The best coffee experiences are created together

Many successes are needed for a coffee experience

For more than a year, Paulig Professional has been working systematically on an upgraded way to collaborate with customers in Finland. Many existing good practices have been refined and they are being collected into a new model for Paulig's customer work. Out-of-home coffee services for the Horeca and office sector are being enhanced to meet the customer's expectations.

"It's about developing both the philosophy and business procedures. The heart of everything is the customer's expectations and understanding the business, as well as the jointly set objectives we aim for. This generates a real partnership that benefits both parties," says Director Lenita Ingelin of Paulig Professional.

A long-time customer, Kespro Oy's Sales Director Osmo Pyhtinen, is on the same wavelength. Paulig's coffees are popular in the cafés of Kespro's customers and other business locations throughout the country. "The basics, meaning the price, range and reliable delivery always have to be right. But, in addition to these, we want a supplier with whom we can together develop the entire market and offer new solutions onwards for our own customers. In this, we appreciate a partner who is able to enrich our knowledge and understanding of the sector, coffee trends and new alternatives."

A new kind of partnership requires a deeper exploration of the customer's business environment and challenges. "We have listened to our customers and collected information, both through discussions and with various kinds of surveys. We really want to understand our customers' business and needs. Moreover, we have rolled out tools for measuring customer satisfaction both continuously and in individual circumstances – also when we have not succeeded. You learn especially much from those," Ingelin says.

 

A harmonised operating model – a tailored toolset

According to Lenita Ingelin, one of Paulig's values, Grow together, is manifested in the development of customer work. "Together with the team, we've identified and selected the best practices and refined them into a standardised model and benchmarks for our customer work. However, standardisation does not mean inflexibility. When we understand our customer's business, we can tailor precisely the right solution for it," Ingelin notes.

Kespro also appreciates the ability to customise products and services, even if large volumes are concerned. "The important question is, will we find small, easily implementable concepts to expand the offering in the field. For example, many of our customers now want to differentiate and serve their own roast blends or coffees with a particular certification. The philosophy of responsibility, combined with the popularity of special coffees and small roasteries mean that the trend of individuality will continue to grow. Paulig has been able to respond to the challenge," Osmo Pyhtinen reports.

 

Many successes are needed for a coffee experience

Before the perfect coffee is in the consumer's cup, it has travelled a long way and through many hands. "A coffee experience is made up of many things. It needs quality raw materials, a professional roasting, proper storage and equipment, and skilled brewing and presentation. The experience is also promoted by the knowledge that responsibility aspects have been figured in: the raw materials' traceability, the conditions in which the coffee was produced, and the environmental friendliness of the packaging materials are important to customers and consumers alike. Our job is to help our customers in providing the most excellent and high-quality coffee experience," Lenita Ingelin says.

The enhancement of Paulig's customer work has been noticed with satisfaction at Kespro. "They have the right attitude and the willingness to work for the advantage of both business is genuine. Our partnership has definitely deepened, and readiness to listen to the customer has improved markedly," Pyhtinen observes.

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