feel of the artisan furniture and thought its sustainable approach would be a great addition to the store. “We are committed to sustainable choices so above all, Smokin’ Bean’s ethical approach really appealed to the Sodexo team and the client. After viewing the visuals for Smokin’ Bean, the team were keen to add this to our developments, positioned at the front entrance of the store which is a key position for food to go.”
“We are committed to sustainable choices so above all, Smokin’ Bean’s ethical approach really appealed”
Serving hot and ambient food to go alongside their Smokin’ Bean coffee offer allows consumers to benefit from meal deal promotions. This not only increases consumer dwell time but, increases the stores total basket spend too. Smokin’ Bean offers flavoured syrup shots free of charge to customers, just in case they prefer the sweeter things in life. At Hereford Hospital, they take our sugar free syrup range, which comes in 3 flavours: caramel, vanilla and hazelnut. All are big favourites with their customers.
Within their first 6 months of trading, they had an 83% increase in cup sales. Steve says “our initial sales were around 45-50 cups per day, showing no loss of sales for the other coffee offers on site. This demonstrates the benefit of having coffee within a convenience store and that there is an added shopper mission for those consumers.” Most recent reports show year on year cup sales have increased over 30% and now sell an average of 80 per day.