Home > Nero’s piddly little tea-party doll-house coffee cups, How Pret a Manger kept their coffee a secret from me, and why you should NEVER do this in your business

Nero’s piddly little tea-party doll-house coffee cups, How Pret a Manger kept their coffee a secret from me, and why you should NEVER do this in your business

Written by Jose Gonzalez on April 19, 2010 - View Comments
Categories: Posts & Articles, Selling Tips

It was a grey dull Saturday afternoon in Glasgow that found me wading through the Icelandic volcanic ash.

OK, I exaggerate a little: there was a sliver of sun to be seen every now and again.
It’s true.

Myself and The Other Half were faced with a decision: Starbucks, Costa or Nero. The 3 giants.

Nero was the closest, and we’d been traveling for the past 3 hours, so the natural pull was toward Nero, right across the street from Central Station.

But I refused on the grounds that Nero serve their coffee in these piddly little tea-party doll-house cups.

I grew up in Spain, where coffee is served in piddly little tea-party doll-house cups for a reason: namely, that the coffee itself is strong enough to power a decent-sized Airbus for a week.

But Nero’s blend? Come on…

So we schlepped across the city centre, weighed down by luggage, in search of an alternative. Because I don’t see why I should pay Nero for a sample of coffee when I can get 2 decent-sized tumblers in Starbucks for the same price. Not quite as strong, it has to be said… but people don’t visit coffee houses so that they can have a race to see how fast they can leave again.

Business lesson there, for Nero… (it’s called acknowledging the competition).

So Starbucks it was. Because you get a free refil (did you know that?)

It was later on that afternoon that a big prezil was bought in Pret, when I discovered that THEY also serve fresh ground coffee…

… for 99 pence.

Can you believe that?

They serve coffee that’s as good as that served by the big 3. Yes you can argue that one particular blend is slightly more aromatic than another, but it’s all freshly ground coffee, so it’s all good. And don’t tell me that you don’t ever eat different brands of the same foodstuff.

I left Pret, slightly bewildered by this.

Why on Earth would you keep your 99 pence coffee a secret from the masses? Are they trying to go broke?

I’m not a Pret customer, and to be honest, my concept of Pret was that they target the big spender.

Why? Because I saw what they charge for their sandwiches – which incidentally, are only served as HALF sandwiches.

Perhaps they should team up with Nero. Half a sandwhich and a sample of coffee served in a piddly little tea-party doll-house cup, for a big wallet hit.

(I’m exercising my right to have an opinion there, Mr laywer…)

Ok, so let’s cut to the chase. Pret are plain dumb when it comes to marketing their coffee.

They make money from their customers – those that buy repeatedly from them.

Expansion and creating more profit is all about making MORE money from your existing customers (by offering new things) or making NEW money from NEW customers.

I’m not sure whether they do anything about the former, but they’re certainly not doing anything about the latter. I’ve walked past hundreds of Pret’s in the past few years, and I’ve NEVER been exposed to anything that educated me about their coffee prices.

I don’t particularly like the inside of Pret (all hard angles and flooring… not really a place to sit back and relax…) but if I was in a rush, passing by, on the way to a meeting, catching a train… I’d buy a fresh ground coffee for 99 pence over any of the big 3, each and every time.

That foot traffic – especially office workers who just want a decent coffee to sip at their desk – would generate a significant slice of NEW revenue for Pret.

But they choose to keep it a secret.

Ah well.