2021 Category Captain for Hot Beverages: Franke Coffee Systems
With cleanliness and contactless solutions coming to the forefront in 2020, retailers are now looking for partners that will work with them to come up with innovation solutions. During 2020 and presently, Franke Coffee Systems partnered closely with its customers to ensure successful coffee solutions for today’s c-store environment.
As one of the only coffee equipment manufacturers to provide free webinars on coffee trends, insights for c-stores and specific research data, Franke has armed c-store operators with an understanding of how to market their coffee programs during COVID.
Additionally, Franke has worked with c-store operators across the U.S. to help educate consumers on how to use Franke's coffee systems, which include self-contained coffee, milk and syrups. The company also worked with c-store operators throughout the year to put emphasis on its automatic cleaning systems. With less labor requirements than traditional units, Franke’s system allows c-store staff to have minimal contact with customers, and provides enhanced consumer confidence and safety.
Continuing to innovate, Franke introduced the Franke Touchless feature to its Digital Services offering. This option enables customers to use their mobile phone camera to scan a QR code, which then populates the available coffee beverages for selection on their phone.
Despite a challenging year, Franke continued to provide innovative solutions and execute large-scale rollouts for c-store operators such as 7-Eleven, Sheetz and Family Express, to name a few. In February 2020, 7-Eleven introduced its new bean-to-cup Franke equipment at the 7-Eleven Experience show for franchisees. Sheetz continued to educate consumers on its Franke equipment utilizing social media platforms throughout the year. And in October, Family Express announced a chainwide bean-to-cup rollout in partnership with Franke Coffee Systems to all of its stores. These rollouts included working hand-in-hand on menu development, executing trainings, and focusing on cleaning.
