The aftermath of the Pandemic and further challenges for the Hospitality segment in particular Coffee Shop owners serving coffee in Europe

Roman Probst, Head of Global Sales, Franke Coffee Systems

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a profound impact on various industries, including the hospitality and retail sectors. As Europe emerges from the grip of the pandemic, coffee shops, hotels, and restaurants (HoReCa) face a new set of challenges in the aftermath of the crisis.

Changing consumer behaviors

One of the most significant shifts observed during the pandemic is the change in consumer behaviors. Social distancing, remote work, and increased health concerns have altered the way people approach dining and shopping experiences. Many individuals have become accustomed to working from home and preparing meals themselves, which has led to a decline in foot traffic for coffee shops and restaurants. Furthermore, the increased popularity of food delivery platforms has challenged traditional dine-in models. If consumers get out for coffee or food, they expect a outstanding, remarkable experience. Coffee shops and HoReCa businesses must adapt to these changing consumer preferences by incorporating delivery services, expanding online presence, and focusing on takeout options – as well as create memorable experiences for their customers.

The latter is even more true for the coffee shop industry. Many ‘locked down / stay home’ policies of companies to keep employees in their home offices has shown a remarkable trend of becoming a ‘home barista’ with a decently – and sometimes even highly-priced piece of home barista equipment/coffee machine. These people have invested money and effort in advancing their skills in preparing their own coffee at home. Many only platforms of premium roasters have seen that impact by the demand of premium roasted beans for these ‘home baristas’…

Further premiumization

Coffee shops specifically feel this additional impact of the ‘home baristas’ –a remarkable need of premiumization to set oneself apart. More sustainable drinks, more variety in the menu (e.g. more cold drinks, more different milk types such as alternative milks) as well as premium coffee beans and skilled and knowledgeable coffee preparation techniques are requested. During pandemic coffee shops have lost many loyal customers to the ‘remained open’ c-store and supermarket sectors, where many (smart) brands have started to offer a decent coffee with a respective price/value for their shoppers. The execution was catering towards self-service offerings in the store (social distancing, serve yourself, etc.) with premium looking coffee corners with fully automatic coffee machines. Sometimes even already tied together with loyalty programs with the respective supermarket- and/or subscription offerings.

Thanks to premium fully automatic coffee machines, premium looking coffee corners and its coffee shop alike wide variety of menus, that segment could and still can execute without additional staffing. Due to the fully automatic machines they guarantee consistency of the offering - just a push of a button away -and are able to gain new customers that would go somewhere else during ‘normal’ times. Now, it is the time for coffee shops (and restaurants) to gain back these customers by higher premium offerings, better menu choices and even higher quality coffee beans.

The manufacturers of fully automatic coffee machines have not been sleeping during pandemic either – new innovations have been developed and launched to cater for this new need of automatization

Since pre-pandemic this would have been possible by dedicated and trained baristas in these coffee shops and restaurants, the challenges are not less in terms of the ongoing scarcity of finding qualified and trained personnel. So the main question following all the consumer trends is: How to offer a premium, outstanding experience while offering personalized coffee experiences and a great variety of drinks? Many of the people working in the hospitality sector have lost their jobs during the pandemic and were forced to find new ones in other sectors. Due to many uncertainties of the near future these people are not going back to the hospitality sector.

New Trend of traditional looking Fully Automatic Coffee Machines

To cater to this need we see new trend emerging for the hospitality sector: further automatization to fill in the gap of qualified staff. Many of the traditional coffee machines cannot be operated properly with unqualified and untrained staff – which means that a lot of these shops and restaurants move towards a fully automatic coffee machine to serve and offer great coffee to their customers.

The manufacturers of fully automatic coffee machines have not been sleeping during pandemic either – new innovations have been developed and launched to cater for this new need of automatization. There is a trend in the hospitality sector to have a traditionally looking fully automatic coffee machine in their shop, restaurant or bar that lives up to the demand of the customer for a personalized coffee moment while being operated by their day-to-day staff without any Barista education. Their staff just needs to push a button to fulfill the same tasks as a before–pandemic well qualified and trained baristas could fulfill on traditional espresso machine. A wide menu of variation at a high level of quality and consistency is just a push of a button away and this sector can be back in business in no time.