Marc-André Vézina
General Manager, Van Houtte Coffee Services
Kim McKenna
Senior Marketing Manager, Van Houtte
Coffee Services
Van Houtte Coffee Services’ latest innovations for the changing workplace are helping organizations successfully re-engage their employees.
The coffee break is a quintessential part of office life. If there’s one thing that many of us have missed during the work-from-home era, it’s the sense of community and connection with colleagues that happens over a good cup of coffee.
Supporting staff in the return to work
With employees coming back to workplaces and more companies adopting hybrid work models, it’s high time to celebrate the coffee break comeback. As some employees are hesitant to return to the office, it’s important to provide perks to motivate and welcome them warmly.
“Reigniting employees’ engagement toward the organization and their colleagues is key, and for me, coffee is part of that overall experience,” says Marc-André Vézina, General Manager of Van Houtte Coffee Services (VHCS), Canada’s leading coffee service provider.
Workplaces are changing and so is the coffee break. VHCS has unveiled several innovations in the coffee service segment to support businesses with this new reality as organizations are rethinking office layouts, company culture, and employees’ benefits program. These include coffee solutions for rotating or flexible schedules, with different brewer technology, cozy coffee stations, beverage variety, healthy snack and meal options, and the HomeBase Café Program.
It’s not just about delicious beverages and a great coffee experience, it’s bringing solutions to simplify the lives of our business customers, and livening up their day.
Good coffee and food sparks collaboration
“It was key for us as a partner to take a step back, understand the new reality, and support businesses with our Safety Brewed Together™ program and other solutions they needed to bring employees back to the workplace, or to maintain engagement levels for those remaining at home,” says Kim McKenna, Senior Marketing Manager at VHCS.
An important component of the new office work model involves rethinking office layouts to foster teamwork, productivity, and creativity, and VHCS is helping its customers with creating these new collaboration hubs surrounding coffee. It’s about providing employees with a comfortable concession stand experience with state-of-the-art brewers and the coffee brands they love, combined with ideally designed spaces that are favourable for productive teamwork throughout the workday, without employees having to leave the workplace.
“It’s not just about delicious beverages and a great coffee experience, it’s bringing solutions to simplify the lives of our business customers, and livening up their day,” adds McKenna. With that in mind, VHCS also secured a partnership with KitchenMate, an innovative Toronto-based food-tech company that created a flexible, self-serve, fresh-food kiosk for the modern workplace. VHCS’ customers can offer their staff the next generation of office lunch and coffee breaks, thanks to convenient, nutritious, affordable meals designed by world-class chefs that can be cooked on-site using its Smart Cooker™, and an app with personalized subsidies and rewards.
Coffee solutions for work-from-home staff
Employees working from home also need a coffee break, and VHCS has an innovative solution to keep them engaged, too. The new HomeBase Café Program is the coffee break solution for remote teams. It’s a teleworking coffee program that allows staff to enjoy a monthly subsidy from their employer to order coffee online at discounted rates and have it safely delivered to their doorstep. It’s an effective way to help remote teams stay productive and engaged.
“Reimagining your coffee program may not be the top thing on your list as an employer, but you want to make sure you have a good partner that will take care of that for you,” says Vézina. And there’s no better partner than VHCS.
