No one person drinks the same cup of coffee. It’s part of our natural individuality, shining through every little thing we do.

One person adds a dollop of sugar on top of a splash of milk to get their coffee turning a lovely shade of chestnut brown. Others will visit their favorite cafe to get a white chocolate mocha with a few extra shots to set them up for the rest of the day. Whatever way you customize your coffee, cafes today are eager at meeting you halfway and providing you an experience you’re eager to have again. With coffee only continuing to be one of the most popular drinks around the world it stands to reason you should consider how you approach your store, down to the cup of coffee stirrers by the front counter.

What are five ingredients no cafe should be without to keep customers coming back for more?

Hot Soup

It may seem a little odd to start off a list of must-have coffee accessories in a cafe with hot soup, but this is one element you should consider for the rest of 2018 and beyond. That’s because it’s common for customers to get a little food alongside their cup of joe, whether it’s a snack to take with them to the car or a short lunch break in the cafe. Americans will consume a collective 10 billion bowls of soup every year. Soup is also particularly popular among younger and older working women. Introducing seasonal varieties, such as tomato basil or pumpkin, will keep customers talking throughout the year.

Creamer

Independent coffee shops rake in an impressive $12 billion in yearly sales. How do they keep pace in such a competitive industry? They make sure customers are never wanting for more. A classic way of keeping your customers satisfied is by providing creamer at your little to-go stations. While mochas and lattes are delicious, some just want a quick cup of coffee they can customize on their way out. Creamer can come in flavor varieties, such as hazelnut and vanilla, or plain. One study found over 60% of customers prefer to add their own cream as well as…

Sugar

Your to-go station should be regularly stocked with all the little items customers need to enjoy their coffee experience to the fullest. Around 65% of all coffee is consumed during breakfast hours, with another 30% between meals, and just 35% of coffee drinkers prefer their coffee black. Sugar is an essential item to have in any cafe, with different varieties perfect for helping customers shake up their routine. This can mean basic sugar, brown sugar and, of course, sweeteners for those on a strict diet. Today independent coffee shops manage to sell around 30% of espresso-based drinks, with the rest brewed in-store.

Paper Coffee Cups

Let’s face it. Most coffee customers are on their way somewhere else. While some will linger in the cafe for a cup of soup and a browse through the newspaper, many are on their way to the job or heading to pick up their kids from practice. This means you need to always have paper coffee cups with lids on standby. The United States imported a stunning 27 million bags of coffee back in 2014, accounting for nearly one quarter of global coffee imports. What way can you make even this list even better?

Coffee Accessories

Never underestimate the power of coffee accessories. Just like creamer and sugar change the drink according to a customer’s personal tastes, so too do coffee accessories allow them to go the extra mile. Coffee stirrers are a simple way of mixing up their drink without creating a mess, while coffee stoppers prevent their drink from splashing all over the car when they hit a bump in the road. Today over 50% of the population (that’s as many as 150 million Americans) drink espresso, lattes or cappuccinos.

Each cup of coffee says a lot about our personality. Bring out the individuality in your customers by making sure you always have plenty of hot soup, small paper cups with lids and packets of sugar.

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Francis Pitt

Francis Pitt has made a name for himself in farm-to-table organics, working at restaurants in Portland, Seattle and Burlington, Vermont. While he has a taste for the extreme, most of his restaurant’s top sellers are much more down-to-earth, regularly featuring mushrooms gathered from the slopes of the Cascades, and fresh wild-caught seafood from the Oregon coast. Inspired by trends in Portland, his latest restaurant offers the ultimate chef’s table: dinner begins in the morning at his island collective farm, and 4 lucky guests every week get to follow the food, literally, from the field to the plate! Francis is a firm believer that you are what you eat — do you really want to be a chemistry set?

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