Ambient Scent Marketing Products For Coffee Houses And Cafés

For most Americans, coffee serves as that proverbial farm rooster that wakes them up and gets them going in the morning. (My own mother used to say that she needed three cups every morning, one to open each eye!) The average coffee drinker has three cups every day. Whether brewed at home or grabbed on the go, in the United States alone some 150 million people drink coffee every day

Something pleasant and magical always lingers in the air at coffee houses and cafes, and often these scents are created by ambient scent marketing companies like ours. Whiffs of fresh-baked muffins and pastries mingled with aromatic and exotic coffee blends encourage irresistible impulses to break that diet, be late for that appointment, forget about that dress (or suit) you can’t fit into and sample one or more of the tantalizing treats that lay just a few steps away.

Creating an amazing coffee house or café sensory experience is a consumer magnet like no other because it taps into the human hunger response. Ambient scents help to create memories and a positive atmosphere in coffee houses and cafés everywhere, but they must be carefully crafted to accommodate the primary fragrance: namely, the coffee itself.

Coffee House And Cafe Décor and Atmosphere

Any coffee house or café should be decorated in accordance with an overall theme or concept, which will enhance its unique selling points (USPs). For example, if a vintage style bistro is what you have in mind, popular colors and styles from the 1950’s can include: black and white polka dots, pastel colors schemes, robin egg blue (turquoise), pink, mint green, pale yellow and blue. In times past, black, white and red combinations were also very much in vogue. To reinforce the color schemes, a specialty product, such as vintage cupcakes using these colors for icing, could subtly reinforce your brand’s design.

In addition to captivating the consumer with interesting background music, enticing aromas and visuals arising from an established theme and decor, dark woods convey a sense of earthiness. Colors that complement a brand and bright or dim lighting are also important factors to consider when attracting a specific coffee house demographic. A strong theme is certain to attract a specific type of core customer. A striking example of this would be a dog-friendly or cat- centric coffee house or café, which would attract almost exclusively dog and cat owners and lovers.

The Subtle Power of Ambient Scenting

The aura and fragrance of freshness must always surround the coffee making process. Watching the coffee being prepared and experiencing its alluring fragrance upon entering a café or coffee house is a big draw to customer traffic. For those areas away from the brewing site, near shelves where related products are sold, scents play a seductive role in how attractive these items appear to customers who are already in the establishment and enjoying their food and drinks.

Other scents besides coffee brewing subtly come into play. Sweet aromas, like cinnamon buns, burnt vanilla, baked cookies and bread and others emanating from pastries and buns sitting behind glass cases near the register, are often irresistible to consumers when they are either buying items to go or sitting and savoring their favorite blend because these treats so effectively complement the taste of coffee.

Coffee Fragrance And Coffee Aroma

While these two words may seem synonymous and are often used as such, they are not the same thing. Fragrance is defined simply as the smell of something; it is always processed solely though the human nose. Specifically, the fragrance of coffee beans is a culinary perfume that entices customers into a coffee house or occurs after opening a bag of freshly ground coffee. Coffee aroma, on the other hand, is processed through the nose and the taste buds, and that is the difference between the two.

The Coffee House And Social Change

Originating in the Middle East as a peaceful spot to enjoy exotic coffee blends and stimulating verbal exchange, when it arrived in England during the 1600s, the coffee house evolved into a gathering place for social change. A traveler to London in 1668 wrote in his journal: “Coffee-Houses, which are very numerous in London, are extremely convenient. You have all manner of news there; you have a good fire, which you may sit by as long as you please; you have a cup of coffee; you meet your friends for the transaction of business, and all for a penny, if you don’t care to spend more.”

The coffee houses of 17th-century London were focal points for political debate and controversy, so much so that in 1675 King Charles II tried to ban coffee and close cafés and coffee houses. When visiting London in 1728, Prussian nobleman, Baron Charles Louis von Pollnitz, wrote in his journal: “The coffee house is a sort of rule with the English, to go once a day at least, where they talk of business and news, read the Papers, and often look at one another.”

The 17th century also marked the arrival of coffee houses in colonial America where they left their indelible mark. The Merchant’s Coffee House in Philadelphia, also known as the City Tavern, a century later became the meeting place of some of our founding fathers including: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, the Marquis de Lafayette and John Adams. It is believed that the plot for the Boston Tea Party of 1773 was hatched at this location.

In addition to serving as hubs for intellectual discussions, coffee houses became networks for business opportunities as well. The Tontine Coffee House in New York became the home of the New York Stock Exchange.

The Modern American Coffee House and Café Industry

Coffee is a $100 billion industry and analysts predict a consumption growth of 5% through the year, 2025. Globally speaking, the United States is 12th on that list of the world’s greatest coffee exporters. According to Caleb Bryant, a senior food and drink analyst at Mintel, a leading research market provider: “The ready-to-drink coffee market is growing at a very, very strong rate and one of the fastest growing non-alcoholic beverages in general.”

Mintel findings indicate that the ready to drink coffee market is predicted to reach a 67% sales growth through the year, 2022. It is the fastest growing segment within the retail coffee market. Bryant further states: “It remains a strong competitor to traditional coffee shops because they are more specialized and come in a variety of flavors. Generally, they might beless expensive than something you get at a coffee shop.”

Ambient Scenting And A Successful Coffee Business

While the purchase and enjoyment of coffee is the primary drive for traffic to cafés and coffee houses, other merchandise can also offer both a stream of income and the reinforcement of a particular brand. It is here where ambient scenting can make a profitable difference, employing a special scent meant to attract customers to those dusty wares sitting on even dustier shelves.

In addition to dusting everything off, consider these storage areas as reminders of time passing by stocking and restocking them according to the passage of seasons. (For example, feature tee shirts in summer and hoodies during the cooler months of the year.) Both items should have the coffee shop or café logo and/or brand message emblazoned on them somewhere. Other easy-to-shop, brand-related products to consider could include: bags of coffee, scented candles, logo-branded travel mugs and decals.

These merchandising niches can be split into two distinct and important categories: items with your company name on it (bags of coffee, etc) and those without, but which still support your brand. These sections can be greatly enhanced by the introduction of scents that complement the particular season at hand.

Our ambient air-care HVAC and non-HVAC scent diffusers can provide a myriad of scent experiences that can be altered for holidays and seasons. These can include: touches of balsam and winter pine; spring flowers such as lilac and rose; summer and ocean breezes and cinnamon and clove as autumn-related spices.

Click to explore The Aroma Stylers

Display small and cheap items as close to the register as possible. These grab-and-go sections feature very inexpensive items that are often purchased on impulse at the very last moment before leaving the store. These can include items like: key-chains; post-cards; bumper stickers; novelty pens or pencils, small writing pads, etc. Pricier merchandise should be placed at the counter where customers pick up their coffees. They will need more time to mull over the purchase of a particular product and this spot affords that opportunity.

The Art Of Up-Selling

Always seeking an avenue to increase traffic and sales during those off peak hours of the day, coffee houses and cafés often employ the concept of upselling in their daily practices. This entails learning how to persuade a customer to buy something else in addition to what they are ready to purchase without being obnoxious. This requires subtlety. Asking questions like: How about a muffin to go with that tea? Or we have that cappuccino in a larger size, if you prefer, are effective temptations. While it may not work every time there is a transaction, it does work often and can provide a significant boost to overall sales.

This technique can only be successful if it focuses more on improving a customer’s experience than sales. Give a customer a reason to buy a specific product. For example, matching a particular brew of coffee with a specific cookie or pastry is food for thought, tempting and encouraging to a hungry customer.

Diffuser Systems And Fragrances For Coffee Houses And Cafés

We offer a variety of professional air-freshener systems that promise a return on your investment and effective scenting for coffee houses and cafés. Appropriate ambient air care measures that are unique to the café and coffee house industry may focus more on odor neutralization, especially in those small places such as trash areas or bathrooms, rather than on scenting that will overwhelm or alter the allure of the fragrance of coffee.

The Aroma One

The Aroma One Fan Air Freshener is an odor-neutralizing system, which annihilates airborne odors and at the same time, offers superior, linear, fragrance enrichment for any small space. It is particular to but not exclusive of restroom-specific malodors. Some of its most desirable features include: a modern design with optimal airflow; a top-performing air velocity fan blade and its easy conversion from battery to electric.

The Aroma Beam

This dry vapor fragrance diffuser system is best suited for smaller coffee houses and cafés up to 3500 square feet. And the Aroma Styler system for larger locations provide a myriad of enhanced scent experiences that can be easily changed for holidays, seasons or themes. Coffee-type fragrances and others can be chosen from a large selection or customized individually to suit any coffee house or café theme or décor.

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Customized Scents For Coffee Houses and Cafés

If a unique scent customized to your particular brand that will not overpower the fragrance of your coffee is more along the lines of what you are looking for, look no further than our ambient-air-care designers. As mentioned earlier, buying and enjoying coffee is a supreme experience enhanced all the more when all five of our senses become part of the process.

Harness the power of ambient scent marketing so that it will help to render a personality and tone to your café or coffee house. For example, do you see your establishment as chic, sophisticated and upscale, or more as a spot offering a casual and relaxed ambiance? These concepts as well as other factors can all be brought to life subtly and effectively with artful scenting.

In conclusion

So send us a message or give us a call today. Transform your coffee house or café into a more sensory and enjoyable experience for all your customers tomorrow.

Final thought about coffee: If this is coffee, please bring me some tea; but if this is tea, please bring me some coffee. ~ Abraham Lincoln