As a hotelier, you’ll be well aware that there are many things to consider when choosing coffee for your hotel.
Research shows that the quality of the tea and coffee served at conferences and seminars is of paramount importance for conference delegates. It often makes or breaks their impression of the whole event.
In larger hotels, coffee is in demand morning, noon and night, from speedy service required at breakfast, to bulk brews for conferences, weddings and events, right through to barista made coffee served in your bars and lounges. It’s now an important part of your offer that you can’t afford to get wrong.
Serving large volumes of coffee
“Serving consistently great quality coffee for your event in high volumes can be a challenge, but if you get the time and volume right, you won’t go far wrong” says Naomi Parsons, Channel Manager at Tchibo Coffee Service. “Operationally it can be a challenge to ensure a breakout is adequately stocked (or prepared) for the rush of a conference break. Often there can be a high number of delegates hitting one area in a short space of time, all looking for a high quality hot drink to keep them going for the rest of their conference.”
The hotel and the hospitality sector must consider the time frame of the coffee service. Will it last hours or will a large volume of coffee be served in just a few minutes?
If you are serving several litres of coffee for example, you need an urn with multiple taps to keep it at the correct serving temperature for at least an hour. A Bulk Brew machine is a high capacity brewing system and is ideal for sites requiring high volume coffee.
A thermal pot such as an airpot can hold 7 litres of coffee for 90 minutes without a breakdown in flavour.
Top tips for serving large quantities of coffee
• Pre-heating the empty vessel by filling it with the first batch of coffee. Thermal carafes can also easily be transported to offsite meeting rooms.
• Always buy high quality coffee. Better beans create a brew that can be held longer without flavour breakdown.
• Be sure to use water filtration system. Coffee is 98% water so no matter how good your coffee is, if you don’t have good water you are not going to make good coffee.
All this will ensure that your guests leave your event with a good impression.
Whole bean coffee for lower volumes
Bean to cup coffee machines are great alternatives for hotels serving coffee for conferences with lower volume requirements. Naomi says “Bean to cup machines work perfectly because they are so efficient. Choose one where the product hoppers are on display meaning staff can ensure there is enough fresh milk, beans and hot chocolate powder at a glance. They tick the boxes on quality, and ease of use from a staff perspective.”
Coffee drinkers are becoming more discerning and expect a high-quality coffee when visiting hotels. Because of this, we are seeing more of a shift from filter to fresh whole bean or speciality coffee.
Although the move from filter to bean to cup does increase the cost per cup, waste is reduced as you will serve only what is needed. The quality is also dramatically improved as beans are freshly ground as needed. Our bean to cup machines can dispense a cappuccino within 26 seconds, so during a fifteen-minute conference break, customers can get fresh quality quickly.
This move also supports operational needs within hotels. Machines are readily available for customers to use as when needed. Staff are not required to set up areas ready for use or constantly check if product is available, leading to better efficiency amongst staff.
Conference and breakout areas
The Hilton chain of hotels is leading the way in the shift from filter coffee through their ‘Meetings Simplified’ concept in partnership with Tchibo Coffee Service. It was developed for conference breakout areas to encourage guests to interact more with coffee during their breaks. They have moved from filter coffee to bean to cup machines, which are presented on portable carts. This gives them the flexibility to move the coffee machines where required and place near plug sockets with an unplumbed water solution.
“The ‘Meetings Simplified’ food and beverage offer allows us to bring more a ‘high-street’ style coffee product, to create greater value for our guests. This pushes a unique selling point in an ever-demanding events market” says Anthony Worrall, Senior F&B Director UK, Ireland and Israel, from Hilton.
Tchibo Coffee Service has over 26 years’ experience in serving both hotels and the hospitality sector and has a proven reputation in providing beverage solutions to the hotel and hospitality industry.
To discuss coffee solutions for your hotel and find out more about the products and service Tchibo Coffee Service can offer, please get in touch!
Tagged with: bean-to-cup • coffee • hotel • premium • sustainable
