How would you like to have your latte delivered to you?

[CoffeeCurious]

Hello All!

I am a research student (and coffee lover ) from Cornell University, Johnson School of Management and we are studying innovative ideas relating to the coffee industry. Talking to coffee connoiseurs directly for their opinions and ideas is an invaluable part of our research process; which is why I have come to Coffee Forums If the admin of this group require my personal id or any university verification, I will personally provide it to them at any point.

One topic of our research is to see the viability of delivering coffee; assuming that there was a way to keep coffee warm and fresh, will there be a demand for coffee to be delivered, say, via pressing a button on an app, by the coffee drinking masses out there?

What do you coffee fans think? ...Would you want your latte delivered to you? Any expectations or skepticisms?

If so, what would you be willing to pay for delivery? And how much time will you be willing to wait for your cuppa?

Thank you so much in advance for any help!!!

 

[ensoluna]

welcome to forum, CoffeeCurious.
regards to your topic : viability of delivering "latte" to your door step...... WoW! This is New.
I do not think that I want my latte delivered, unless it is IN A COFFEE SHOP.

Warm and Fresh latte delivered? from where to my house?
unless it is NESCAFE, UCC, MR. BROWN, OR EVEN STARBUCKS (which are all no good at all), I do not think that is possible... again unless you can make a great latte and deliver to my house in..... about less than 2 min.

And "what would I willing to pay for delivery?" : even if they pay me to drink the latte, probably, I wouldn't.

anyway, interesting to hear what other members think.

 

[slurp]

I can not say this is a G rated forum :decaf:

 

[PinkRose]

Hello All!



One topic of our research is to see the viability of delivering coffee; assuming that there was a way to keep coffee warm and fresh, will there be a demand for coffee to be delivered, say, via pressing a button on an app, by the coffee drinking masses out there?

What do you coffee fans think? ...Would you want your latte delivered to you? Any expectations or skepticisms?

If so, what would you be willing to pay for delivery? And how much time will you be willing to wait for your cuppa?

Thank you so much in advance for any help!!!

Hello and welcome to the Coffee Forums.

The only way I could see this work for me is if the delivery person had a mobile coffee making setup, and he would need to prepare the coffee outside in my driveway before bringing it to my door.

This would be a novelty thing, because I imagine it would be an expensive luxury. I'm not sure how much I'd pay for just coffee to be delivered.

Many places charge a couple of dollars for delivery. Then If you add the tip, it adds on to the cost. I'm not sure if it would be worth it to have coffee delivered. But, I'm pretty sure I'd pay for breakfast to be delivered if that were ever available.

Rose

 

[John P]

I don't know how you can claim to be a "coffee lover" and then propose an idea which would be the delivery of a non-fresh coffee, or worse to a prospective consumer. And I would guess it would be in a #$</ing paper cup.

The only remotely viable solution is Rose's, which came to mind to me as well. It would have to be above and beyond for me to even have feigning interest (deliver in ceramic to my door in dead of winter after preparing it in my driveway at 6:30am. And it better be something I might come out in the snow to drink. It would need to be that good.) As a business idea, the delivery idea is ridiculous. Unless you are aiming at people that would make the Starbucks crowd look "coffee savvy," then it's just flawed from inception.

 

[CoffeeCurious]

First off, thank you all so much for getting back to me...Its really so refreshing to get perspective on this.

I think the general mood is one of concern (please correct me if I am wrong); being coffee connoiseurs, the main skepticism is; how are you going to give me real quality coffee through home delivery? The idea seems 'ridiculous' as John says, and perhaps even blasphemous.

Regarding the idea itself, John, well...working in a student team, we debate all sorts of ideas and though I might have my own concerns regarding it, I need to understand what the sentiment of other coffee drinkers are, to challenge or validate my views.

Ensoluna and Rose, thank you for welcoming me to the community Rose, it is interesting what you say about delivery of breakfast! What are the top 2 or 3 breakfast things that you think you might like; especially seeing that they need to be items that don't get messy to be delivered?

I would lastly like to play the devil's advocate here; while thinking of the question "When will there be demand for coffee delivery?" two scenarios come to mind;

1) It is winter (as John suggested); you are in office. It is too cold to comfortably go to the nearest source of quality coffee. Office coffee sucks. There is an app that would let you get coffee delievered to you; let's assume that it is from a quality source as well. Will you go for it?
2) It is morning rush hour time. You have an important meeting at 8:30 AM, you have not had the time to make your favourite brew. There is the app that promises quality coffee and some breakfast item delivered to your office by the time you get there. Will you go for it?

And yes, while asking these, I do understand that for true coffee lovers this is not the ideal situation; but the alternative is no coffee at all. Apart from ceramic (which might be difficult) and coffee made right outside your door/office, what would convince you of the coffee's quality to get you to atleast try it in the above two situations?

Thank you guys for being so great and helping my research out!!!

 

[PinkRose]

And yes, while asking these, I do understand that for true coffee lovers this is not the ideal situation; but the alternative is no coffee at all. Apart from ceramic (which might be difficult) and coffee made right outside your door/office, what would convince you of the coffee's quality to get you to atleast try it in the above two situations?

Thank you guys for being so great and helping my research out!!!

People stop on their way to work and pick up coffee all of the time. They pick up a cup for their friends too, along with some pastry items. Then, they take it to the office and they all enjoy a coffee break before starting work. It happens all of the time. Most of the coffee is regular drip-brewed coffee. It costs less and stays warm and holds up better (than specialty drinks like lattes or cappuccinos) as they travel into work.

It's possible that someone would occasionally pay for a delivery service, if they didn't have a friend or subordinate to fetch the coffee for them.

I mentioned that I often wish I could have breakfast delivered. It would be a great convenience, but I highly doubt that it would taste good. I was picturing pancakes and scrabbled eggs......However, the thought of them being cold and rubbery is very unappealing.

 

[ensoluna]

I mentioned that I often wish I could have breakfast delivered. It would be a great convenience, but I highly doubt that it would taste good. I was picturing pancakes and scrabbled eggs......However, the thought of them being cold and rubbery is very unappealing.

I guess the main "problem" with CoffeeCurious concept is the distance and location & convenience of the delivery point. As P.Rose said, if it takes a while to deliver the coffee (specially like latte, cappuccinos...etc), certainly it will get ruined for sure. for regular brewed coffee, most of office has the coffee machine, so probably not.

Let me tell you my company story, retail shop, in Quetzaltenango, Guatemala.

We have a retail coffee shop / makes breakfast and some other foods. (BTW, in Guatemala 99% of coffee shops also make full blown breakfast and lunch because they can not just survive serving coffee related items only. Daniel told me that foods income is 60% and coffee is 40% and same for everyone else).

Anyway, the retail shop (it is called Teja cafe) is located in the first floor of a 6 story business building. We have the only coffee/breakfast shop in the building.
What we do is that every morning, we get breakfast and coffee orders from different offices in the building and we deliver.
We have a "delivery cart", similar to Airplane food/drink cart where we put breakfast, coffee, snacks and other items and one lady goes around each office offering coffee and foods.
They can also phone - order in advance for specialty coffee and foods.

We can do this without sacrificing the quality because it only take few minutes to deliver.

PS: this is my 400th posting. WoW. Already!. I have never have imagined when I joined this forum on April 29 of this year. Looking forward hitting 500 soon.

PPS : I got ONE MORE BEAN! four beans now. :+)

 

[PinkRose]

PS: this is my 400th posting. WoW. Already!. I have never have imagined when I joined this forum on April 29 of this year. Looking forward hitting 500 soon.

PPS : I got ONE MORE BEAN! four beans now. :+)

Alex,

Congratulations on your 400th post! You've been a valuable contributor to this Forum.

Rose

 

[CoffeeCurious]

Dear PinkRose and Ensoluna,

Thank you so much, once again! Hearing how concepts actually work out during execution, in reality is a much needed learning experience.

I have much to think over, but I feel so great that I found this forum where I can not only come to for help, but so much of amazing information and different points of interest and views.

Congratulations on your 400th post! Maybe one day I will too

Thank you once again,

Best regards!!!

 

[Evilsports]

My main concerns would be:

1- The speed with which it could be delivered. When I want a coffee, I want it now. (This is why I try to surround myself with the tools necessary to feed these impulses.)
2- The quality would obviously be suspect until proven otherwise. Getting a great coffee can be a chore, even giving the person preparing it an ideal set of working conditions and tools.
3- I would personally be reluctant to deprive myself of the joy I get from my preparation ritual. It's very zen-like for me to grind, tamp, and pull a shot first thing in the morning when the rest of my family is still asleep.

 

[john311]

First let me start off by saying I am completely fascinated by this thread. There have been several mornings when I am completely exhausted and just wished I could push a button and have my coffee (and even breakfast) on demand. Oh and car to drive me to work wouldn't hurt either. That would be a rather pricey lifestyle. The only way I would want this coffee delivered is to my exact liking and timing. There are so many different ways to serve coffee, I think a delivery option would be risky. The price of this convenience may not hold up in the ever changing times of the current economy. Best of luck with your project! This would be a great modern convenience.

 

[outsidecoffee]

I too am dubious about delivery - even delivering inside the same building! Even after a couple minutes a latte starts to sag...not so pretty...and let's not even start with old espresso! However, at my coffee shop it is routine for someone to not pick up their drink for a few minutes and they never complain about the product!

That being said, I am curious about the potential. I am considering starting a coffee truck and potentially taking phone orders or delivering within office buildings.

Also, I have heard that Starbucks is looking into doing delivery. Has anyone else heard this?

 

[AMPDRoasting]

I thought about this also. It could work well with a coffee truck that goes door to door but i cannot see that being cost effective. i have also seen coffee bikes that have ability to make coffee but unless you have a team of them, how would you cover larger areas. in the same office building will also work, but then you have a limited market.

keep posting, this is a very interesting thread =)

 

[Musicphan]

I think it would be difficult to deliver espresso based products on a delivery basis... but could be reasonable for other brewing methods. Mobile pour over baristas??