Coffee Time – What About the True Cost?

A recent survey by coffee giant Douwe Egberts discovered
some intriguing facts which any company Financial Director
should ignore at his/her peril. A key finding was that an
average of THREE employee/days per year is lost through
workers “going out” for a coffee. An amazing 13% of these
actually left the office because they were in search of a
“speciality” coffee, and a staggering 26% said that they
went out to get a decent quality cup of coffee – something
which clearly was not available at the workplace.

Intriguingly, 62% said that they went for a coffee simply
as an excuse to get out of the office, although 50% said
that they would stay inside if there was a better choice of
brew at the workplace.

The survey was carried out in London in two separate
locations and involved over 100 respondents.

The survey found that fewer than one in five or 20% of
offices have a dedicated canteen or coffee area where
workers can get (free or paid for) cups of coffee. Such
offices usually relied on vending machines, kettles or
filter pots, which in the main usually resulted in poor
quality coffee. This was the chief reason why so many of
the respondents made for the exit in search of a decent
quality “pick me up” rather than make do with such meagre
offerings.

Thus, the key to keeping staff on the premises is to ensure
that good quality coffee-making facilities are available at
all times. However, the survey also revealed that staff
have become more and more discerning in their tastes, and
insist on speciality coffees, and the ability to ring the
changes according to their mood and taste on the day. Even
such things as supplying particular brands of coffee, or
bigger cups as offered by the major coffee chains, would go
a long way to persuading staff to stay at their desks
rather than lose company time.

The survey confirmed the generally held view that small
businesses and small volume work sites have shied away from
providing good quality or even industrial standard coffee
making machines. These are seen as an expensive luxury,
difficult to use and difficult to maintain. Hence the best
such companies can do is provide instant coffee from
vending machines, a kettle and spoon – or even nothing at
all.

However, with the increasing trend to leave the office and
spend up to 9 minutes at a time away from their desks,
worker behaviour patterns are forcing a re-think on the
actual costs of coffee in the workplace, and an increase in
enquiries for versatile, quality coffee-making machines.

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Jimi St. Pierre writes for several Office Equipment
suppliers in the UK, including Pricipal Corporation. You
can find out more about office supplies on Principal’s
comprehensive office equipment website at: =>
http://www.principalcorp.co.uk/