GetGo Café + Market’s completion of its chainwide equipment upgrade includes bean-to-cup coffee machines at all self-serve beverage areas. The upgrade, which took four months, marks the latest in GetGo’s strategic enhancements in its food-first approach to serving customers, the company said. The machines feature the convenience-store chain’s new Signature Blend coffee beans and the addition of nitrogen-infused and cold-brew coffees.
- GetGo is No. 29 on CSP’s 2022 Top 202 ranking of U.S. c-store chains by store count.
GetGo, which is owned and operated by Pittsburgh-based supermarket retailer Giant Eagle Inc., has more than 260 locations in western Pennsylvania, Ohio, northern West Virginia, Maryland and Indiana.
“Our food-first approach means making sure our made-to-order menu is fresh, delicious and unique above anything else,” said Farley Kaiser, director of culinary and innovation at GetGo. “Our goal was to serve the freshest and best-tasting coffee in the market, which meant undertaking a large-scale upgrade across our entire footprint. Our guests’ reactions to our new coffee products have made all the effort worth it. We couldn’t be happier with the results.”
The upgrade focused on three areas:
- Sourcing great-tasting, always-fresh coffee beans.
- Installing bean-to-cup machines that grind and brew coffee.
- Introducing nitro and cold brew coffee.
“You can have the fanciest, most expensive coffee machines in the world, but if what gets put into it is cheap or stale, you’re going to get a bad cup of coffee,” said Marion Clarke, category manager in charge of GetGo’s coffee program, who led the upgrade project. “Coffee beans were the first step, and we sampled hundreds of beans until we found the right combination of taste and consistency. Only the best coffee beans would earn the right to carry the GetGo name.”
Convenience-store coffee has a bad reputation largely because of the way its brewed and stored, Clarke said. “If you’ve ever had coffee that coats your mouth or has a strong bitter flavor, then you’ve probably had coffee that’s been prepared in large quantities and sat in a metal urn for too long,” she said. “Coffee served this way can sit there for hours, which just further concentrates that bitter flavor and also infuses it with that tinny, metallic taste.”
GetGo solved this problem with the installation of new bean-to-cup machines that grind and brew hot or iced coffee on demand in less than a minute.
“With our new machines, guests make a couple of preference selections on a touch screen, then they’ll have our amazing coffee beans ground and brewed in less than a minute,” Clarke said. “You’ll never get a fresher cup of coffee.”
- Check out CSP’s20 Great Coffee Programs for 2022.
Coinciding with the new machines is the introduction of GetGo’s new Signature Blend coffee, a hand-blended, full-bodied mix of four premium beans from around the world with hints of smokiness, cocoa, citrus and cherry.
“The first thing that hits you is that amazing aroma,” Clarke said. “No matter which flavor bean you choose, the scent will be smooth and fragrant.”
The upgrade also includes the installation of a new machine to offer nitro and cold brew coffee. With a pull of a large tap, customers can serve themselves a cup of fresh nitro coffee or a French vanilla latte cold brew.
“At GetGo, we take pride in giving guests the ability to customize their experience, which you’ll see with all the options featured in our made-to-order menu,” Kaiser said. “These nitro and cold brew machines are no different, and I recommend mixing the two flavors together.” This machine lets customers select their own level of sweetness and creaminess, Farley said.
“Nitro and cold brew are both elevated coffee experiences,” Clarke said. “We’ve seen strong consumer demand for both these products, and we knew our coffee upgrade wouldn’t be complete until we added these to our lineup.”
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