Punch links up with Lavazza to serve coffee in its pubs

A “couple” of pubs are already serving the coffee as the marketing and branding material are in the final stages of development.
As coffee machines come under fixtures and fittings tenants are required to buy their own coffee machines, which range from £600 for a basic model up to £2,500 for a bean-to-cup machine.
“Coffee is a majorly under-promoted part of the business,” said Punch head of catering development Alan Todd. “Customers need comfort in the brand you offer. To get people to a pub you need to give them something they recognise and we are using the Lavazza brand to drive people into the pub, along with wifi, food, snacks and so on.
“Everyone is demanding a much better quality coffee. The problem is convincing the partner to bite the bullet and go for it.”
Paul O’Donnell, catering executive for the south-east, added: “The expectation is that pubs do a range of coffees and pubs have a nicer environment than Costa or Starbucks.”
Todd intends to roll it out across the brand as long as there is a market.
The link up is similar to that which Barracuda and Spirit have with Costa while Lavazza already works with JD Wetherspoon.