PetrolPlaza Podcast: Coffee, retail and service stations with Franke & Eni

We talk to two leading brands, Franke Coffee Systems and Eni Austria, about the role of coffee in today’s business, non-fuel profit centers and future services.

The quality and value of non-fuel products continues to grow across European service stations. In this episode of the PetrolPlaza Podcast we talk about the profit centers outside of fuels, the new customer journey and the role of coffee in today’s business.

To discuss this topic we are joined by Hans Jung, Senior Key Account Manager Germany & Austria at Franke Coffee Systems, and Gavin Ferchland, Head of Retail Sales and Retail Non-Oil at Eni Austria. The Swiss brand is a world leader in coffee systems for convenience stores and petrol stations while Eni is one of Europe’s biggest OMCs, and a key player in the Austrian market with 320 stations.

After working together for a number of years, Franke Coffee Systems and Eni have recently extended their partnership to a European level. Both companies explain their relationship, different machines used at stores and how to stay ahead of trends in the market, such as flavors, sizes and advertising.

“Nowadays it's worst if the coffee machine breaks than the fuel pump,” says Gavin in a humorous way. Coffee systems have undoubtedly become a key part of most successful stations.

With 70% of households in Germany having an automatic coffee machine, c-stores need to maintain a high standard of coffee for customers to come back, according to Hans. “The better the standard, the stronger the growth.”

Gavin also discusses the challenge of bringing EV drivers charging their vehicle into the store. Retailers such as Eni are developing an attractive non-fuel offering and future services to ensure success.