Is Coffee Delivery the Wave of the Future?

Have you ever awakened on a workday morning wishing you could have your favorite coffee delivered right to your door? You’re not alone. In the Fall of 2015, Starbucks heard your cry and that of many others on their “My Starbucks Idea” blog. The overwhelming wish of commenters was to have their coffee delivered. Starbucks began delivering in the Empire State Building, NYC through an in-house service and then partnered with Postmates in Seattle, WA for their Green Apron Delivery service which allows customers to use the Starbucks app to order for delivery.  This adds another layer to the order and pay feature that already lets customers order ahead for pick-up without waiting in lines. Coffee delivery seems to be a growing trend with Dunkin’ Donuts giving customers what they want as well. In November of 2015, DD partnered with another DD, “Door Dash” in Dallas, TX and is successfully expanding into other cities. It’s obvious that the demand is there. A website called Eat24hours.com lists restauarants and coffee delivery in urban areas and cities all over the U.S. Simply input your zip code and find an alphabetical listing of restaurants that deliver coffee. Most of the larger cities have between 2- 10 selections. San Francisco, CA tops their list with 102! Eat24hours.com allows you to access the restaurant’s menu and order directly at no extra charge. Another startup that’s jumping on the delivery bandwagon is Fetch Coffee.  Fetch Coffee is a monthly subscription service where, for $45 you can access their simple website to schedule your delivery dates and times by the week. A courier delivers your Starbucks order and leaves it at your door at the appointed time in a thermos.  Fetch Coffee is attracting customers in droves due to the convenience and the reduced subscription rate for the first month of $15. There are some drawbacks to coffee delivery. The time it takes to get the coffee to the customer can greatly affect the temperature and the taste. Customers have high expectations about the flavor and temperature of their favorite coffee beverage. Delivery might not be the way to go for some of these coffee purists so they’ll continue to travel to the shop and wait in line for their bitter brew. While this trend is still getting under way, the overwhelming consensus is that coffee delivery is quickly becoming the next big thing. As with many of the trends in the coffee industry, Starbucks is leading the way and smaller independent coffee companies are sure to follow suit. Another option that many independents are pursuing is the coffee truck. A fully equipped coffee bar on wheels that “delivers” coffee to school campuses, office complexes, and other centralized locations. Cafe2U boasts that they have grown from 12 trucks to over 200 locations in the UK, Australia and the United States targeting locations that are large enough to yield more than a handful of customers, but small enough that they don’t have their own expanded breakroom or cafeteria on-site. This business model is being taken up by independent coffee companies as well as entrepreneurial individuals all over the world. Taking the goods to the customer is a recipe for success. Customers want convenience and they want their favorite coffee drinks. It’s a win-win for customers and for companies. Giving coffee delivery as a gift is a wonderful way to show appreciation for a stay-at-home spouse, child caregiver, or a friend who is stuck at home with an illness or injury. A week’s worth of coffee delivery can surely serve as a thank you or a gesture of goodwill for a valued friend or employee. Wouldn’t you love for someone to gift that to you? So the next time you wake up wishing someone would just bring you coffee, your wish can come true.