You’ll already be familiar with loyalty cards or programs, and are likely to have several in your purse/wallet at this very moment.
They are common among coffee shops, which reward customers for coming back time and time again. For example, if you buy eight hot drinks, you’re given one for free.
But what if you were being encouraged to be disloyal, instead?
Six north-east cafes have teamed up to do just that, introducing their own unique take on a loyalty card – a Disloyalty Card.
The card, which launched on Monday (August 7) can be collected free of charge at Figment, Mount and Foodstory, all located in Aberdeen, as well as Dreamy Goat Coffee Co in Inverurie and the two Coffee Apothecary branches in Udny and Ellon.
What is the aim of the Disloyalty Card?
The concept for the Disloyalty Card was thought up by Jonny Aspden, chief coffee maker at The Coffee Apothecary.
It instead rewards people for trying out new spots across the city and shire.
Those that receive six stamps, which can be earned by buying a coffee from each of the participating cafes, on their card are treated to a free coffee at a venue of their choice.
The venue must feature on the Disloyalty Card.
Inspired by similar schemes in London and Edinburgh, Jonny contacted a line-up of local cafes to see if they would consider getting on board with a north-east version.
Its main aim is to highlight “the small but perfectly formed speciality coffee scene in Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire”, as well as drive footfall.
Jonny, from Udny, adds: “I loved the idea.
“With everything so hard for hospitality at the moment – food, energy and staff costs, and customers having less to spend – it seemed like the perfect time to do something to shine a light on the local speciality coffee scene and hopefully give us all a wee boost.
“I reached out to the other cafes and everyone was very keen so we all went for it.”
Speciality coffee? I need to know more…
The 40-year-old went on to say: “Speciality coffee is something so exciting and delicious that it is definitely worth celebrating.
“I think it is very misunderstood. In the north-east it not something you come across often at all. The fact that you can drink the very best coffee in the world is amazing.”
Typically, speciality coffee is grown at high altitudes with a lot of care and attention from the farmer.
From there, it is sold at a premium to coffee traders, or direct to roasters.
“There are quite a few things a coffee has to be to be classed as speciality,” Jonny adds. “The main one is it has to score of at least 80 points on a quality evaluation.
“The scale is set by the Speciality Coffee Association and goes from zero to 100 with most commercial coffee being in the range of 60 to 80.”
‘On the first day, we gave out about 100 at each Coffee Apothecary’
The Disloyalty Cards will be available to use until Sunday, December 31 – their expiration date.
They have only been available to collect since Monday, but Jonny believes their success is looking promising.
“On the first day, we gave out about 100 at each Apothecary,” he said.
“That was way more than we thought so we are scrambling to order more as we will run out very fast at this rate.”
Jonny went on to say: “This card encourages you to be disloyal and go somewhere else, so the name came from that.
“Being disloyal has never tasted so good.”
Conversation