Convenience + Caffeine
Our constant and never ending search for a proper caffeine fix has led the coffee industry to undergo several large scale and industry defining changes over the years. Ever since a particular mermaid-emblazoned cafe popped up in Seattle back in the ‘70s, new innovation has continued to propel the space forward.
While coffee has never been more popular and there are surely no shortage of of brands and product SKUs, the traditional associated costs of building a cafe remain daunting. Not only is the space incredibly crowded, but storefront space and labor costs prove to be prohibitively expensive for many aspiring proprietors. Over time, this has brought on an increased popularization of premium brands selling DTC products, including everything from beans, grounds, cold brew jugs, and K-pods for consumers to enjoy in the comfort of their own homes. Now, it’s possible to get high quality coffee-house style drinks no matter where you live.
When Starbucks announced the launch of their new micro-cafe concept last year, it introduced an entire new set of possibilities for competitors and partners alike. Somewhere in between the markets of global chain brick and mortar locations and direct to consumer products for the home, an opportunity has laid dormant for quite some time. With the acceleration and rise of mobile applications for every basic function, a new market for coffee has started to take form…one that is not reliant on storefront space, labor, or any human-to-human interaction at all. Companies like Truebird and Beam are now bringing premium coffee to the masses through “Smart Cafes”, or perhaps better understood as micro robotic coffee shop kiosks. Now, consumers can simply place an order on their phone and walk to the convenient kiosk nearest to them, to pick up their drink. Drinks are made in 90 seconds, the entire monetary transaction is done through a mobile app, there is zero person-to-person interaction, and the tiny footprint means it can be brought to any commercial, residential, municipal, or recreational location, absolutely anywhere.
Beam and their competitors are now bridging that gap between convenience and quality, transforming the coffee industry as we know it. As one of Torchlight’s current portfolio companies, Beam Coffee is giving us an exciting firsthand look at a true pioneering mission in this space. We can’t wait to see (and drink) whatever comes next!