Compass UK & Ireland launch two own-brand coffee labels
Foodservice giant Compass Group UK & Ireland has created two new coffee brands to expand its hot beverage repertoire to clients and consumers.
Peak St. (a blend of Arabica and Robusta coffee beans) and Crackle & Hum (100% Arabica) are two distinctive coffee concepts, targeting value and premium segments respectively within the coffee market.
At a launch held at Compass' Innovation centre in Chertsey, yesterday, Stephen Lovegrove, head of business excellence, central marketing, explained how hot beverages account for more than 30% of the group's profit and how the market for hot beverages is in sustained growth, both in size and breadth of range, with the UK coffee shop market generating £8.9b in revenue last year, according to the Allegra World Coffee Portal Project Café 2017 report.
The Peak St. brand uses the Sicilia blend of coffee, a Fairtrade certified product sourced and roasted exclusively for Compass Group UK & Ireland by UCC Coffee, offering consumers a great coffee to be enjoyed as an espresso or with milk. This brand will specify a tea offer from the Brew Tea Co. and includes a comprehensive menu of black and green teas as well as infusions.
Crackle & Hum, as the premium offer, will use the Three Sixty blend, (also from UCC Coffee) sourced from Brazil and Colombia with the Rainforest Alliance accreditation. The Crackle & Hum offer will specify the use of a loose whole leaf tea from Teapigs.
Both own-brand labels will require staff to be highly skilled who have completed mandatory coffee and tea training, in partnership with the Speciality Coffee Association (SCA) and London School of Tea respectively.
Crackle & Hum will be produced with traditional equipment from equipment suppliers: Nuova Simonelli, Victoria Arduino and Dalla Corte and Peak St. Coffee alongside equipment suppliers Thermoplan and Eversys.
Chop Chop, Compass' newly developed range of hot and chilled food-to-go, will also be on offer as part of the new concepts to complement the hot beverage choice.
Louise Pilkington, marketing director, Compass Group UK & Ireland, said: "Introducing Peak St. and Crackle & Hum is a really important step for us, as we continue to perfect and grow the range of offers we provide for our clients and consumers. We've based these two distinct, tailored brands on insights and feedback from our customers, to further enhance our position in the ever-growing hot beverage market."
Lovegrove, added: "I'm particularly pleased that we're able to provide two coffee offers with great provenance stories behind them, continuing the good work we are doing as a business around sustainable and ethical sourcing."
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