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!

[JustBeachyNurse, LPN]

If the coffee were marketed to the general public and the marketing gimmick would be buy a bag and crazy coffee people will donate a bag to a nursing unit in your local hospital or agency then awesome. You hit my price point...free.

Otherwise like most gimmicks like pepto pink ribbons Id avoid it like the plague

[djh123]

If you've never tried it (anyone reading this, not just the OP), try Peet's. I drink Starbucks pretty often because that's what's near me, but if I lived near a Peet's I'd probably almost never go in a Starbucks. But you can buy Peet's at Target, Albertson's, direct from Peet's online, etc. (No, I don't work for Peet's or own their stock :^).

[blondy2061h, MSN, RN]

Yeah, this is silly. It reminds me of when Bic tried to market pens for woman. Nurses don't need special coffee. I work in a hospital that doesn't provide coffee at all. There's a chain coffee place in the lobby with limited hours and a 24/7 chain coffee place across the street that is continuously busy. Several units have Keurigs, too, so staff stash K cups in their lockers. It's a solution looking for a problem.

[blondy2061h, 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.

This is why when I'm feeling really coffee snobbish I have a back up Aeropress and hand grinder at work. When I just need a caffeine fix it's the Keurig or one of the chain places.

[klone, MSN, RN]

Yeah, this is silly. It reminds me of when Bic tried to market pens for woman.

That's EXACTLY what I thought of initially when I read the OP.

[klone, MSN, RN]

I'm mildly coffee snobbish. I like the coffee I like, but it's not fancy. It's a brand I can only find at Costco, so we stock up whenever we go there. At home I only like to buy whole bean.

McDonald's makes a decent coffee. I can't stand Starbuck's. The only thing I will ever drink from Starbuck's is a coffee Frappuccino and that's just when I'm in the mood for dessert. I hate French roast coffee. And no powdered creamer or sweet flavored creams for me. 2% or whole milk, that's it.

[Wuzzie]

Yeah, this is silly. It reminds me of when Bic tried to market pens for woman.

Or pink tools of any kind!!! Really??!!

[KatieMI, BSN, MSN, RN]

Or pink tools of any kind!!! Really??!!

Really. One day, a patient was loudly demanding that her wound vac cannister (sucking out her post-double-mast wound) must be pink "as it was before all the time". Unfortunately, it was no so for the reason that her wound finally started to heal, so her family brought her decorating material of "hot pink" color and decorated everything they could think of with it, including that canister and the handles of instruments from special wound care set dedicated for this patient only. One should see the face of Mr. Surgeon whan he saw in all at the first time

[TheCommuter, BSN, RN]

If you've never tried it (anyone reading this, not just the OP), try Peet's. I drink Starbucks pretty often because that's what's near me, but if I lived near a Peet's I'd probably almost never go in a Starbucks.

I concur...Peet's has some yummy coffee. Unfortunately, the only Peet's locations near me are at the terminals of the intl. airport in the city where I reside.

[Asystole RN]

OP,

If you are trying to conduct market research I would highly recommend that you try a different venue. Online forums, especially as one jaded as this, may not be the best place to get a well-rounded feel for your product.

For consumables you need the right packaging and more than likely the ability to offer samples. I would highly recommend you mock up some small 4oz sample bags and take it to a professional nursing conference like ANCC and see what the feedback is. If you can afford a small table then sell some there, especially if you could offer a small sample.

[ResumeRN]

I have 5 validation studies going right now on different online and in-person avenues, so yes, very important to get as big a sample of the population as possible.

All of your comments are much appreciated and insightful.

[Nurse SMS, MSN, RN]

Nope. Still nope, even with the donations and the recognition. Good coffee, fairly priced, easily accessed. That is what I care about. I don't need strokes from my coffee company. Johnson and Johnson already does this and I have never once found myself drawn to their products because of it.