Spilling the beans on masterful mobile coffee

Mobile coffee – made personal

At The Barista, our offering is simple. We serve freshly prepared mobile coffee, juice and smoothies at events across Europe. But, it’s fair to say that the way we do it is a little different.

We’re not a team of caterers.

We’re professionally trained event baristas.

And we serve our own signature blend, Northern Espresso, created seasonally from the best coffee producers in the world.

We offer a comprehensive service which includes branding, delivery, menu design and your very own team of friendly baristas. Our mobile coffee bars create a fantastic first impression, increase footfall and help get the conversation moving with your prospects.

It’s a service that sees our clients returning time and time again.

To better explain why our clients choose us, we caught up with Sam Fletcher, Co-Director at The Barista, to ask him a couple of questions. Here he is below serving at an event recently. 

A rare sight of Sam back behind the coffee machine! Turns out you can teach an old dog new tricks. ? #eventprofs pic.twitter.com/WiEas0omfl

— The Barista (@TheBaristaUK) September 17, 2018

How do you make it easy for clients to get the coffee bar that’s right for them?

Every event starts with a 1-2-1 discussion with the client to establish their objectives and specific requirements. The information gathered allows us to keep every detail aligned to the client’s requirements. One size does not fit all and we treat each event as a fresh challenge.

We also carry out internal debrief meetings where we collate and record new information gained after every event. This helps us build an ongoing picture of the best ways to approach working with particular clients, events or venues, and provides a really useful point of reference for the team.

At The Barista, you have a team of permanent event baristas, meaning they get to know your regular, long-standing clients and colleagues. What’s the benefit of this? And in what ways do the team prepare to do the very best job when you take on a new client?

Building on-going rapport is one of the benefits of our service. We understand how our clients work; we know their strategy and how they like the coffee bar to fit in with this. We take the time to learn about their products/services and can better integrate ourselves into their team as a result.

Trust, reliability and consistency – that’s what we deliver for every client.

In the instances when a different barista serves a client, information is shared during the debrief meetings previously mentioned. And although each barista has their own personality, we maintain the same style of service, based on our shared understanding of the client.

And for new clients?

For new clients, we spend time understanding the company and their requirements. We get to know; the brand; their key messages; the team; their objectives; the competition; venue details; and the specifics of service. This enables us to act as an extension of their events team.

In what ways do you add value to a client’s stand throughout the duration of the event?

In a nutshell? We:

• Increase footfall
• Start the conversation
• Create an eye-catching focal point
• Provide friendly hospitality
• Keep spirits high and people caffeinated with a happy barista
• Provide a helping pair of hands whenever required; keeping the stand tidy; assisting when asked etc.

 

Oh, and we also make fantastic coffees to order!

 

During the event, what do you do for the client that they don’t have to worry about?

Our process makes it clear to the client that they are in the hands of true professionals, leaving them to get on with their event. We take full control of the coffee bar and everything to do with it – we’re completely self-sufficient and always willing to look after your guests and colleagues to ensure everyone receives first class service.

At the end of the first day, we ask for feedback and adapt accordingly for the remainder of the event. Head office is kept constantly up-to-date with the activity and success of each event, meaning we are held completely accountable. Don’t be surprised if we’re the first to arrive and last to leave.

Why do you think clients return to The Barista’s service?

I think the consistency of the service we offer is a huge pull. Our clients know to expect the same high standards before and after the event – with no exceptions.

And then there’s the personal factor.

We have a friendly, professional team that get to know your brand, your products and services, and make it easy from start to finish. The enthusiasm, organisation and attention to detail of every barista on our books is evident throughout planning, delivery and aftercare.

It boils down to this…

Our service adds genuine value to our clients’ presence and we genuinely care about the success of our clients’ events, at every stage.

Plus, our coffee is pretty damn special too.

The Barista is a certified ESSA supplier. Membership includes a commitment to the ESSA Quality Service Charter and Code of Conduct. What does this commitment mean for a client?

We’ve been members of ESSA for years, meaning we have a proven track record for keeping our promises and delivering to best practice industry standards. We’re active members of ESSA, supporting them at their events and sharing our expertise. In return, we have their support and can tap into their wealth of experience whenever we need to.

Want to see more from the experts at The Barista? We’re on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram where you can take a look at what we’ve been up to.

Or perhaps you’d like to learn more about our coffee? Visit our coffee page or get in touch to find out more about what we do.