Coffee is a helpful perk that an employer can offer to make their business a great place to work. Offering an office coffee service to your employees is a way to boost morale and may even boost productivity. Even the smell of coffee has been shown to soothe nerves and reduce stress. If coffee is available at the office, employees will spend less time on breaks leaving the office to purchase coffee. If you see clients and other guests in your office frequently, having coffee available is a sign of hospitality and generates positive feelings and goodwill toward your business.
If you have coffee available in your office, you may find it economical to hire an office coffee service. This will reduce the time and effort involved by your staff. No one will have purchase the coffee and supplies or spend valuable time tracking the expenses. Resist the temptation to do this yourself; a coffee service will do a much better job of delivering high quality coffee for your employees at a good price.
The price of office coffee service can be anywhere from $20 a month to $100 a month. This depends on how much coffee you purchase, what kind of coffee machine you would like and whether you purchase a coffee machine or rent one. Altogether, the office coffee delivery cost could total $50 to $125 per employee per year.
The first step in hiring a service is to assess the coffee needs of your employees. You may want to survey your employees about their consumption habits and preferences. You will want to know how many cups your employees drink every day and if they would prefer specialty or gourmet coffees. You will also want to ask if they would be willing to make a financial contribution to pay for the service. If the quality of the coffee is high or you use a name brand coffee, your employees will save money by helping to defer the office coffee delivery cost because they will not need to stop and purchase their coffee on the way to work.
One important option is the use of a vending machine to dispense coffee. With this option, your employees assume responsibility for the entire price of office coffee service. You can get a vending machine that dispenses the coffee or you can put the individual coffee pods in a vending machine. The pod is purchased and them placed in a normal coffee maker. The one disadvantage to a vending system is that guests and clients will have to pay for their coffee. If you are looking to be more hospitable then this may not be a good option.
Another important decision is whether to rent the equipment or purchase it. Purchasing the coffee machine can increase your up front expenses but avoids the monthly rental fee. If you purchase the coffee equipment, you will also be responsible for maintaining and cleaning it. Renting the equipment might be better in the long term. You will have to pay a monthly fee, but the coffee supplier will be responsible for the maintenance and cleaning of the equipment. Your employees should still keep the machine basically clean and wash the pots every night. But the coffee supplier should frequently take the pots and other equipment for a deep cleaning to remove all accumulated stains and residues. You should make sure your supplier will do this before hiring them.
You will want to decide whether to use traditional pots or individual servings for your coffee service. If you have a lot of employees and go through a lot of coffee, a traditional brewer and pot may be for you. Smaller offices will waste a lot of coffee with the traditional system. On the other hand, if you have a lot of discerning coffee drinkers around, they may not want the traditional brewer. They will not want to drink coffee that has been sitting for any amount of time. If you have discerning coffee drinkers or a small office, you should consider a system that makes individual coffee of coffee from pods or K-cups. These single cup servings can be more expensive per cup but cut down on waste and keep employees happy.
Coffee requires an assortment of supplies and accoutrements such as cups, stirrers, creamer and sugar. You should also consider other beverages that your employees may want, for example tea, hot cocoa or water. You should ask your coffee vender if they can supply these as well. Some venders will include these supplies with their monthly service so make sure you check to see which vender includes these for no additional charge.
Sustainability is an issue that you may want to consider if your business is concerned about its impact on the environment. You may want to evaluate the energy consumption of the coffee equipment before renting or purchasing it. You may also want to consider the waste generated by coffee consumption. Using mugs rather than disposable cups will reduce your waste but creates the need to clean and wash the mugs. If this is an issue, you may want to speak to your coffee vendor about it.
Finally, after considering all the issues and options, you are ready to hire a coffee vender. You should get quotes from a number of different vendors for the service and evaluate them based on your needs. You can find a local vendor by searching for “coffee service” on the Internet or using a referral service such as officecoffee.com. There are also virtual coffee services which ship coffee, supplies and equipment to your office but will not maintain or service the equipment.
By taking the time to make these considerations, you can provide high quality coffee for your office at a good price. Enjoy your next coffee break!