Canteen

The Business and Industry (B&I) catering market is worth             £1.79 billion, serving some 666 million 'routine' meals.¹ B&I catering outlets represent just under half of the total canteen catering outlets in the market, ahead of education, healthcare and defence outlets.

Recent economic and social trends have put pressure on B&I catering, but according to our calculations, the great news is that by increasing Soft Drink incidence by just 1% you can increase your outlet's annual sales by £2,500.²

Through the sheer weight of numbers and typical 'dwell-time' there are some outstanding opportunities here to influence more consumers to buy more Soft Drinks more often. This is not the long business lunch to seal a deal - it is the lunch pause before getting back to work.

Availability and visibility

Nearly two thirds of consumers say that the workplace is an impulse environment.³ In order to increase penetration and frequency of sales, it is essential to ensure the right products are visible in the right place, at the right time, at the right price.

The pattern of peak demand is well established and easily predictable.

• Lunch
• Mid-morning
• PM

Profits 'On the Go'

All customers in the workplace are 'prospects' for the canteen, where many are looking to 'grab and go'.

Here are our top tips for increasing Soft Drinks frequency in the canteen.

• Drive consumers to the canteen by highlighting it as the 'convenient choice'. This is particularly important at a time when the lunch break is in decline
• Use internal media, emails and promotions
• Make the products visible wherever possible using a range of point of sale, media, chillers and vending machines

Soft Drinks Make More of a Meal

Key missions to the canteen are for routine meals at lunch. This is when Soft Drinks are the most popular.

This suggests that canteen customers would buy more Soft Drinks more often if:

1. They were reminded of the value Soft Drinks added to food
2. Soft drinks were clearly linked to the meal occasion

Experience in other On-Premise environments suggests that Soft Drink incidence with food is very high and that there are powerful opportunities to increase the Soft Drink/Food relationship dramatically in the workplace.

The main ways to do this are:

• Ensuring physical proximity of Soft Drinks to sandwiches, crisps and snacks
• Activating meal deals and other appropriately linked promotions. Utilise the time of day (breakfast, lunch and snacking) by using 'best practice' from the high street as a guide

¹Mintel B&I Catering, 2009
²CCE estimates based on NPD/CREST, 2009
³HIM CTP, 2009