A new survey reveals that the best way to encourage employees to work from the office rather than from home is to offer free beverages.

Although the survey was conducted OnePoll on behalf of multi-beverage system manufacturer Flavia, which provides machines to many offices, it does yield some interesting and valuable results for businesses. For example, the average person spends nearly 50 hours a year purchasing beverages at a café during the workday.

According to the 2023 survey of 2,000-plus employees who work onsite or in an office, it takes about 16 minutes to leave one’s desk, buy a drink and return, but with three such trips a week, employees end up losing an entire work week per year (16.4 minutes per café visit x 3.42 visits to the café per week = 56.088 minutes a week, x 52 weeks in a year = 2,916.576 minutes or 48.61 hours a year). This can impact productivity considerably, whether the company is large, medium or small-sized (in terms of the number of employees.

The survey found that to jumpstart their workday, people usually get organised (60%), sip their favourite beverage (59%) and check their emails (55%). Their first drink of the day? A hot cup of coffee (66%), followed by iced coffee (47%), water (45%), or tea (42%).

The survey also shows that there may be a link between drink preference and productivity. Approximately 77% of coffee drinkers need two or more cups of coffee to feel productive on a workday, with nearly a quarter (24%) noting Mondays were the day of the week they needed the most coffee.

Six in 10 (60%) turn to a hot cup of coffee to improve their mood at work, as well. Nearly two-thirds (64%) “always” or “often” vary the type of drink they consume as the hours go by. Aside from hot coffee (77%), employees also drink water (70%), iced coffee (64%), tea (62%), juice (55%) and flavoured water (51%) while they work, among other beverages.

“Over a third (37%) of those surveyed would like the ability to brew hot and cold beverages and more than a quarter (26%) want to be able to brew different kinds of beverages at work,” said Camille Vareille, vice president, head of marketing Americas, Lavazza Group, which owns Flavia, in a statement.

The survey revealed that nearly 87% of respondents were going into the office between two to three days a week. “Over eight in 10 employees said having free beverages as a workplace perk would make them feel valued, and offering free beverages was the most requested perk to encourage employees to work from an office,” Vareielle added. “Investing in an array of beverages on-site can not only save employees time and money but also help with bringing them back into the office.”

According to the survey, the leading “perks” to encourage employees to work from their onsite office are:

• Free beverages — 46%
• Required breaks — 45%
• Free food — 45%
• On-site gym — 43%
• Office lounge/social area — 42%
• Ability to bring pets to work — 36%
• Ability to bring kid to work — 29%
• On-site games — 22%
• In-person employee clubs — 14%

The fact that the survey may seem a bit self-serving and was conducted only in the United States, doesn’t negate the information or the value to businesses globally (replace ‘coffee break’ with ‘smoke break’, which happens multiple times per day, every day – based on a five-day work week – and the impact to productivity is even greater). And looking at the list of perks noted by the poll participants, installing a multi-beverage system (formerly ‘office coffee system’) may be the most cost-effective option (it’s certainly less than building a gym!).

• Vanessa L Facenda, editor, Tea & Coffee Trade Journal.
  Keep in touch via email: vanessa@bellpublishing.com Twitter: @TCTradeJournal or LinkedIn: Tea & Coffee Trade Journal

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Under the agreement, KDP will continue to be the exclusive sourcing partner and manufacturer of premium Lavazza K-Cup pods and add sales and distribution responsibilities in retail and e-commerce across the US and Canada. Future availability of premium coffee brand, Kicking Horse Coffee, in a K-Cup pod will provide a new experience for consumers to enjoy the brand through the Keurig brewing system.

“Lavazza has been a valued partner since 2014 and we are pleased to continue our collaboration as the brand becomes a member of our licensed brand family,” said Patrick Minogue, president, US Coffee.  “Having renowned, premium coffee brands Lavazza and now Kicking Horse Coffee as part of the K-Cup pod family underscores our ability to drive growth while providing consumers premium coffee brands available to enjoy at home.”

“This partnership marks a significant milestone for Lavazza and Kicking Horse, as it opens new avenues to reach a wider audience of coffee enthusiasts. It represents an exceptional opportunity to fortify our collaboration with KDP,” said Hossam Ashraf, Lavazza North America president. “At Lavazza Group, we take pride in our commitment to passion, integrity, and expertise, all of which contribute to delivering superior, high-quality coffee. We believe that KDP is the right partner to bring this exceptional coffee experience to more consumers across North America.”

Cedric Malaga, CEO of Kicking Horse Coffee shared, “At Kicking Horse Coffee, our mission is to bring better coffee to the world – we call it the best of coffee with the best of intentions. Sharing our always fair trade and organic roasts with as many people as possible means we’re delivering on this mission.”

Keurig Dr Pepper and Lavazza Group promote the cultivation and trade of coffee in a manner that benefits coffee farmers, their communities and the environment. Both companies are committed to responsibly sourcing their coffee and are members of World Coffee Research — an international coalition of stakeholders working together to make a global impact and secure the quality of coffee for generations to come.

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Some of the Slow Food Communities that have supplied the coffee for the tasting (Philippines, Honduras, India and Malawi) have already signed up to an SFCC Participatory Guarantee System (PGS) initiative, while others (Cuba, Ethiopia, Peru and Tanzania) are in the initial stages of moving towards this innovative and democratic form of certification.

A Participatory Guarantee System is an alternative certification model whereby producers and other stakeholders share a set of commonly-defined standards and norms, common procedures, a coordinating body, a common logo and defined consequences for non-compliance. The Slow Food Coffee Coalition believes that there is no such thing as a flawless certification system, but we prefer models based on trust and collaboration, and which do not financially burden producers.

The main aim of this initial tasting is to consolidate the Slow Food Coffee Coalition tasters panel and to calibrate the PGS evaluation criteria, including in relation to the sensory aspect of coffee. The SFCC seeks to promote coffee with refined sensory qualities, as well as to expand the definition of quality to include environmental and social aspects, and therefore the respect of local biodiversity and the work of farmers.

The panel of tasters is made up of:

• Alberto Polojac,Bloom Academy and Imperator, Trieste – Panel Leader
• Massimo Battaglia, coffee research leader Accademia dell’Espresso.
• Nora Smahelova, coffee education leader Accademia dell’Espresso.
• Marco Purini, coffee specialist Accademia dell’Espresso.
• Alessio Baschieri, roaster L’Albero del Caffè
• Bianca Maschio, sensory analyst Q Arabica Grader
• Massimo Audino, Coffee R&D green coffee innovation & product development Lavazza Group
• Maria Trompetto, Global Away from Home Brand Marketing Lavazza Group
• Federico Bobbio, Azahar Coffee Company
• Francesco Sanapo, artisanal roaster
• Andrej Godina, SCA trainer and coffee expert

The coffees will be assessed according to the international cupping protocol using the appropriate scorecards established by this methodology. The results will then be shared with the producer communities.

For more information visit coffeecoalition.slowfood.com.

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