CNBC Strategists: Already High Coffee Prices May Not Have Peaked Yet

Just how out of control are coffee prices right now?

We're pretty sure the fact that some of CNBC's top Wall Street strategists are suggesting that it is a good time to buy coffee while prices are already at a 13-year high should give you a pretty good idea.

If nothing else, the fact that it's predicted that the price of coffee (the commodity) will still rise more than 20 percent in the next year means one thing - the price of a cup of coffee is going to get more expensive.

Click here to read the full CNBC story: How to Trade Rising Coffee Prices

Green Mountain Set to Raise 

Keurig K-Cup Prices

At Corporate Essentials, we're usually very excited when Keurig K-Cups are in the mainstream news, and we get to pass that news along on our Java Cafe Blog.

This is not one of those times.

Last evening, Green Mountain Coffee Roasters (who make K-Cups carrying the brands Green Mountain Coffee, Timothy's Coffee, Caribou Coffee, Coffee People, Gloria Jean's, Diedrich and Tully's Coffee) announced that they will be increasing prices by 10 to 15 percent as of October 11, 2010.

This is not something that is totally unexpected due to the fact that the two biggest stories in the coffee industry in the last year have been the steadily rising cost of coffee and Green Mountain Coffee Roasters' acquisition of most of the leaders in Keurig K-Cup production.

What does this mean to you, the Corporate Essentials customer?

While it is still to early to give any very firm details on the type of price increase we will have to pass on to our customers, it is safe to say that you will be seeing higher prices on all Keurig K-Cups (more specific details will be posted as they become available).

This price increase will be something that you see across the board from Office Coffee Services to internet retailers to retail outlets to grocery stores (on all coffees, not just K-Cups).

Here is the official news release that was sent to us from Green Mountain Coffee Roasters last evening (9/7/2010), as well as some links to how the mainstream media is covering this news from Green Mountain:

GREEN MOUNTAIN COFFEE ROASTERS, INC. ANNOUNCES PRICE INCREASE

WATERBURY, Vt. (September 7, 2010) – Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Inc. (GMCR) (NASDAQ: GMCR), announced today a price increase on all K-Cup^® portion packs for its Keurig^®Single Cup brewing system sold in North America. The increase will occur across all sales channels and will be effective beginning October 11, 2010. Consumers could expect to see a purchase price increase of approximately 10 to 15 percent over the next several months as a result.

The increase is in response to several factors affecting the coffee industry including a sustained increase in the price of green coffee, differentials for premium quality coffees, increases in prices of other raw materials, as well as higher packaging and transportation costs. Over the past three months, green coffee prices have increased from $1.45 per pound to $1.90 per pound, or approximately 31 percent.

“Like others in the coffee industry, we have been closely monitoring rising green coffee costs and increases in other input costs like cocoa and packaging for several months,” said Scott McCreary, president of GMCR’s Specialty Coffee business unit. “While we have the flexibility to absorb some short-term cost increases, the sustained nature of the increases we’ve experienced over the past three months led us to conclude it is necessary to adjust our pricing.”

Green Mountain Set to Raise K-Cup Prices (in the news):

Green Mountain to hike K-Cup portion pack prices (Bloomberg Businessweek) 

Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Inc Announces Price Increase (MarketWatch)

Wolfgang Puck Keurig K-Cups now available from Corporate Essentials (drinkcoffee.com)

For months now, you have no doubt been hearing that 12 new Keurig K-Cups from Wolfgang Puck would be coming in May. Now we have a date - Monday, May 24th.

Corporate Essentials will have plenty of Wolfgang Puck Keurig K-Cups to go around, but we suggest that you get your orders in early in the week to guarantee your Wolfgang Puck Keurig K-Cups arrive as soon as possible.

Here's the lineup of Wolfgang Puck Keurig K-Cups (just in case you have been brewing your K-Cup coffee under a rock for the past few months and missed it):

Wolfgang Puck Breakfast in Bed  Keurig K-Cups: Wake up on the bright side, with fresh aromas and a smooth taste.

Wolfgang Puck Rodeo Drive  Keurig K-Cups (formerly Beverly Hills Blend): When only the best will do... Live the good life, and drink great coffee!

Wolfgang Puck French Roast Keurig K-Cups: Bring the aromas of France home with you and "profitez des bons moments (enjoy the good moments)"

Wolfgang Puck Vienna Coffee House Keurig K-Cups: Close your eyes, breathe in the aromas and take a sip. Savor the moment.

Wolfgang Puck Sumatra Kopi Raya Keurig K-Cups: A full body with spicy notes. Flavors from around the world, at your table!

Wolfgang Puck Chef's Reserve Colombian Keurig K-Cups: "A really good cup of coffee is truly one of my greatest pleasures." -Wolfgang Puck

Wolfgang Puck Chef's Reserve Colombian Decaf Keurig K-Cups: "A really good cup of coffee is truly one of my greatest pleasures." -Wolfgang Puck

Wolfgang Puck Hawaiian Hazelnut Keurig K-Cups: The flavor of rich coffee blended with tropical hazelnut. sure to delight the senses.

Wolfgang Puck Francais Vanilla Keurig K-Cups: A subtle flavor of vanilla adds just a touch of sweetness to this extraordinary coffee.

Wolfgang Puck Creme Caramel Keurig K-Cups: The sweetness of rich caramel mixed with gourmet vanilla ice cream, delicious!

Wolfgang Puck Jamaica Me Crazy Keurig K-Cups: You may do a little dance for this fantastic cup of Joe. Yes a dance, but who doesn't love a crazy jig in the morning?

Wolfgang Puck Sorrento Keurig K-Cups: Take a moment to simply enjoy the great flavor and aroma of this perfect blend. Live, love, eat and drink great coffee.

New Survey of U.S. Employees Finds Small Perks in the Office Can Have a Big Impact on Feeling Motivated and Valued

Two Years of Limited Pay Increases and Workplace Benefits Leave Employees Appreciating Simple Luxuries (Fairfield, New Jersey's Corporate Essentials is an Authorized Keurig Distributor)

READING, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--In today’s challenging times, business owners and managers seek effective ways to improve morale in the workplace and help keep staff motivated, especially when employees are being asked to do more with less. Now, new survey findings reveal that small perks can have a major impact in boosting employee morale. According to a national survey, three out of five employed Americans feel more motivated to do their best work when provided with perks in the office and nearly half of those surveyed said small perks make them feel more valued.

“Employers can inexpensively offer simple perks in the office like flexible working hours, casual dress days or a celebration pizza that offers a significant perceived value to employees.”

“It’s important for business managers to recognize and reward their staff for their hard work, even if a tight budget only allows for small perks. Simple rewards can go a long way in attracting, motivating and retaining needed talent,” said Dr. Bob Nelson, a leading authority on workforce motivation, a best-selling author of 1001 Ways to Reward Employees and Keeping Up in a Down Economy and co-founder of Recognition Professionals International. “Employers can inexpensively offer simple perks in the office like flexible working hours, casual dress days or a celebration pizza that offers a significant perceived value to employees.”

Nelson points to fresh, free gourmet coffee as a commonly desired office perk that has a very high perceived value to employees, helping them save money, improve morale and enhance productivity - in turn benefiting employers. A recent national survey conducted on behalf of Keurig, Incorporated, a leader in single-serve brewing systems, confirms that. According to the survey:

• 37 percent of employees surveyed would prefer free, daily fresh gourmet coffee or tea over a company’s annual holiday party
• 50 percent of employees surveyed reported they are looking to cut back their spending on coffee and tea in 2010 (outside of the office)
• Surveyed Americans aged 18-34 report spending an estimated $440/year and over 38 hours/year on purchasing coffee and tea before, during and after the work day. Sixty percent said they would like to cut back their spending

“The results from this survey reflect what we regularly hear from business owners and managers about the need to help boost employee morale and maintain productivity by providing a variety of gourmet coffee, teas, or specialty drinks,” says Dave Manly, General Manager, Away From Home division for Keurig, Incorporated. “Keurig’s single cup brewing technology makes it easy by providing a variety of gourmet beverages for everyone’s tastes and without the waste, mess and hassle that you find with traditional coffeemakers.”

Keurig has offered a solution for managers looking to provide employees with a perk of fresh, gourmet coffee since 1998. The company recently launched the Commercial Series B150 and B155 brewers, which are specially designed for small to medium sized businesses and medical offices and include a new one-of-a-kind, interactive touchscreen interface that provides step-by-step instructions for brewing the perfect cup of coffee in less than a minute. Employees can choose from over 200 varieties of K-Cup® portion packs from 13 different brands, making it easy for everyone in the office to brew the coffee they love and enjoy. For more information on Keurig, please visit www.keurig.com or call 888-CUP-BREW.

About the Survey

The national omnibus survey was developed by Keurig and Bob Nelson, Ph.D. and conducted by Opinion Research Corporation in Princeton, NJ. Opinion Research surveyed by telephone 958 adults employed full, part time, or self employed. Interviews were weighted by four variables including age, sex, geographic region, and race to ensure reliable and accurate representation of the total adult population. Interviews were conducted on Jan. 7-11, 2010. Such a sample has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.2%.

Did Your Coffee Make the List?

ABC 7 News reports on a Consumer Reports review of the best coffees on the market. Take a look and see what Corporate Essentials coffees made the cut.

Keurig Introduces New OfficePro Small-Office Brewer

Corporate Essentials is among the first office coffee services in New York City and Northern New Jersey to be able to offer Keurig's newest, commercial-grade brewer - the Keurig OfficePro.

The new Keurig OfficePro Small-Office Brewer is the perfect solution for offices of 15 employees or less, and unlike past Keurig Commercial-Grade Brewers, the Keurig OfficePro Brewer is available for purchase from Corporate Essentials (Fairfield, NJ).

Here's what Keurig says about the new OfficePro Brewer:

The OfficePro™ brewer is Keurig's new small office brewer. This brewer is perfect for offices of 15 or less, conference rooms, or the boardroom! It offers three brew sizes (6 0z, 8 oz, 10 oz), an internal tank that drains at the flip of a switch, an Auto-Off safety feature, removable driptray, and a removable water tank.

Here is what you need to know:

Features

• Brew Sizes: 6 oz, 8 oz, 10 oz*
• Drainable Internal Water Reservoir
• Travel Mug Friendly with
  Removable Drip Tray
• Removable Reservoir
• Auto Off Feature

Specs

• H X W X D, inches 13.5 x 8.5 x 11
• Weight: 14 lbs (empty)
• UL cULus Commercial
• Internal HW Tank: 24 oz
• External CW Tank: 48 oz
• Electrical: 1400W, 120V ac
• Voltage: 120VAC/60Hz
• Plug: 3-wire grounded

If the new Keurig OfficePro Small-Office Brewer sounds like it might be perfect for your office, simply click here to send us an email, and one of our sales representatives will be in touch with you within 24 hours.

Still not sure if a Keurig Brewing System from Corporate Essentials is right for your office? Here is some info that might help:

Corporate Essentials is New York City and Northern New Jersey's premier office coffee service, serving the New York City Metropolitan Area for more than 12 years. Corporate Essentials offers more than 200 different varieties of Keurig K-Cup Coffee, Tea and Hot Cocoa from Green Mountain, Timothy's, Coffee People, Caribou Coffee, Gloria Jean's, Diedrich, Tully's, Bellaccino, Twinings, Bigelow, Celestial Seasonings and more.

Please contact Corporate Essentials today for more information on putting New York City's best coffee in your office.

Click Here to Contact Us Now

Keurig Single Cup Brewer Wins Excellence In Design Award

from AMOnilne.com

Keurig, Inc, a subsidiary of Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Inc., announced that its B3000 commercial single-cup brewer has received a Silver Excellence in Design Award from appliance DESIGN magazine.

Keurig’s B3000 (available for offices in NYC and NJ from Corporate Essentials) brewer was recognized in the commercial/vending appliances category of appliance DESIGN’s 21st Annual Excellence in Design competition. An independent panel of industrial design experts evaluated entries based on aesthetics, human factors, innovation, and technical merits. Award-winning products exhibited sophisticated technology, intuitive features, an eye-catching appearance, and a focus on consumer convenience.

The Keurig brewing system and proprietary K-Cup portion packs were first introduced in offices in 1998 and were highly successful due to the system’s speed, convenience, and gourmet-tasting coffee. The B3000 brewer is designed for large offices where back-to-back brewing by several people is the norm. The brewer makes a fresh cup of coffee in less than a minute and includes features such as direct line water plumbing, multiple brew sizes to vary brew strength, and automatic K-Cup ejection and storage. The brewer is also vending compatible.

“The B3000 brewer offers the most advanced single-cup brewing technology, and the design of the product garners raves from our distributors and customers,” said Dave Manly, vice president of marketing at Keurig, in a prepared statement. “We’ve succeeded in creating a bold, distinctive look for our brewers, while making it easy to brew gourmet coffee, tea or hot cocoa one cup at a time.”

Keurig leads single-cup brewing in both the home and office. With the Keurig single-cup brewing system, users can choose their favorite coffee, tea or hot cocoa packed in the patented K-Cup portion packs, brew a single cup at the touch of a button, and enjoy a gourmet cup with no mess or clean-up. Keurig provides a range of brewing solutions, available from over 450 office coffee distributors, for small, medium, and large offices. For the home, Keurig brewers and K-Cups are available at over 10,000 retail stores, including Target, Bloomingdale’s, Bed, Bath & Beyond, and online at shoffee.com.

About Corporate Essentials

Corporate Essentials is Manhattan, Northern New Jersey and Westchester's premier office coffee service. Stocking more than 1,200 products for your office pantry, including hot & cold beverages, paper products, cleaning supplies and health aids, Corporate Essentials is the only Office refreshment vendor you need.

WSJ: Speculators Put Jolt Into Your Cup of Joe
Managed Funds Main Driver of Coffee Prices


By CAROLYN CUI
from WSJ (March 1, 2008; Page B1)

Get ready to spend more for your morning pick-me-up.

Coffee prices are on the march, and the costs of the milk, sugar and even paper cups also are climbing. But whereas other commodities like copper or oil have been pushed up by demand from developing countries, coffee is a different case. Demand has only edged up, and much of the recent surge is due to speculators hopping into the commodity.

Oren's Daily Roast, a boutique coffee store in New York City, has charged $2.95 for a medium latte for the past two years. Now, owner Oren Bloostein is considering a price increase of perhaps 3% for a cup of coffee and up to 10% for the coffee beans it sells.

"It is very disconcerting," said Mr. Bloostein. But after an 11% increase in ingredients since the beginning of this year, Mr. Bloostein said, "I need to raise my prices so that I can remain in business."

The price pressures on a cup of joe began building last year. The price of the coffee itself rose 7.7% last year, while milk climbed 24%. Now, spurred by tight supplies of coffee beans and investors looking for the next commodity run-up, prices are boiling over. The price of green coffee beans has risen 22% since the beginning of the year in trading on ICE Futures U.S.

Click here to read the full article.


About Corporate Essentials
Corporate Essentials is Manhattan, Northern New Jersey and Westchester's premier office coffee service. Stocking more than 1,200 products for your office pantry, including hot & cold beverages, paper products, cleaning supplies and health aids, Corporate Essentials is the only Office refreshment vendor you need.

Businesses buy espresso machines to cut break time

The below piece is from a recent article in The Sunday Telegraph from Sydney, Australia.

SYDNEY, Australia - The humble cappuccino has joined the cigarette and the Internet as the latest threat to workplace productivity.

Coffee runs have become the new smoko and businesses have become so fed up with workers leaving their desks in search of a caffeine fix that many are now paying for professional coffee machines to be installed on-site.

Shelling out $6000 for an espresso machine is worth it because it keeps employees in the building, keeps them motivated and cuts down on break time, employers argue.

Mitsubishi Sydney City, Hawkesbury Valley Holden, Babcock & Brown, global business and technology services company EDS and international shipping firm Maersk are among leading firms that have recently bought coffee machines for staff.
Adam Symon is the director at Bravo Repair Centre and maintains and fixes hundreds of machines each week.

"We've really noticed that, percentage-wise, the number of companies who are dealing with machines has tripled over the last six months," he said.

"A lot of money is being spent on these coffee machines. The more serious companies are even getting them plumbed into the water system."

Mr Symon estimates that in a standard office of 300 staff, workers were grinding their way through 15kg of coffee beans each week, enough to make around 1800 standard cups.

Click here to view the full article.

About Corporate Essentials
Corporate Essentials is Manhattan, Northern New Jersey and Westchester's premiere office coffee service. Stocking more than 1,200 products for your office pantry, including hot & cold beverages, paper products, cleaning supplies and health aids, Corporate Essentials is the only Office refreshment vendor you need.

We Remember Alfred H. Peet (1920-2007)

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution referenced Alfred H. Peet's familiar nickname, the 'grandfather of specialty coffee in a September 5, 2007 piece about his life - and he name was befitting of the man who revolutionized the way that we drink our morning coffee.


from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution

'Alfred H. Peet, the son of a Dutch coffee merchant who pioneered a revolution in roasting exotic dark beans that led to America's love affair with high-end coffee, died Wednesday at his home in Ashland, Ore. He was 87.

The cause was cancer, several friends said. His death was announced Friday by a representative of the company he founded, Peet's Coffee and Tea Inc.

Peet, often called the "grandfather of specialty coffee," started his business in Berkeley, Calif., in 1966, with a single retail coffee bean outlet that blossomed into a public company with 150 stores in 10 states.

He is credited with mentoring and inspiring a generation of coffee entrepreneurs, including the founders of Starbucks.'

For more on the life of Alfred H. Peet, or to share your own memories of his life please visit Peet's Coffee & Tea's Blog, which has a great tribute to this great man.

The thoughts and prayers of everyone at Corporate Essentials are extended to the Peet family.

Re-Engineering Espresso

This past Friday (August 31, 2007), I read a very interesting article in the Wall Street Journal about "The Complex World of Coffee Research and the Quest for a Better Shot" by Jeff Grocott.

The article included an interesting breakdown on the cost of some very popular single-serve coffee and espresso when broken down by pound. I have included the per-pound breakdown below, or click here to view the full Wall Street Journal article.



About Corporate Essentials
Corporate Essentials is Manhattan, Northern New Jersey and Westchester's premiere office coffee service. Stocking more than 1,200 products for your office pantry, including hot & cold beverages, paper products, cleaning supplies and health aids, Corporate Essentials is the only Office refreshment vendor you need.

Dell Laptop Winner, Gets Her Prize

You might remember that back in May and June Corporate Essentials ran a promotion to attract customers to our redesigned online ordering website - MyDrinkCoffee.com. Today we finally had the opportunity to present the winner of the Dell Inspiron 1501 notebook computer to Carin Young of Allied World Assurance Company, Inc. (AWAC), located in New York City.

Pictured below (from left to right) are winner Carin Young and Corporate Essentials' President, Judson Kleinman.


About Corporate Essentials
Corporate Essentials is Manhattan, Northern New Jersey and Westchester's premiere office coffee service. Stocking more than 1,200 products for your office pantry, including hot & cold beverages, paper products, cleaning supplies and health aids, Corporate Essentials is the only Office refreshment vendor you need.

Mets legend, Keith Hernandez a barista?

During the early innings of last night's New York Mets game on SNY, I heard Keith Hernandez say that he was an alum of Capuchino High School in San Bruno, California. This led me to do some research on Capuchino High School to find out if a school with such an unusual name could have a fitting school nickname like the Battling Baristas or Fighting Frappachinos.

However, after consulting the wikipedia (one of my favorite inventions in recent history), I discovered that Capuchino High School's mascot was not coffee-themed in any way; but they are known as the Mustangs. Another notable graduate of Capuchino High School is actress Suzanne Sommers.

Well, thanks anyway Keith for giving me another chance to talk about the Mets at work.

About Corporate Essentials
Corporate Essentials is Manhattan, Northern New Jersey and Westchester's premiere office coffee service. Stocking more than 1,200 products for your office pantry, including hot & cold beverages, paper products, cleaning supplies and health aids, Corporate Essentials is the only Office refreshment vendor you need.

Corporate Essentials named to Inc. 5000 list

Corporate Essentials was recently named to Inc. Magazine's Inc. 5000 list of America's fastest growing companies.

To learn more about Corporate Essentials being featured on the list, click here; to read Corporate Essential's official news release click here.

Timothy's coffee introduces new Emeril K-Cups!

Timothy's coffee has just announced that they will soon be releasing an exclusive line of Emeril Lagasse's signature blend coffees.

The first two varieties in the line have been announced, and are Big Easy Bold and Jazzed Up Decaf (see images below). As many of Emeril's branded products do, the k-cups will be strongly influenced by the city of New Orleans.

Timothy's Emeril branded k-cups will be available in the coming weeks from Corporate Essentials and at drinkcoffee.com.

Too Hot for Coffee from a K-Cup? Never!

After a week of vacation (and a week away from the office Keurig Brewer), I was happy to arrive this morning and see some summertime, iced drink recipes for Keurig K-Cups setting on my desk. I was so excited, the first thing that I wanted to do was make sure that I shared them with everyone who visits the Corporate Essentials' Java Cafe. So without further adieu, here are two great summer (iced drink) recipes that can be made at your office Keurig brewer:

Iced Tea: Fill a 16-ounce mug or cup (even plastic) with ice. Brew your favorite tea K-Cup at 8 ounces, and you'll have a great 16-ounce tea in seconds!

Iced Carmel Latte: Pour 1.5 to 2 ounces of half-and-half into a cup, and swirl about 2 ounces of caramel syrup along the cup walls. Stir the caramel and half-and-half together, pack tightly with ice, and brew about 4 ounces on top (I used two separate cups to make it easier). Then you can top off with whipped cream, a bit more caramel and cinnamon (as you can see from the cell phone pic below, I went with the low-fat version and left off the whipped cream). The same recipe can be used to make a mocha latte by simply replacing the caramel syrup with chocolate.



In my personal opinion, the second recipe works best with any of our Extra Bold K-Cups from Timothy's or Green Mountain; but I strongly recommend trying it with Green Mountain's Kenyan AA Extra Bold or Timothy's Kona Blend k-cups (these are the two that I tried so far).

Do you have any summer drink recipes that your office enjoys? Send me an email about them, and we'll send you a free gift.

Top 10 Uses for Used Coffee Grounds

While browsing the web last night, I came across a great posting from our friends over at curbly.com. They give us some interesting uses for your used coffee grounds. If you'd like to check out the original posting on curbly.com, click here.

Without further adieu, here are what curbly.com lists as the top 10 uses for used coffee grounds:

10. Deodorizer. Dry them out on a cookie sheet and then put them in a bowl in your refrigerator or freezer, or rub them on your hands to get rid of food prep smells.

9. Plant food. Plants such as rosebushes, azaleas, rhododendrons, evergreen and camellias that prefer acidic soils will appreciate the leftovers from your morning cup. Also, grounds can add nutrients to your compost bin.

8. Insect repellant. Sprinkle old grounds around places you don’t want ants, or on the ant piles themselves. The little buggers will move on or stay away. Used grounds are also said to repel snails and slugs.

7. Dye. By steeping grounds in hot water, you can make brown dye for fabric, paper and even Easter eggs.

6. Furniture scratch cover-up. Steep grounds and apply a bit of the liquid to furniture scratches with a Q-tip.

5. Cleaning product. As they’re slightly abrasive, grounds can be used as a scouring agent for greasy and grimy stain-resistant objects.

4. Kitty repellent. To keep kitty from using the garden as her personal powder room, sprinkle grounds mixed with orange peels around your plants.

3. Flea dip. Follow up Fido’s shampoo with a coffee ground rub down, working them down to his skin. Not only are the fleas suppose to vamoose, but puppy’s hair will feel soft too.

2. Dust inhibitor. Before you clean out the fireplace, toss wet coffee grounds over the ashes to keep the ash dust under control.

And, finally, the #1 use for used coffee grounds....drum roll here....

1. Cellulite reducer. Mix 1/4 cup warm, used coffee grounds and 1 tablespoon of olive oil. While standing over an old towel or newspaper, apply the mixture to your "problem areas". Next, wrap the areas with shrink wrap and leave on for several minutes. Unwind the wrap, brush loose grounds off your skin and then shower with warm water. For best results, it is recommended to repeat this procedure twice a week. A little weird to be sure, but as high priced cellulite creams have coffee in them, it just might work.

While myself (or anyone else at Corporate Essentials) can verify that we have tried all of the above uses for coffee grounds, we strongly urge you to give number nine (plant food) a try. To take that one even a step further - try using your used coffee grounds (or even single-cup pods) as compost for your garden. Because the material used to make the pod filters is 100% biodegradable, you can bury them in your garden just the way they are.

Do you have any other uses for coffee grounds? Let us know in an email, and we'll send you a Corporate Essentials t-shirt.

Star-Ledger features Corporate Essentials in "What it takes to make Happy Workers"

Corporate Essentials was featured in a recent article in New Jersey's Star-Ledger. The article, by Beth Fitzgerald, was part of the Sunday, June 24th Star-Ledger.

Focused on in this piece was Corporate Essentials' relationship with Newark's Gibbons Law Firm:

Gibbons: Starting with a cup of coffee

Attorney Cheryl Gorman has her first cup of coffee in the morning when she arrives at work. She is a director at Newark's Gibbons law firm, which provides its entire staff with fresh-brewed Starbucks, 24/7, for free.

"It really makes a difference," Gorman said. "We can be here 'til past midnight, and coffee helps pick me up."

There are coffee lounges on every floor, with marble counters and a high-tech machine that brews Starbucks by the cup. Legal secretary Allyson Deloatch explained why she likes this particular employee perk: "Let me tell you - I've experienced bad coffee."

By providing this amenity, the firm "is saying look, we value you and want you to be happy," attorney and director Bruce Levy said. "And when I want a cup of coffee, I can get one in five minutes instead of a half-hour to go out to Dunkin Donuts."

"Good, free coffee is one of the least expensive benefits you can provide your employees, and the workers get that benefit all day, every day," said Judson Kleinman, whose Fairfield (NJ) company Corporate Essentials supplies the coffee service for Gibbons. "People are really emotional about coffee, and it also helps them work. It gets their day started and keeps them focused on the task at hand."

Not that anyone ever took a job for coffee. But Patrick Dunican, managing director of Gibbons, said, "This, to me, is one of the most important things a 21st-century employer should be aware of and should be doing for their employees. The quality and availability of coffee is important to employee morale, and it has increased productivity."

Click here to view the Full Article at nj.com.

The cost of employees leaving the office

I came across this statistic today, and felt that it was something that needed to be shared. I guess we knew that running to Starbucks was expensive, but never knew it could cost this much:

According to a recent survey by Harris Interactive, one quarter of the employees will leave the office to get a hot beverage if none is provided. When employees leave to get their hot beverage, companies are losing money. With 75 employees, 18.75 will leave the office, daily that equals 155 days annually of lost productivity. Based on an average salary of $40,000, the lost revenue for the company is $23,484.

About Corporate Essentials:

Corporate Essentials is Manhattan, Northern New Jersey and Westchester's premiere office coffee service. Stocking more than 1,200 products for your office pantry, including hot & cold beverages, paper products, cleaning supplies and health aids, Corporate Essentials is the only Office refreshment vendor you need.

Take a Coffee Break.

Just wanted to add a little fun to your day. Give Tetris a try. Simply use the arrows on your keyboard to control the falling pieces. Enjoy!!!

TimberFrog.com

Mrs. Meyer's All Purpose Cleaner Bottle Saves Goat

For about a month now Corporate Essentials has been stocking the Mrs. Meyer's Clean Day line of chemical-free cleaning products. When we decided to bring in the Mrs. Meyer's line, we knew that we'd be giving our customers an opportunity to help our environment (by going green with Mrs. Meyer's chemical-free products), but we never knew that these products could also be used to save an injured, pregnant goat. That was until we found this letter on Mrs. Meyer's website:

Dear Mrs. Meyer’s Clean Day,

Your All Purpose Cleaner bottle is currently on a leg of one of our pregnant goats. Cookie broke her back leg and when I first saw it I thought it was all over for her, but I called the vet and he told me how to splint the break. The empty bottle (with top and bottom removed) fit perfectly over her leg! She has been proudly sporting her Mrs. Meyer’s cast for almost 8 weeks. I am sure the bottle’s support has contributed to her leg mending. Cookie and her expectant kid thank you, and so do I.

Sincerely,
Mary Jane
Mansfield, MO



To see our full line of Mrs. Meyer's Clean Day products, click here. If you'd like to request a sample of Mrs. Meyer's products simply send an email to joes@drinkcoffee.com.

New Green Mountain products now in stock

This week Corporate Essentials began stocking two new Extra Bold K-Cup varieties (Kenyan AA and Fair Trade Organic Espresso Blend), as well as the much-anticipated Hot Cocoa K-Cup from Green Mountain Coffee Roasters.

While we have given the most attention recently to the long-awaited release of Green Mountain's hot chocolate for Keurig brewers, the two Extra Bold K-Cups are already some of the best available.

While grouped into Green Mountain's Extra Bold Collection, the Kenyan AA is actually a medium roast coffee. In the past few years this same roast (Kenyan AA) has been rated as high as 96/100 on CoffeeReview.com in whole bean and ground varieties. And from my best judgement, the translation to a single-serve k-cup has taken nothing away from this great brew.

While these three products are not limited editions, we do expect the demand to be very high.All of these products are available now at our online ordering website MyDrinkCoffee.com.

Mrs. Meyer's makes "Going Green" easy

Corporate Essentials is proud to try and do our part in helping more and more organizations to "Go Green" when it comes to office cleaning products.

This week, Corporate Essentials became the first Office Refreshment company to carry Mrs. Meyer's Clean Day (chemical-free) cleaning products.

Mrs. Meyer’s Clean Day makes honest, hardworking cleaners that work like the dickens on dirt. With Mrs. Meyer's, keeping clean is easy. All you need is a sensible pair of shoes, a little elbow grease, and the right soap.

The Mrs. Meyer's product line features solutions to replace such everyday office cleaning items as Clorox Wipes, Fantastik spray, AJAX cleanser, Mr. Clean and more.

Something that you will perhaps find even more pleasing than the fact that all Mrs. Meyer's products are phosphate-free, is the wonderful scents that the products come in. Each product is available in three scents; lavender, geranium and lemon verbena.

Mrs. Meyer's has been recognized in many national publications such as In Style, Family Circle and Oprah Magazine.

Click here to see the entire line of Mrs. Meyer's Clean Day products at MyDrinkCoffee.com.

Green Mountain Hot Cocoa K-Cups on the way...

We told you a few months back, but the day is almost here - you will finally be able to purchase Hot Chocolate K-Cups at MyDrinkCoffee.com. We expect to have these K-Cups available in approximately two weeks. Please check back often to check availability.

WSJ Article Spotlights Gourmet Office Coffee

The Wall Street Journal recently published an interesting article about companies upgrading their office coffee in hopes of keeping more employees from taking their coffee breaks at places like Starbucks or Dunkin Donuts.

The piece talked about more and more employers switching to single-serve coffee solutions like the Keurig B300 and the Starbucks interactive-cup brewer.

Here is a portion of the article, as published in the Baltimore Sun on Monday, March 26, 2007:

The coffee break refuses to die.

As more workers flee their cubicles to get a latte fix, the office coffee machine has become a forgotten stepchild. Of people who drink coffee at work, the percentage who drink the in-house brew dropped to 52 percent last year from 64 percent in 2003, according to the National Coffee Association, an industry group.

Now, in hopes of keeping their employees on the premises -- and sparing them the pain of a $4.95-a-day habit -- some companies are trying new measures. First and foremost: upgrading the java...

Click here to read the full article on the Baltimore Sun's website.

Even dogs love our Donut Shop Blend.

Corporate Essentials' very own Renee Kymack was kind enough to share some recent photos of her dog Drew enjoying one of her favorite treats - our Donut Shop Blend coffee.

Check out the pictures of Drew below, and if you try our Donut Shop Blend, and mention that you saw Drew here, we'll send you a coffee mug. Yes, the same coffee mug (the now semi-famous) Drew is drinking from in the pictures.

Thanks Renee for sharing these pictures with us.

Do you have any interesting photos featuring Corporate Essentials products? Share them with us, and if they show up in the Java Cafe, we'll send you a free gift. Simply email them to joes@drinkcoffee.com.

It's Official...Hot Cocoa K-Cups are coming.

Green Mountain Coffee Roasters announced this week that, after years of waiting, a hot cocoa K-Cup will be available starting next month for use in all Keurig brewers.

Because this announcement has just been made by Green Mountain, we do not have full details as to things like price or exact date of arrival.

Green Mountain calls their new K-Cups, 'the perfect compliment to an office's coffee selection.' According to the news release, in a recent office survey, 90 percent of respondents expressed interest in the hot cocoa K-Cups after trying them.

Check back at www.drinkcoffee.com, www.mydrinkcoffee.com and The Java Cafe blog for more details on exactly when this new K-Cup will be available.

We expect to begin selling these at Corporate Essentials around the week of April 16th.

Sacrifices for the Cup

What would you give up for a cup-a-joe?

As reported by The Detroit News online, a recent survey by OnTech Operations, Inc. found what coffee drinkers are willing to sacrifice for a cup of brew. Their results show the following:

• 42% would trade in the morning paper, television, or radio for a cup of joe.
• 20% would swap lunch for coffee.
• 12% give up three hours of sleep for coffee.
• 10% would skip brushing their teeth for a cup

The survey also found that:

• 67% of Americans identify themselves as coffee drinkers.
• Nearly 50% half drink at least one cup every day.
• Men drink more cups per day than women.
• People in the Northeast consume more coffee than drinkers in any other region.
• 33% of of coffee drinkers consider themselves social drinkers, who use coffee breaks as a time to catch up with family and friends.
• Almost 25% like the hot drink because it warms their hands.
• 37% of coffee drinkers ages 18 to 24 drink the caffeine booster to help them accomplish tasks, presumably after a late night out on the town.

OnTech Operations Inc., a manufacturer of self-heating containers, surveyed 1,015 adults by telephone in January.

Happy Valentine's Day from Corporate Essentials

While we're not going to ask you to be our Valentine, we do have two sweet surprises for you today. We hope you'll enjoy the two video clips below; the first is a Valentine's Day greeting, and the second is a video montage of clips from The Office on NBC. Click here to send an email, and let us know what you thought. Have a great day.

Timothy's to introduce two new k-cup teas

Corporate Essentials will soon be carrying two new flavors in tea k-cups from Timothy's World Coffee. The two new flavors are Cranberry Twist Green Tea and Orange Indulgence White Tea, and both will be available in the coming weeks. Check www.DrinkCoffee.com for more information, or send us an email, and we'll let you know when their available.

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