Page 23 - BOSS Today Issue 17

Special Report - Beverages

sectors - Nescafe’s Gold Blend is a buoyant market and a to take business away from the “We are
alone was up 74% with North growing sector.” traditional markets.”
West Teas as a business last year.” This does not necessarily just While he is less convinced that expecting the
Basham too talks about the stop at coffee. Recent coverage the market can even go further
“increased range of household of advertising campaigns runs than that - “although we do iced coffee
brand names available, as well by tea companies for the general have one dealer that sells quite
as a range extension into more public have tended to suggest a lot of champagne” - Matt Lane, renaissance
specialist coffees with Fair Trade that the old English cuppa may Head of Beverage Solutions at
and environmental grades, as even be a dying breed. Torrible Nestle Professional, is prepared to be a
well as decaf and speciality says this is true - as long as you to stick his neck out. He says that,
grades”. are referring to traditional black particularly as the weather finally year-round
Both men agree that all this teas. “That market has declined gets warmer this year, iced coffee trend.”
has meant that while a few years by between 3% and 5%, is set to be the next big trend,
ago coffee may have been seen depending on which publication even within the office. He points
as a useful additional extra to you read,” he says. “But that is to research from the Grocer
carry within your inventory as an simply because of the huge magazine showing that sales of
office products dealer, now it has variety in the hot drinks sector “cold hot drinks” like iced coffee
moved much more to the centre at the present moment. Ten leaped by 45% year-on-year last
stage. “Ten years ago the facilities years ago you never saw people year. He says the market for these
management sector was a small drinking camomile or green drinks outside traditional coffee
sector of any dealer’s offering,” tea, now infusions is the fastest shops still has much to go at.
says Torrible. “Now thanks to growing sector, and specialist
range extension and dealers’ suppliers like Tea Pigs or Clipper Not just summer
hard work facilities management and Twinings have all sprung up “This doesn’t just apply to the
summer months either,” he says.
“We are expecting the iced
coffee renaissance to be a year-
round trend. As research shows,
the majority of iced beverages
tend to be consumed in the
afternoon.”
This he says, means that coffee
is moving away from being an
after meal drink to being “an
occasion in its own right” - just
the kind of thing to round off an
afternoon meeting.
One bonus from the office
product dealers’ point of
view is that while, as with
virtually everything else, the
supermarkets have been quick
to spot the trend and cater to
it themselves, their success in
catering for the large numbers
that offices necessarily require
hasn’t always been successful.
If anything, supermarkets
might be yet another avenue
for end users to experience new
coffees, but wholesalers say they
do not see any particular threat
in supermarkets actually stealing
their business. “Size ratios on
these lines are not suitable for
the office environment,” says

May/June 2013 | BOSS TODAY 23

Beverages.indd 7 29/05/2013 14:34