Increase your café's revenue with retail coffee for home

We are seeing an increasing trend of consumers looking to recreate the experience of their favourite café at home – this creates an exciting retail opportunity for every café to take advantage of.

COVID forced a lot of coffee drinkers to learn how to make great coffee at home and this has continued to grow post-pandemic. As people continue to work from home, and with a boom in the espresso hobby sector, the home barista trend will continue to grow and thrive.

Combined with increasing cost of living pressures and higher quality home espresso machines available at lower price-points, avid coffee drinkers' are opting for a one-time investment in a home espresso station to enable them to have that second and third cup in the comfort of their home or the office.

While this might sound like a bad sign for a hospitality operator, curating your own well-executed retail display to cater to this growing segment opens up new revenue opportunities for your business, increasing coffee sales and loyalty for your café.

Coffee-for-home case studies

Knead on Benson, Auckland

Take the case of Knead on Benson, Auckland – ranging Allpress Espresso Blend 250g beans and plunger, the team are selling an average of 28 bags per month, growing 108% for the first 6 months of 2024 vs same period in 2023.

Baked In, Sorrento and Portsea

The team tap into both their local customer base and holiday makers by offering retail coffee for domestic espresso machines, pod machines and other alternative brewing methods. Over the last 12 months their retail sales have grown by 36%.

Everyday Coffee, Auckland

Creating a dedicated retail space at the entry close to the coffee machine with Allpress beans, porcelain Allpress Arita cups, brewing tools and other specialty goods, the team grew their sales by 220% in the first 6 months of opening.

Kopi, Lennox Head

Growing a community around their café, Kopi provides customers with their favourite coffee for their kitchens too. Keeping their dedicated retail space stocked with their house espresso and rotating single origins, coffee-for-home sales have increased 36% in the past twelve months.

Brighton Road Café, Auckland

By creating a dedicated retail space with homewares and specialty goods, the team have captured the locals who pick up provisions on their daily visit. They've increased their retail sales by 94% in their first 3 months of trading.

A well-curated retail display encourages customer interaction and discovery. By focusing on these strategies, your retail display can become a powerful tool for enhancing customer engagement and increasing sales.

Range

Feature your house blend prominently in both beans and pre-ground options. This should be a focal point of your display, as it's a product customers recognise and trust
Grind beans fresh to order to suit your customer's home brew method, enhancing the personalised experience for your customers
Open up your range with blends from across the portfolio to cater to different flavour preferences – this ensures there is something for all tastes and encourages customers to explore various options
Create interest and variety in your retail range with single origin limited editions and seasonal releases
Brewing tools create "coffee-for-home" opportunities leading to regular bean purchases at your café
Merch and collateral like reusable cups and canisters provide great gifts and add interest to your retail display.

Location

Position your display in a high-visibility area near the coffee bar or where customers naturally wait. This draws attention and makes it convenient for customers to browse
Stock best sellers at your counter which encourages an impulse sale
Create an interactive display that invites customers to explore. This could include touch-and-feel elements, tasting notes, or brewing guides.

Merchandising

Simple, solid shelving with multiple products makes the space feel organised and abundant
Place valuable or high-margin items up high, core products at eye level, and secondary items lower down or at the end of the shelves. This tiered approach helps guide customer focus
Consider vertical vs horizontal use of space; add pops of greenery/colour for a curated feel
Colour block the blends to create shelf impact and make them stand out
Price all products clearly, consistently and discreetly
Use wooden blocks to feature hero products
Regularly rotate products with older shelf life to the front of the display to ensure freshness and reduce waste.