Coffee marketed to nurses. Would you buy it?

[ResumeRN]

Hi fellow nurses and those aspiring to be,

I have noted through the years, that most nurses are none too pleased with the hospital coffee we are privy to drinking while on shift.

Many times, when a fellow co-worker, or even a patient's family member, brings in a bag of specialty coffee for those on shift, I've seen staff get pretty jazzed. Even for just five minutes of time drinking some yummy brew, staff gets excited and there's potentially a mild increase in morale for a short time.

Anyone else feel this way?

My question to all of you: If there was a coffee brand marketed specifically to nurses in some way, and the flavors and beans were high quality, etc., would any of you be willing to purchase it (or put money in for it as a group) for use during shifts? Or try and get the hospital or your facility to purchase it once a month?

Thoughts? Concerns? Desires? Waste of money?

Thanks!

[klone, MSN, RN]

What if the coffee brand was very good coffee and for a competitive price? Would you then lean towards purchasing it, because it expressed recognition for the nursing field?

No, I would not. In fact, I would probably steer clear of it, internally rolling my eyes at what is clearly a marketing gimmick (sorry, but that's how I feel).

[ResumeRN]

Thank you for your thoughts.

Last question:

What if the coffee company platform was to provide recognition to the field of nursing? The packaging not gimmicky, but very professional and informative. Clever bean blends from fair trade international importers and many different regions. And $1/bag donated to Nurses Beyond Borders and other international nursing causes?

What I'm getting at is, if the company was well represented and supported the nursing community as a whole, and was a quality coffee brand competitor, would you still consider it a "gimmick?"

Secondly, if the concept of purchasing it for work consumption is not of interest, would it be of interest to purchase as an avid coffee drinker at home; and with the understanding expressed above: it's a coffee company platform that is community-oriented and supportive of the nursing field around the world?

Thank you for your responses.

[Wile E Coyote, ASN, RN]

Thank you for your thoughts.

Last question:

What if the coffee company platform was to provide recognition to the field of nursing? The packaging not gimmicky, but very professional and informative. Clever bean blends from fair trade international importers and many different regions. And $1/bag donated to Nurses Beyond Borders and other international nursing causes?

What I'm getting at is, if the company was well represented and supported the nursing community as a whole, and was a quality coffee brand competitor, would you still consider it a "gimmick?"

Secondly, if the concept of purchasing it for work consumption is not of interest, would it be of interest to purchase as an avid coffee drinker at home; and with the understanding expressed above: it's a coffee company platform that is community-oriented and supportive of the nursing field around the world?

Thank you for your responses.

I can *feel* your desire for our responses to aggregate a certain way...but the content of your post quoted above is a textbook example of an entrepreneural attempt to purchase legitimacy.

I do wish you success, but just offering honest feedback.

[ResumeRN]

Thank you for your comments. My intent has actually been to provide more information based upon the responses. I love hearing everyone's response whether it be negative or positive. I have heard the word "gimmick" used by a few members and I wanted to clarify my thoughts so that members understood the full picture. This probably should have been explained in the initial post, but I wanted to hear as many honest answers as I could, and then respond with follow up of "ok, but what if you now have new information? Would that change your initial response."

If anyone would care to respond to my most recent post above, I would greatly appreciate it.

Thanks!

[Been there,done that, ASN, RN]

Hi fellow nurses and those aspiring to be,

I have noted through the years, that most nurses are none too pleased with the hospital coffee we are privy to drinking while on shift.

Many times, when a fellow co-worker, or even a patient's family member, brings in a bag of specialty coffee for those on shift, I've seen staff get pretty jazzed. Even for just five minutes of time drinking some yummy brew, staff gets excited and there's potentially a mild increase in morale for a short time.

Anyone else feel this way?

My question to all of you: If there was a coffee brand marketed specifically to nurses in some way, and the flavors and beans were high quality, etc., would any of you be willing to purchase it (or put money in for it as a group) for use during shifts? Or try and get the hospital or your facility to purchase it once a month?

Thoughts? Concerns? Desires? Waste of money?

Thanks!

I have drank many cups of the swill provided by many facilities. Some units have a coffee fund to provide decent coffee. Start a coffee fund. Or bring your own.

The facility is NOT going to upgrade the free coffee offered to employees.

[vanilla bean]

And contribute more to the environmental waste problem? No, thank you, not me.

You do realize that they make reusable filters for Keurigs, right?

[vanilla bean]

What if the coffee company platform was to provide recognition to the field of nursing? The packaging not gimmicky, but very professional and informative. Clever bean blends from fair trade international importers and many different regions. And $1/bag donated to Nurses Beyond Borders and other international nursing causes?

What I'm getting at is, if the company was well represented and supported the nursing community as a whole, and was a quality coffee brand competitor, would you still consider it a "gimmick?"

Secondly, if the concept of purchasing it for work consumption is not of interest, would it be of interest to purchase as an avid coffee drinker at home; and with the understanding expressed above: it's a coffee company platform that is community-oriented and supportive of the nursing field around the world?

I would still consider it a gimmick even if marketed as described here because, well, it still is a gimmick.

A "coffee company platform that is community-oriented and supportive of the nursing field around the world" is of no significance to me. I don't care what the "platform" of my go-to coffee brand is; I care that it's good quality and reasonably priced.

I'm a daily coffee drinker, not an "avid" coffee drinker, but I do know more than a few. What I know about them is that they are loyal to their favorite brand and usually only deviate if forced to do so.

[quazar]

I am a hard core coffee drinker, and there is no way I would buy a coffee specifically marketed to nurses. In fact, it would drive me away from said coffee because I automatically recoil from cheap marketing ploys like that.

I would love a Keurig in the nurses' lounge that had one of those tanks hooked up to a continuous water supply so that it didn't constantly run dry and need refilling. Those are awesome. That's how my coffee loving heart would be won.

ETA: After reading your updated info, it's still a firm "no" from me. It feels like a MLM scheme.

[KatieMI, BSN, MSN, RN]

You do realize that a good coffee must be roasted, grinded and brewed the right way in order to taste good? Now, just imagine the dirtiest, oldest, newer ever really cleaned coffee machine with no options and the cheapest filters... it sure will make trash even from whatever good stuff you'll put in it. Add to that the fact that whatever you going to sell must be pre-ground and then kept only God knows for how long, most probably at room temperature. And preferably roasted to the darkest-dark for shelf life.

I'm a foodie and a coffee affectionado of a sort, and there is no way I would ever even try something like genuine Kathunguri or Misty Valley brewed in what we got for that in my unit. It sure will be just utter spoilage of a very good (and quite expensive) stuff. I wouldn't mind bying, say, elite Kenyan coffee if part of profits would go to Nurses Without Borders working there or any other charitable purpose - but the beans must be absolutely the first grade to begin with. Not an "international mix" or something.

[annabanana2]

OP, I would consider first that the responses you get here are from an exceptionally small sample of people living and working in a very specific culture, so don't base your business plan on their answers. Or mine. But anyway.

I might be more likely (if I'm speaking honestly) to buy coffee that's marketed to me. I think a lot of people would! I could see buying coffee that's marketed as being popular with people with certain jobs (like nurses, yes, but maybe also like paramedics or firefighters, etc), like, "these people need seriously intense coffee to get their jobs done and they drink our coffee, so imagine how great it'll be for you!" However, of course, this would factor in less for me than cost and availability of the product would, so get those two in line first.

[TriciaJ, RN]

What is your logic regarding this statement? Could you explain why you would feel gullible?

Thanks!

"Of course I'll pay $15 a pound for this special nurses' coffee! Why would I shop for delicious coffee at $8 a pound when this one is just for nurses!"

Most of us aren't going to spring for anything just because it has the word "nurse" slapped on it. If it has any real value, it'll sell on its own merits.

[Libby1987]

The marketing to nurses would be off putting to me. The premise is non sensical. And there's nothing creative about it, amazing coffee is already available and there is just no connection for me.

Non nurses aren't going to go crazy buying it up and the nurses' recognition is lost for any nurse that has to pay for it.

And if I wanted to donate to something meaningful to me, I'm going to give it directly.

I don't like to be so discouraging but it seemed that you were looking for opinions either way.