A new way to sell coffee
How to sell roasted coffee
Reasons of a closed market (concentrated)
The world consumes more than 6 millions tonnes of coffee; green coffee beans are the 2d commodity in the world after Petroleum. Roasted coffee which represent a huge market for agro-industrial companies, gathered 3 big majors that share 75 % of the market (Kraft,Sara Lee and Nestlé).
This concentration of companies in the market has different historical causes but we also can find some reasons in the retail channel or the steps in the supply chain where coffee takes value. This last one is quiet important to be aware of if we want to understand the success and the revolution of Nespresso.
Coffee beans increase in value when it’s roasted (product creation) and when it’s prepared (service). Coffee beverage taste well just after it’s prepared , because of that, this step has kept an artisanal aspect or an art (as Italian says) which is enjoyed by the barista of the restaurant or coffee shop or all of us when we prepare a hot fresh coffee. In this context, coffee roasters companies had no choice than concentrate all their ambition on selling grind roasted coffee.
We can identify 2 retail channels
- CHR. A B to B market where customers buy big amount but in majority looks for the cheaper price.
- Supermarket retailers. A B to C market which is the one that interest us.
Characteristics of the Supermarket retailer market
To sell coffee through supermarket retailers have the advantage to access to mass market but also impose the rules of this retail channel. The first one, known by all companies which sell by this way, is the war price. In the case of the grind coffee there ...