One of the nation’s favourite caffeinated drinks, coffee, has been talk of the town this week. Yes, that’s it – if you somehow missed this one, October 1st marked the celebration of International Coffee Day – hoorah!
However, a bit of chaos ensued after Costa Coffee offered customers free coffee (and other hot beverages) to coincide with the day from 8,500 of its Express machines. Inevitably, coffee lovers all around lined up to get their daily dose of caffeine, only to find that many of the machines had either ran out of milk or coffee early in the morning – due to a high demand from those early risers who were getting themselves prepped and ready for the working day in hand.
We love a national day here in the office, especially one celebrating this toothsome drink, but this also got us thinking – what is it about a good cup of coffee and that all-important coffee break do we savour so much and why?
No doubt, the Costa Coffee hiccup would have been a rather disappointing discovery for many coffee addicts out there, but this is also a testament to how popular coffee really is during the working week.
Since joining the Escapade team, I can barely recall a day where myself or a colleague has made it through the day without a coffee (or a cup of tea for us tea drinkers out there!).
We all know somebody who feels they are unable to start the day right without a decent cup of coffee – whether that be yourself, a friend or a co-worker. It’s the feeling that the popular drink offers the energy needed to fuel the working day, with the coffee break acting as an essential workplace ritual. For decades we’ve looked to the morning refill to wake us up, or the afternoon top up to beat the mid-afternoon slump, but now it’s suspected that coffee isn’t just a popular office break beverage purely for its caffeine properties.
A recent study that looks at workplace behaviour has found that coffee plays an essential role in ensuring productivity in the office, with nine out of ten office workers linking high quality coffee to more productive and engaged work. This is attributed to the idea that providing small benefits to employees makes an employee feel valued, which in turn, boosts morale. In addition, the coffee break is said to improve employee relationships with one another, with 81 percent claiming that coffee breaks help employees to build on their relationships with their fellow colleagues.
With an estimated 95 million cups of coffee consumed a day, it’s no wonder why it has its own national day, it’s no wonder why brands like Costa want to offer incentives to potential customers to encourage them to opt for their coffee, and it’s no wonder why a good office coffee machine is viewed as an essential office appliance for a happy office overall.
Our consumer PR agency specialises in connecting everyday brands with everyday people across four core sectors; Consumer PR, Food and Drink PR, Retail PR and Sport, Health & Wellbeing PR.
