Case study: Crufts with Royal Canin

Crufts pulls in thousands of people from all over the world, from vets to industry insiders. The Royal Canin stand is designed for that trade audience, and the coffee bar sits right in the middle of it. That means a queue at the coffee bar is a queue of exactly the audience Royal Canin came for.

Home Case Studies Running the coffee bar at the heart of Royal Canin’s Crufts stand

THE BRIEF

Crown Pet Foods, the team behind the Royal Canin stand, asked us to run a two-barista coffee service inside the Pet Professionals Lounge. It’s a dedicated space for the professionals who make the dog world run, with an international mix of visitors that you notice straight away on the bar, with “Welcome” in different languages.

This was our fifth year with Crown Pet Foods at Crufts, working again with Courts Design, who built the bespoke bar unit. The bar itself is a clean white unit with a bold red branded front, carried through to the cups: red and white, with the Royal Canin crown motif. On the machine, we had our Northern Espresso blend, roasted in our micro-roaster ahead of the event. Yorkshire Tea, hot chocolate, a selection of syrups and herbal teas rounded out the menu.

ON THE GROUND

Crufts builds as the days go on. More people arrive, word gets around and queues follow. By day four we were serving 750 drinks in a single day. Across the event: 20kg of chocolate (around 666 hot chocolates), seven boxes of Yorkshire Tea, plenty of herbal and decaf teas and a full bottle of caramel syrup. Events of this size are where our event debriefing process really earns its keep. We know what to expect and we stock accordingly so we don’t run short mid-event.

Katie and Pete were on the bar throughout, keeping service moving as the queues grew and making sure every drink was made properly and handed over with a smile.

The toughest challenge? The dogs. There were a lot of them, and they were very cute. Staying focused was its own skill.

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Eleanor Wade, Royal Canin

“Your baristas were efficient, polite, professional and incredibly diligent throughout a very demanding event – early every day and a huge support to everyone on the stand. I'm convinced our barista area is one of the busiest places in Crufts, and despite the queues, multiple people said it was the 'best coffee in the whole of Crufts.'”

days

2610

drinks served

7 boxes

of Yorkshire Tea

20kg

of chocolate

The lounge draws a crowd that appreciates a good coffee. These are professionals who’ve been on their feet since before the show opened, and the barista area is a welcome break in a very busy day. A well-run coffee bar keeps the right people on the stand for longer, and when guests are calling yours the best coffee at Crufts, they’re not in a hurry to leave.

We’ve been back five years running with the same client at the same event. It takes solid prep, a team who can handle being busy while still being warm and welcoming, and coffee people want to come back for.