22 Apr 2015 SA’s coffee love affair puts zip into C-store sales

As a result, many 24-hour convenience stores have embraced customers’ desire for good quality coffee by either collaborating with coffee brands or introducing their own in-house brands to satisfy the demand.

Internationally, coffee sales make up approximately 80% of hot beverages sold at c-stores and the demand for a wider range of coffees, served professionally in an upmarket environment is driving retailers to introduce full-service coffee bars within their stores.

FreshStop at Caltex, the fastest growing 24-hour convenience retail brand in South Africa, has collaborated with two coffee brands, Seattle Coffee Company and Lavazza, to offer customers a choice of full-service coffee bars or self-service machines, depending on the location of the store.

Joe Boyle, director at FreshStop, says, “We have found that the coffee trend in South Africa is huge and on-going, and we have worked hard to change the perception that fuel forecourt and convenience stores sell cheap and nasty coffee. Our focus is on high quality coffee served by professional baristas in a vibey and upmarket environment. It’s now all about showing off the coffee brand and being proud of what you’re selling and consuming.

“Our FreshStop stores made close to R50m worth of Seattle coffee sales in 2014 and we still expect huge growth in 2015 as the coffee trend continues”.

In addition to the great coffee, the personal one-on-one customer experience is essential. “There is a huge difference in the customer experience when they interact with a barista in-store, which is why we are focusing on full-service coffee bars. Not only does the experience improve significantly, but it also creates employment and upskills people in the coffee industry,” explains Boyle.

And FreshStop isn’t alone. BP fuel forecourts have recently given their in-house brand, Wild Bean Café, which is located in many of their BP Express Stores, a new look and they continue to be one of the most profitable countries for the international Wild Bean Café market.

Total SA fuel forecourts leverage off their relationship with Famous Brands and sell the Mugg & Bean coffee brand at 23 of their Bonjour convenience stores. It was announced last year that they would be rebranding some of their Bonjour stores as Thrupps, whilst being co-branded with ‘Mugg & Bean On The Move’.

This ‘pilot’ combination was launched at Total Senderwood in Bedfordview in October 2014. Kevin Hedderwick, Famous Brands’ Group Chief Executive, said it planned to expand Mugg & Bean across the Total network using a range of trading formats wherever this was practical.

Shell Select, too, has been driving its coffee strategy aggressively and has an exclusive agreement with Vida e caffe to develop a sister brand called Torrador by Vida, which is found at Shell Select stores across the country.

Coffee is said to drive traffic and this is true in the USA, where 50% of fuel forecourt customers stopping to fill up with fuel, purchase a coffee to go. International data also suggests that coffee drinkers spend more than the average customer does – all good reasons for the South African convenience retailers to pay attention to coffee drinkers and cater to their needs.