Coffee Education and Hospitality: How Sharing Your Coffee Buying with Your Team Can Help Create Better Hospitality Practices for Your Business
Coffee Education & Hospitality: How Sharing Your Coffee Buying with Your Team Can Help Create Better Hospitality Practices for Your Business
Picture yourself as a customer walking into a café. As a coffee professional yourself, you might ask the barista about their drip offerings, featured pour-overs, and what coffee they have dialed in on espresso. Many of us have likely experienced the hesitant response: “Oh, I’m not sure, let me check.” Subconsciously, this can raise questions:
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Does the staff understand how to brew this roast and its origin correctly?
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Will this cup deliver the best experience?
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Does the barista genuinely care about my experience?
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Does this business operate as a cohesive team?
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Is this worth my money?
Even if the answers to these questions are positive, the perception of knowledge, service, and teamwork often shapes the customer experience. The ultimate goal in hospitality is to deliver a seamless and memorable journey. To achieve this, café owners, managers, and green buyers should equip their staff with the tools, knowledge, and confidence they need to excel. Listening, sharing, and tasting can accomplish this in three steps.
Listening: Insights from the Front Lines
Your front-of-house staff interact with customers daily and are privy to invaluable feedback. Are customers asking about specific origins or processing methods? Is there a standout coffee that garners more enthusiasm than others? Is price, flavor profile, or origin driving customer preferences?
By listening to your staff’s observations, you gain insights that can influence your buying decisions and enhance your offerings. Additionally, when your team feels heard, they become more invested in the business, fostering collaboration and teamwork.
Sharing: Educating for Empowerment
Investing in staff education around coffee sourcing and production can transform their approach to service. Explain how coffee buying works—its journey from farm to cup, the decision-making process behind your selections, and the associated costs. Being transparent helps your team see the bigger picture and appreciate the intricacies of the coffee world.
When employees understand the value of coffee, they’re more likely to prioritize waste reduction, maintain better inventory practices, and embrace the principles behind your menu. This education should go beyond scripts. It’s about inspiring your team to connect with the story and passion behind each coffee.
Tasting: Experience Through Exploration
Hands-on experience is one of the most effective ways to engage your staff. Regular cuppings and tastings allow your team to explore the nuances of different coffees, brew methods, and processing techniques. Providing background information like producer stories (as you’ll find for all our coffees on our StoneX Specialty website) can deepen their understanding further.
Encourage your team to identify their favorite coffees and discuss why. Not only does this build their knowledge, but it also makes them more excited to share these experiences with customers. Your staff's enthusiasm becomes contagious when they are passionate about what they serve.
Elevating Customer Experience
When your team is empowered with knowledge and excitement, it transforms how they engage with customers. They can confidently answer questions, offer advice on flavor preferences, and educate those new to specialty coffee. This energy fosters a stronger connection with customers, leaving a lasting impression that keeps them returning.
Moreover, well-informed staff can help ease transitions during menu changes, pricing updates, or introducing new initiatives. Their established rapport with customers allows them to communicate these changes effectively, fostering trust and loyalty.
Building a Coffee Culture
By integrating your team into the coffee-buying process, you create opportunities for growth and innovation. Public tastings, coffee classes, and community events become natural extensions of your business as customers associate you with great coffee, education, and expertise.
This approach cultivates satisfaction on all fronts—customers enjoy better service, staff feel valued and knowledgeable, and your business gains a reputation for excellence in coffee and hospitality.
