AngryChris Posted April 30, 2014 Share Posted April 30, 2014 I have an account that approached me about putting in a coffee bid. I currently service the vending machines and I have slowly upgraded their equipment over the last three years. They are looking for some sort of coffee service. I am trying to stay away from full-size coffee vending machines but I will consider anything that is affordable. Could I afford a brand-new full-size coffee machine? Not unless I did a deal through USI with 100% financing. Even then, there's probably no way I could afford a new coffee machine from coffee sales alone. With that said, I am looking for something in the range of $500-$2000. They are looking for a full coffee solution. They might want me to sell them coffee packets so they can brew fresh coffee twice a day (regular and decaf) in addition to some sort of on-demand coffee solution. I am aware that certain counter-top coffee units do not dispense cups so I would have to provide cups. What's the most profitable? What tastes the best? What's the cheapest solution? This location can probably afford $1.00 coffee servings but I want to sell a lot here. Any advice would be appreciated! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
allen watson Posted April 30, 2014 Share Posted April 30, 2014 I have a couple "bean-grinder" coffee machines. One is at a location with 200 people and the other is at a post office with about 70 people. Neither one make much money. .55 cent 12oz coffe and .45 10oz coffee. I use Jose' brand from Costco and flavored coffee from Vistar (French vanilla, Amaretto and hot chocolate). They are mostly trouble free, but when they act up they are a major headache. Mainly good maintenance keeps them running for a long time. Without them I wouldn't have got the accounts. Now I need to figure out how to pull them with out loosing the accounts. Another account asked for one but I convinced them to call the coffee man. If you do this, make sure to recommend a coffee provider that only does coffee. One company around here does coffee, water and vending machines. You don't want them in your account. The coffee guy I recommend only does coffee. We have a little deal worked out. If he has an account that needs a vending machine, he recommends me and visa versa. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Djstorman Posted April 30, 2014 Share Posted April 30, 2014 I have heard through the grapevine that offering a Keurig machine and placing the K-Cups in the snack machine is the way to go... if they accept Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
allen watson Posted April 30, 2014 Share Posted April 30, 2014 That is genius! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Djstorman Posted April 30, 2014 Share Posted April 30, 2014 That is genius! I wish I could take credit, that little nugget of golden advice came to me through Moondog, though I am sure others do that as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Walta Posted April 30, 2014 Share Posted April 30, 2014 How many people work at this site? Will management agree in writing to ban all other brewing devices from the property? It seems at this time the market for used coffee machines is in total free fall. You could afford something like this 213 http://www.ebay.com/itm/AP-HOT-BEVERAGE-213-VENDING-COFFEE-MACHINE-/201074739014?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2ed0fd0746 Walta Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
metrovending Posted April 30, 2014 Share Posted April 30, 2014 The Keurig machine idea is perfect! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngryChris Posted April 30, 2014 Author Share Posted April 30, 2014 I wish I could take credit, that little nugget of golden advice came to me through Moondog, though I am sure others do that as well. This is one of my backup plans. I have a couple "bean-grinder" coffee machines. One is at a location with 200 people and the other is at a post office with about 70 people. Neither one make much money. .55 cent 12oz coffe and .45 10oz coffee. I use Jose' brand from Costco and flavored coffee from Vistar (French vanilla, Amaretto and hot chocolate). They are mostly trouble free, but when they act up they are a major headache. Mainly good maintenance keeps them running for a long time. Without them I wouldn't have got the accounts. Now I need to figure out how to pull them with out loosing the accounts. Another account asked for one but I convinced them to call the coffee man. If you do this, make sure to recommend a coffee provider that only does coffee. One company around here does coffee, water and vending machines. You don't want them in your account. The coffee guy I recommend only does coffee. We have a little deal worked out. If he has an account that needs a vending machine, he recommends me and visa versa. What do you mean when you say they don't make much money? I am expecting about 200-300 vends per month or roughly 60 vends per week. From my understanding, you are probably making 50% profits on every cup of coffee. If you pulled $40/week from one machine, that's $1,000/year in profits. I only ask because 200 people sounds like it should make pretty good money on coffee. As for the post office, I would imagine that they have some bunns in there somewhere where people pour their own cups and bypass your machine OR they bring in their own coffee. I know there's one guy on these forums that swear that bean-grinders are the way to go though, I just don't remember who it is. Maybe it's Chris in BC. How many people work at this site? Will management agree in writing to ban all other brewing devices from the property? It seems at this time the market for used coffee machines is in total free fall. You could afford something like this 213 http://www.ebay.com/itm/AP-HOT-BEVERAGE-213-VENDING-COFFEE-MACHINE-/201074739014?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2ed0fd0746 Walta During the busy season, about 100-150 people traffic through this building every day. Based off of the information I got from the location, I expect 200-300 vends per month. With that said, I am going to estimate low and shoot for $2000/year in gross revenue from coffee. Management will not agree to ban all coffee. The deal is that they keep their existing coffee machine (keurig) for staff. I get to provide coffee for everyone else (75-125 people). No one else has access to that coffee. I WOULD be the exclusive supplier though. If they wanted to buy k-cups off of me, no one else could supply those, but they may go out and buy their own (they own the keurig). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mission vending Posted April 30, 2014 Share Posted April 30, 2014 I have an account that approached me about putting in a coffee bid. I currently service the vending machines and I have slowly upgraded their equipment over the last three years. They are looking for some sort of coffee service. I am trying to stay away from full-size coffee vending machines but I will consider anything that is affordable. Could I afford a brand-new full-size coffee machine? Not unless I did a deal through USI with 100% financing. Even then, there's probably no way I could afford a new coffee machine from coffee sales alone. With that said, I am looking for something in the range of $500-$2000. They are looking for a full coffee solution. They might want me to sell them coffee packets so they can brew fresh coffee twice a day (regular and decaf) in addition to some sort of on-demand coffee solution. I am aware that certain counter-top coffee units do not dispense cups so I would have to provide cups. What's the most profitable? What tastes the best? What's the cheapest solution? This location can probably afford $1.00 coffee servings but I want to sell a lot here. Any advice would be appreciated! You say some sort of coffee service..... have you asked what they want/expect? Most profitable would be the traditional Bunn or Newco pot brewer and sell and deliver all the supplies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngryChris Posted April 30, 2014 Author Share Posted April 30, 2014 Walta, the location has some nice vending machines so a coffee machine would have to be in excellent condition. Please refresh my memory though.. are the AP 213's better than the National equivalents? I remember reading several times that some models are more reliable than others. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngryChris Posted April 30, 2014 Author Share Posted April 30, 2014 You say some sort of coffee service..... have you asked what they want/expect? Most profitable would be the traditional Bunn or Newco pot brewer and sell and deliver all the supplies. Yes. I did ask what they wanted and they want several options so they can decide what's best for them. All I know is that they drink quite a lot of coffee... and this is the kind of location that knows what they consume and what they don't consume. When I say a lot of coffee, I mean roughly $400/month in k-cups (at wholesale prices). They seem to want a traditional bunn (which they actually have already... and they own it!) and they want me to sell them the coffee and supplies. This is simply to brew coffee twice every day. On top of that, they want an additional option that is available all day, such as a keurig machine, counter-top unit, or a full-size unit. I am trying to stay away from a full-size unit for several reasons (one being space) but I am sure that I could squeeze a counter-top unit in there. I really want to provide them with specialty coffee options as they are used to k-cups. Regular OCS might be too bland for their tastes. Because of this, I might stick with k-cups and sell them at a slight profit or I might look for a counter-top unit. I think I can see better profits out of a counter-top unit but it requires more maintenance. Does this give enough information? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
allen watson Posted April 30, 2014 Share Posted April 30, 2014 Don't let me talk you out of it. I am not impressed with the coffee market in my area. If it were cold here for any length of time it would probably be better. Or if my customers were a little older. Most of my customers are Hispanic and don't seem to drink much coffee. They like Coke. When they are sick, they drink Coke warm. They say it's good for what ails them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngryChris Posted April 30, 2014 Author Share Posted April 30, 2014 Don't let me talk you out of it. I am not impressed with the coffee market in my area. If it were cold here for any length of time it would probably be better. Or if my customers were a little older. Most of my customers are Hispanic and don't seem to drink much coffee. They like Coke. When they are sick, they drink Coke warm. They say it's good for what ails them. That's odd lol, but Coke was originally designed to be a medicine so I won't discredit them for that. It's odd because I thought I have read that hispanic people really like coffee. Maybe I have my demographics wrong.. but I am sure that hot weather and hot coffee do not get along. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AZVendor Posted April 30, 2014 Share Posted April 30, 2014 Chris, more information is needed. What type of location is this? How are the employees segregated from the people that will use your equipment? Is the coffee for the general public and are your other machines as well? If you have vending for the employees and vending for the public, what percentage of your revenue is public? Are these regular, repeat visitors and have they had access to free coffee for a long time? Do you really want to play the game of guessing what they will think is sufficient or don't you think you should provide what makes better sense for you? Are they going to pay you for the Bunn type coffee since it can't be coin operated? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngryChris Posted April 30, 2014 Author Share Posted April 30, 2014 Chris, more information is needed. What type of location is this? How are the employees segregated from the people that will use your equipment? Is the coffee for the general public and are your other machines as well? If you have vending for the employees and vending for the public, what percentage of your revenue is public? Are these regular, repeat visitors and have they had access to free coffee for a long time? Do you really want to play the game of guessing what they will think is sufficient or don't you think you should provide what makes better sense for you? Are they going to pay you for the Bunn type coffee since it can't be coin operated? Randy, it's basically a school. The faculty accounts for roughly 35% of the vending revenue. The rest comes from students. Many of these students are there for several hours each day. They don't really have access to free coffee necessarily... they have to pay to use the keurig. The kcups are "free" in a sense.They are fine with buying coffee supplies for the bunn. They are going to charge a monthly rate to people for that portion. They want that AND an on-demand unit. I could stick with a keurig for minimal equipment costs or I could get an actual machine that brews coffee. I really think I can get at least 10 vends per day from coffee but maybe no more than 20. The faculty have access to their own breakroom. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AZVendor Posted April 30, 2014 Share Posted April 30, 2014 Are they currently charging a fee to the students for use of the Keurig or will that be a new fee? How do they know who paid the fee? If you are going to bill them for the coffee supplies I guess you don't care who does or doesn't pay the fee. The problem I see is if the Keurig is still accessible by students then you only make money if they buy K cups from you (the school or the students from a snack machine). If you can get the Keurig put in an area that only the faculty can access then you will have a captive audience for a coin operated machine, whether it's single cup or full size. I personally, since I ran machines before, would do a full size machine. You can be simplistic or complex with a machine. If you want maximum flavor choices then you can use an AP213FDX which is freeze dried coffee (three selections), hot chocolate, cafe mocha, and three soluble whipped flavors. An AP213 is dual cup and was also built as FD (normal selections of freeze dried), LG (loose ground coffee plus other normal flavors), G (ground coffee) and GLG (Ground and loose ground). Tea was always an option on the 213 as was a sugar substitute. The FDX, though freeze dried, had the most selections. After the 213 series came the Cafe Diem machine with multiple recipes and many flavors that could be created in the machine. The older National machines, the 627 and earlier, were all basic coffee machines with the same options that the 213 had with the exception of the FDX version. The newer National machines, 957 models I think and up, have many more selections, multiple grinders and they are more along the line of the AP Cafe Diem machines. These newer Nationals are also available in standard configurations without the multiple flavors. If you decide to do single cup then your best bet is a K-cup type machine as you can offer tons of varieties of coffees, but how would you merchandise them or get paid for them? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngryChris Posted April 30, 2014 Author Share Posted April 30, 2014 I'm pretty certain I could get them to remove the keurig that the students have access to. On the other hand, I can just sell k cups out of a snack machine and I would only have to get a larger machine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngryChris Posted April 30, 2014 Author Share Posted April 30, 2014 I will make a quick note that I have very little coffee experience both as a vendor and as a consumer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loach33 Posted April 30, 2014 Share Posted April 30, 2014 If he were to go with a Keurig in this situation - which model would be best? I've read about using the Keurig and selling the K-Cups but when trying to figure out which one to go with I got lost. Then there's the water line hookup, etc, etc, etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FrCorey Posted April 30, 2014 Share Posted April 30, 2014 yeah just order a kurig from sams for 150.00 they can use the water from the cooler, like sparkletts or something and put the k cups in a merch vender and sams sells the k cups too, in assortments Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiwi Posted April 30, 2014 Share Posted April 30, 2014 That is genius! I wish I could take credit, that little nugget of golden advice came to me through Moondog, though I am sure others do that as well. Comparing Moondog & Genius together is a scary thought... what is the world coming too? Chris... have you thought about using a fresh bean machine like a saeco or colibri? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngryChris Posted April 30, 2014 Author Share Posted April 30, 2014 I don't think thr cheap model will be sufficient Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiwi Posted April 30, 2014 Share Posted April 30, 2014 I don't think thr cheap model will be sufficient What do you mean by cheap model? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngryChris Posted April 30, 2014 Author Share Posted April 30, 2014 What do you mean by cheap model? I was responding to frcory. I have thought about a colibri. Are they good? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hawksfan9325 Posted April 30, 2014 Share Posted April 30, 2014 Only way to go.. http://www.keurig.com/brewers/b3000se Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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