Welcome to Operator Notes, a new weekly newsletter written by coffee operators, consultants, creators, and practitioners who spot trends and share insight on what to do about them.
Each week, an expert working in the industry spotlight a learning, a takeaway, or trend they care about to help other operators in coffee learn and grow faster.
This week’s edition is written by Garrett Oden, publisher at Fresh Cup.
✉️ Operator Notes: practical advice from people working in coffee.
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The “Drink Hacks” Era is Back
I remember the early days of viral Instagram “drink hacks”. In fact, there are entire websites dedicated to preserving customized classics from the 2010s era of Starbucks (see the sickeningly sweet ‘cotton candy frappuccino’ and the folk remedy ‘medicine ball’).
There was a small window where it seemed rampant customization was falling out of style; the specialty coffee movement ramped up, and black coffee that emphasized the unique characteristics of the bean and terroir—as we used to tell customers—reigned king. But the recent swing back toward customization has seemed dramatic.
7 Brew launched a mobile ordering app in August. The company claims customers can create more than 20,000 drinks between the available coffees, drink bases, syrups, energy infusions, and cold foams.
If we’re talking numbers, Starbucks takes the cake with 170,000 baseline drinks as of 2023. Analysts at Bloomberg estimate the true number of unique combinations is numbered at 383 billion, and a 2022 report from Starbucks found that modifiers were a $1B (billion) revenue line.
The chains catering to this trend are seeing incredible growth, and as we’ve reported at Fresh Cup, signs point to increased interest in customization from younger consumers. In many regards, it seems customization has won.
On the other hand, customization can go too far and require too much of your team. Last year, Starbucks pared down the menu by 30% and implemented a flat fee for stacking multiple modifiers in an effort to keep baristas from being slowed down by overly cumbersome orders.
How to Compete With 170,000 Customizations
Most coffee shops accept a base level of customization (add syrup, add cold foam, add extra shot), but if you want to optimize to increase demand and margins for customizations, there are a few clever ideas I’ve seen:
- Market the customization you already offer. Guests creating drinks they love is marketable content. Feature their creations on social media and let people know they can get creative too.
- Draw a line somewhere. It’s reasonable to set limits, like one cold foam or three syrups in a single drink. Without boundaries, you’ll occasionally get wild requests that throw off baristas.
- Make sure the math still works. A flat fee on two-plus modifiers, like Starbucks now charges, helps cover the extra time cost. While you’re at it, check your modifier costs to make sure they’re profitable before you feature them heavily in your marketing.
- Bring back the secret menu. Turn your regulars’ best drinks into a menu of their own. An informal “secret menu” (off-menu drinks your team has permission to make, name, and even punch into the POS as their own button) can streamline customization while allowing the whimsy to continue.
- Make sure you really want to do this. It’s possible that a small, precise menu could be the differentiator you’re searching for (see Corvus Coffee and Courier Coffee, both of whom cut their menus down on purpose and built an identity around it). Before you optimize for customizations, it’s worth making sure it’s something you really want to do.
Go Deeper
How To Develop A Cafe Menu
Farmer Brothers’ Scott Siers and Perc Coffee’s Philip Brown on why too much build-your-own freedom can complicate training and dissatisfy customers, and how to decide how much customization to allow.
How Specialty Coffee Brands Are Keeping Up With Gen Z Consumers
Why younger customers treat customization as self-expression.
The Small Menu Advantage
Corvus Coffee and Courier Coffee on why a short, curated menu can be a brand statement rather than a limitation (basically, the case against customization).
