• As costs rise, specialty espresso shoppers are demanding extra attentive customer support.
• Manufacturers like WatchHouse and Proud Mary are scaling by a hospitality-centric method.
• Element-oriented service requires cautious stability to keep away from undermining effectivity.
• Nice hospitality will all the time begin with barista wellbeing.

Customer support in specialty espresso, at its core, is about assembly folks’s wants past the drink itself. Baristas welcome company into the “third place”, information them by completely different origins, processing strategies, and brewing strategies, and construct a connection to the café. For a lot of specialty espresso shoppers, these interactions are simply as invaluable because the beverage.

However because the market matures and competitors intensifies, glorious hospitality has change into an expectation, not a differentiator. Retail espresso costs are rising, and shoppers need larger worth for cash, so specialty espresso outlets have to focus greater than ever on customer support. Extra are turning to “intentional” hospitality: attentiveness to the small, usually missed particulars in a café.

US Barista Champion Morgan Eckroth not too long ago highlighted how delicate particulars – under-counter coat hooks, pre-warmed cups, clear latte rims, well-maintained vegetation – mixed can elevate the client expertise.

Manufacturers akin to WatchHouse, now increasing throughout the UK, US, and Center East, exemplify how this method works. Its “Trendy Espresso” philosophy embodies intentional customer support: Baristas greet company on the door, serve them tableside, and may reply any query in regards to the menu. This transforms an informal café go to right into a extra curated eating expertise.

The roaster’s success alerts a transparent shift in client expectations: Paying extra for specialty espresso requires a extra considerate method to hospitality.

You may additionally like our article on why espresso outlets have to prioritise hospitality in an period of comfort.

Consistency is within the small particulars

Extra espresso outlets are specializing in constant customer support as a result of it’s one of many greatest drivers of success. Analysis by Oliver Wyman reveals that variations in buyer expertise account for as much as one-third of variations in gross sales and profitability between a sequence’s particular person shops. The place service turned extra constant, gross sales sometimes rose by no less than 10%.

Espresso chains deal with this problem by structured coaching programmes and standardised working procedures designed to work at scale. Specialty espresso outlets, in contrast, rely much less on inflexible frameworks. As a substitute, employees take note of small particulars to create a constantly refined buyer expertise.

Competitions such because the World Barista Championship and World Brewers Cup set the benchmark for this. Opponents display not solely excellence in espresso information and technical ability, but additionally in hospitality. They hold workstations immaculate, set music quantity good, and refill water glasses, all with a degree of enthusiasm that reassures judges they’re in skilled palms.

The competitors stage calls for this degree of vigilance, but it surely’s more and more evident in every day café operations as nicely. “We’ve all the time labored with aggressive baristas, so preserving issues clear, aligned, {and professional} is a baseline,” says Tibor Várady, the founding father of Espresso Embassy in Budapest – voted Hungary’s finest espresso store within the 2024 European Espresso Journey Awards.

Tibor’s baristas wipe cup rims to make sure each visitor receives a clear cup and saucer. They weigh cappuccinos repeatedly to test microfoam texture, and all the time serve drinks with latte artwork dealing with the client. These seemingly obsessive gestures emphasise that no element is simply too small.

“We’re all attempting to make a dwelling out of promoting cappuccinos, so that they must be good, don’t they?” he asks.

For many espresso store house owners, the reply is sure. Going through excessive espresso costs, rising operational prices, and price-conscious clients, baristas and café operators have little alternative however to ship distinctive customer support. In at this time’s aggressive market, a wobbly desk, unclean lavatory, or lengthy wait time is sufficient for patrons to hunt options.

Glorious customer support is driving progress for specialty espresso

Customer support sits on the coronary heart of specialty espresso and, as margins tighten, it’s turning into an more and more vital driver of progress. Analysis from Zippia means that 42% of shoppers are keen to pay extra for friendlier service, whereas almost three-quarters usually tend to advocate a model after a constructive interplay.

Most specialty espresso outlets provide glorious service, however these with a hospitality-first method are discovering success in at this time’s market. This displays the rising demand for extra attentive, intentional customer support. Australian roaster Proud Mary, which runs two cafés within the US, raised almost US$1.2mn in below 70 days in a 2025 crowdfunding marketing campaign. The funding will probably be used to open new shops nationwide, enabling the model to scale its high-end espresso and meals idea.

Though elevated service is turning into a key differentiating consider specialty espresso, it’s not with out its challenges for café operators. That is maybe finest illustrated by 3fe founder Colin Harmon’s e book, What I Know About Working Espresso Outlets. Colin’s frustration with plated napkins – nicely offered, however impractical, because the pastries and truffles have been usually caught to them – demonstrates how arduous detail-oriented hospitality could be.

“Within the final 12 months alone, I’ve in all probability talked to employees about pastries on napkins about 20 to 30 instances,” Colin writes. “Espresso outlets are about routine and consistency and always (always!) pushing issues again so as.”

Tibor highlights the strain on workflow and effectivity: “We take orders on the bar and convey drinks out to tables. Our format considerably calls for it; when the summer season terrace is out, we change into a large café. However it does enhance employees workload, so on a foul day, I query whether or not it’s one thing we have to sacrifice to change into extra productive.”

Again to fundamentals

The barista function is already demanding, so the added strain to ship constantly distinctive customer support solely will increase the workload. Taking note of delicate particulars is turning into more and more essential, however Tibor explains that the push for excellence should begin with cultivating a constructive working atmosphere.

“You realize these memes which provide you with a better worth for those who don’t say ‘please’? ‘Espresso’: €5. ‘Espresso, please’: €1. I don’t like them. The enjoyable is to get a grumpy buyer to go away blissful and pleasant,” he says. “In fact, this requires psychological vitality, and character alone received’t reduce it. You want the fitting working circumstances to have the additional vitality required.

“Does the barista have the power to feed off a happy buyer’s vitality? Do they take pleasure in offering good service? If sure, your service will probably be nice.”

As specialty espresso continues to mature, the basics of success are shifting. Excessive-quality espresso is now not sufficient by itself; it should be matched by a constant expertise that feels deliberate and attentive. 

In a market outlined by rising prices and more and more discerning shoppers, the smallest particulars can decide whether or not a café is remembered or neglected. However finally, consideration to element solely works when it’s supported by the folks delivering it. Creating the fitting circumstances for baristas to thrive, with real looking workflows, supportive administration, and a shared sense of function, allows nice service.

“It’s in regards to the capability of the barista to determine what the buyer is searching for,” Tibor concludes. “If somebody is even trying this, I’m blissful.”

Loved this? Then learn our article on the longer term for customer support and hospitality in specialty espresso.

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