Saw on WonkHE that Nestlé had undertaken a survey on student coffee drinking habits, now I had to read that. The survey, Behind the Beans: Coffee on Campus,  isn’t too much of a surprise, well it was commissioned by Nestlé, you know they do that Nescafe stuff.

94% of students regularly buy coffee on campus, with mornings being the most popular time…

As we know coffee is getting more expensive, so…

72% of students have changed their coffee-buying habits due to cost increases…

That shouldn’t be too surprising.

With my intelligent campus and learning spaces work I have visited many different university campuses, one constant feature was coffee shops, sometimes chains such as Starbucks and Costa, other times it was home brewed coffee places. Of course, all were selling espresso based drinks. I look back at my university experience in the late 1980s and I trying to recall what was available back then. There wasn’t any espresso type coffee on sale, and I suspect that it was probably filter coffee, or even instant.

Of course in a climate of financial instability, it makes sense to ensure that your campus catering outlets are meeting both the needs of students, but also not losing money. Understanding the purchasing habits of your students can ensure that you are selling what they want, when they want it, and at a price they are willing to pay. The high street chains are always reviewing the profitability of their branches, and I am sure everyone reading this will have seen at least one coffee shop close in their city or town. University catering outlets though are not just about profit, they are also part of that student experience. I did write an interesting blog piece on coffee analytics a couple of years ago and could we combine data on coffee drinking (along with snacks and tea) with other student data sets to better understand the student experience. I actually think we could still do that.