Coffee in schools? Yes, you heard me, high schools are beginning to jump on board with this rising trend. We recently attended both the Al School Nutrition Association show (ASNA)in Birmingham and the Ga School Nutrition Association show (GSNA) in Jekyll Island, GA. We brought our super automatic espresso machine and it was a huge hit! (See attached.) The interest of the product was 3 fold;

• One – in a 12 oz Latte, 9 of those ounces is dairy, so there is a nutritional value in it. Also, The first ingredient is milk and is less than 200 calories so the beverages abide by the smart snack guidelines.
• Two – Schools are beginning to recognize that the kids are bringing the coffee in anyways, why not provide an on campus offering and capture that market?
• And Three – it is a money maker! When we are talking about specialty coffee and Franke’s new FM800 automatic espresso machine we talk about ROI, Return On Investment. The average store owners cost for a 12 oz latte is approx. 75 to 80 cents, they are selling for $3.50 – $4.00 each. I’ll let you do the math, but basically it breaks down like this; 50 cups per day – payback period is 9 months; 100 cups a day – payback period is 6 months; 150 cups per day this machine will be paid for in less than 3 months!!! I don’t know any piece of equipment that has that kind of ROI.

We have already seen this to be true in other parts of the country; milk consumption has gone to 7-8 gallons per day! And these schools are racking in up to $800 per week (wow). And kids are staying on campus to get this beverage lowering any type of safety risk.

Contact us for additional information on how to take advantage of this uproar in specialty coffee and how you can offer another avenue to provide more milk to students.