The role of coffee has changed these past 12 months as many have ventured out of their houses to visit their local cafe takeaway for a quick pick-me-up. Here’s how the power of coffee has changed for both customers and roasters…
A year on since the whole of the UK went into full lockdown as a result of the coronavirus pandemic the nation is still reeling.
But despite the numerous lockdowns, ever-changing rules and a constant bout of uncertainty, many of Scotland’s cafes and coffee shops found ways to adapt and remain open.
As we mark a year in lockdown, and look to the significant easing of restrictions in the coming weeks, we’ve spoken to a coffee roaster in Inverness and a regular customer of a cafe in Elgin about how coffee has got them through the past 12 months.
From a customer…
Toni-Lee Duffus used to work at Batchen Street Coffee in Elgin many years ago and, until the pandemic hit, she’d had no idea how much she would come to rely on her former place of work for some normality.
Toni-Lee said: “I only really go to one coffee place and that’s Batchen Street Coffee in Elgin. I worked there for about a year and I just love it. They’re just such amazing people.
“I was lucky enough to be isolating with my family over the past few months but my granny was by herself, so everytime we’ve been going to Batchen Street it was like a slice of normality.
“We would sit in when we could and there are only about six tables in the place and everything in there has felt just as normal as possible. I know places like Starbucks and Costas have been busy and you’re constantly aware of all the people in those places that it doesn’t feel as relaxing.
“We can’t go into people’s houses, we can’t travel or go on holiday, but we can always come back to the coffee shop and get that slice of normality for 30 minutes, and that’s just been great.”
Supporting local
As restrictions over the past 12 months have been strict on both businesses and, to an extent, people’s movements, the opportunity to support a local enterprise during the pandemic is something that also hugely appealed to Toni-Lee.
She continued: “I think people changed during the pandemic as there seemed to be this massive surge of people wanting to support local. So having a cafe to go to really reinforced the fact that that’s somebody’s livelihood, which I think really comes through when you go there. At Batchen Street it’s the same three people you see every time and that’s really nice and has made me want to go more.
“Even if I didn’t want a coffee, I’d probably still go there and get one just because I know the people and when you get to know the faces behind the business, it makes it so much more personal to you.
“It’s a business where you can see the effort they put in with people, asking if it’s their usual they want and getting to know their names. I just really like that – people are just making so much more effort now.
“Customers are supporting local where they can and I do think that’s one positive that’s probably come from this.”
From a business…
While customers like Toni-Lee have been appreciative of some cafes remaining open for takeaway, other coffee businesses have found different ways to help their customers through the hard times.
One of these businesses is Inverness Coffee Roasting Co who, although closing their shop in the city’s Chapel Street, have remained open as a roaster and maintain sales and contact with their customers online.
Co-founder Heather Donnachie says that her business, which she runs with her husband Kevin, has become almost like a support network for her customers, who regularly phone for a chat.
Heather said: “Drinking coffee has become the thing that people do to get them through the day, or the Zoom meeting. Also, I think over the past few months people have been prepared to try something new.
“There are times that people just want to speak to somebody and there’ll be times we get calls from local people who we already know. And we’re almost not sure whether they actually want coffee or if they just want to speak to somebody, but we’ll always be happy to chat.
“We’ve had to adjust our whole operation because 95% of our commercial customers are closed, so rather than shut down and reduce staff, we have turned our energy to looking after the customers we’ve got, the individual customers and trying to improve the online experience.”
Online experience
Heather also had to take the majority of her business online and use it as a way of keeping in touch with customers that live on their own or are vulnerable.
She adds: “We’re also trying to keep in touch with people through social media and make it as personal as possible. So rather than just throwing out adverts all the time, it’s just a few wee cheery posts or funny things, or some pictures of ‘team bean’ as we call ourselves. We just want to let people know we’re still here, we’re all going through this together.
“Because we’re still at that nice stage where we know our customers, we can spot if somebody hasn’t ordered when they usually do or hasn’t been around for a wee while. We either get in touch with them or drop them off a bag of coffee just to say we’re thinking about them.”
“So we’ve just turned all our energy towards keeping in touch with people and even if they’re just phoning for a chat, we’re happy to do that as well.”
Geographical distance
Focusing more on their online offering has also meant that “Team Bean” has been able to reach customers further afield who have been unable to venture to their shop in person, or want to try something new.
Heather continued: “Because we’re doing much more online, I think our customer base has definitely increased. We’re not just servicing our local clients, we’ve also been able to reach clients at a geographical distance and we’ve had a load of new customers trying our coffee.
“For the wee while that we could have the shop open, our online sales almost went down because people were able to get out and about again. But the minute the lockdown came, people wanted to get in on the action and try something different.
“We’re just trying to ensure that a customer’s sale or contact with us is a positive one and something that maybe brings a smile to their face. Our mascot is a monkey so we got little monkey stickers that we can put on the bags we’re posting out to people. Then we got wee monkey coffee coasters, which we’d pop in with the orders just to make people smile.”