Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Coffee in Concessions

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Posted by Aaron Garman (Member # 1653) on 10-02-2012, 04:47 PM:

So we're looking at options for coffee for the concession stand. In the past, we had a very simple hot beverage machine with 3 options for cocoa, cappuccino, and coffee. The mix was in a bag, and then added to water inside the machine to make the drink. It was decent, fast, easy to clean but it has since broken down.

We're considering possibly going to fresh brewed coffee (with a bun machine) and then filling self serve dispensers for coffee. Obviously the coffee would be much better here, but prep time and cleanup would I feel take significantly longer.

Note: the stand is for a single 200 screen cinema, so while not a bustling multiplex, we do a good amount of business.

What sort of ways are any of you doing coffee? Any suggestions welcome!

AJG

Posted by Dave Macaulay (Member # 813) on 10-03-2012, 09:51 AM:

I've been to a cinema with a commercial one cup machine ("tassimo" I think) that uses cartridges something like K-cups except it scans a barcode on the cartridge chosen and the machine adjusts the water temperature, pressure, and volume (guessing here) to suit whatever is in the cartridge - coffee, "espresso", tea etc. The basic per cup cost is way higher than with pot-brewed but the quality is consistent (no stale pots) and there's no waste from either dumping stale pots or leftovers, so at least your actual per cup cost is fixed so you can price it with reliable profit. The cost for the machine is higher than for an office sized Bunn system but less than a restaurant sized one. You can also offer a wide variety of coffee and tea types and flavors without any additional equipment. The unit looks very easy to clean, there are no brew pots or dispenser pots to deal with. The cartridge machine I saw produced a cup of coffee 10 seconds or so after pushing the "go" button.

Posted by Jonathan Goeldner (Member # 4854) on 10-03-2012, 10:34 AM:

I had a nasty encounter with a coffee drinker - hot coffee got spilled on my back - not too pleased (at all) - and it wasn't even in a stadium seating auditorium.

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 10-03-2012, 02:17 PM:

We put in a low-cost Keurig machine last winter just to test-the-waters, coffeewise. It's been a bust....we sell maybe one cuppa-Joe a month, if that.

I think it could be due to us having such a warm winter last year. We'll see what this year brings.

Posted by Randy Stankey (Member # 64) on 10-03-2012, 02:31 PM:

You can't swing a dead cat without hitting a coffee joint, these days.

If you're going to sell coffee, especially at theater prices, you're going to need to do something that stands out or, at least, doesn't seem like the run-of-the-mill stuff people can get anywhere else.

With the Keurig, I think there are two problems.

1) People don't trust it or don't get it. How many instant coffee machines have been on and off the market over the years?

2) People who do know what it is probably think they can get the same thing at home and pay less for it.

I know there is more cleaning, maintenance and general overhead but I think an airpot system is the thing. That way you can, at least, keep up with the Joneses. When people think about buying coffee at a coffee shop or a coffee counter, they think of airpots and "House Blend," "Decaf," "Coffee of the Day" and all that bullshit. (Which it mainly is bullshit.)

You don't need to go through all those silly options.
Dammitt, Jim! I'm not a Starbuck's, I'm a movie theater!

A regular and a decaf option should do fine for small places.

That's just what I think... [Shrug]

Posted by Rick Raskin (Member # 1561) on 10-03-2012, 02:59 PM:

Not a theater but we run a bingo every week and use a Bunn 12 cup with dual warmers for regular and a cheap old Mr. Coffee for decaf. The Bunn holds hot water in a reservoir and can brew a pot very fast. Both are easy to clean. Most people buy the hi-test over decaf.

Posted by Aaron Garman (Member # 1653) on 10-03-2012, 03:16 PM:

We actually did tend to sell a good amount of hot beverage, especially for our live opera broadcasts. South Bend sees some cold winters, and our patrons seem to really enjoy hot drinks, so its success is without doubt. The only question is what seems to be the best option logistically and quality wise.

Believe it or not, we sell cheap concessions: every thing is $2 and a soda/corn combo is only $3. We make a killing.

AJG

Posted by Robert E. Allen (Member # 1351) on 10-03-2012, 03:50 PM:

I would think that in Indiana, especially in the winter, coffee would go over well. I sell Serenigy brand of "pre-brewed" coffee. All you would need is hot water. It comes in packets you would sell your customers. There are a number of flavors from black to latte and beyond and it tastes like coffee NOT the instant stuff. It would be a no waste system. If I can help email or pm me.

Posted by Caleb Johnstone-Cowan (Member # 3710) on 10-03-2012, 05:38 PM:

You could try a rental/loan on a decent bean-to-cup machine, to see if it's worth investing the several thousand pounds/dollars in one to keep. We got one a few weeks before I stopped working as a manager and it was pretty impressive.

Posted by Chris Slycord (Member # 4239) on 10-04-2012, 11:26 PM:

Depending on your location, an espresso style "cafe" machine can go over well too. Heck, I'm in Seattle (Starbucks headquarters) and the theater I worked at years ago did well in that regard. We had a machine that'd ground the beans automatically, send out the shots, and had a refrig to let it do the latte for you. And it had the stick warmer for when you needed other milks (or if the refrig broke); although I got used to making them by hand myself at the time...

Posted by Bill Enos (Member # 440) on 10-07-2012, 08:50 PM:

We've tried it. Summer you can't give it away, winter can't make it fast enough and they won't wait. No win situation, quit selling the stuff to eliminate the bitching.

Posted by Bruce McGee (Member # 131) on 10-13-2012, 08:29 AM:

Our machine uses the little cartridges of concentrated coffee and powdered milk, powdered hot chocolate, and chai tea.

It had some issues at first, but after a couple of visits from their tech, and a re-vamp of the operating system hardware, it's running good.

Now if I could get the staff to actually clean the powder mixer weekly, as they are supposed to...
Seems that it always plugs up when I'm on duty. "Hey, Bruce, the coffee machine runs, but nothing is coming out... any idea whats wrong?" Nasty cleaning, and the chai tea smell stays with me all day.

The hot chocolate is my favorite. I'll drink it on cold days later this fall.

Posted by Andrew Thomas (Member # 7000) on 10-21-2012, 01:08 AM:

One of my partners is a coffee roaster and retail shop owner. Being that we are in Texas, we are testing out cold brewed coffee and other cold coffee drinks as well as coffee deserts. We shall see.

Posted by Jack Ondracek (Member # 1466) on 10-21-2012, 09:26 AM:

We sell a fair amount of coffee here.

At one time, waste and quality were problems. Sales are not consistent, making it difficult to know how much to make. We would either run out, with 5 people waiting for the brewer to finish, or have a couple of those (breakable) glass decanters, sitting on the burner... "maturing".

We fixed most of our problems by going to the airpot system. Quality holds much longer than a decanter and it's not "instant", which is a perception issue here.

We seem to be able to lower waste only so much, without risking not having coffee when someone wants it, but the packets aren't that much & we drink a lot of it ourselves here.

Our coffee brewer (plumbed in), airpots and cappuchino machine are provided and serviced by the coffee company. I suppose that raises the product cost a bit, but the machines look good, work well and stay off of my worry list.

Posted by Monte L Fullmer (Member # 2797) on 10-21-2012, 07:38 PM:

Check into LaVazza - the Italian Coffee cartridge units.

Posted by Jonathan Goeldner (Member # 4854) on 10-21-2012, 11:36 PM:

@ Andrew - I'd buy Iced coffee.

hot chocolate during the cold winter months sounds good too.

Posted by Jack Theakston (Member # 4484) on 10-22-2012, 09:34 PM:

My performing arts center went the Keurig route and we're pretty happy with it. We used to brew a pot... and throw it out every night. Now we can offer a good selection of hot beverages (coffee, tea, cocoa, cider, etc.) and not have to fuss.

I never had anyone turn it down because it was a K-Cup brew.