Because of the current health crisis, we have seen thousands of small and large businesses shutting down. Food and beverage businesses were hit the hardest by COVID-19, due to stay-at-home orders that lasted for months and the subsequent fall-out which caused customers to refrain from eating out or having a drink at their favorite bars.
Ambient Stable Coffee Kegs
Lockdown: Cafes and Coffee Shop Owners Losing Money
After months of being on Coronavirus lockdown and being pummeled by the subsequent recession, most business owners and keg distributors had no choice but to leave their food and beverage stocks in their storage rooms and coolers, which led to massive spoilage – lost money!
Besides losing thousands of dollars a day in lost revenue, cafe and coffee shop owners have also lost their supply stocks due to so much time passing during their closure. Imagine having a full inventory of beer, coffee, and foodstuffs going bad after being left sitting 3 to 4 months. Some businesses ended up throwing out hundreds of thousands of dollars of supplies in the middle of the pandemic for this reason. Such costs also served to hinder businesses reopening they were allowed to reopen up again too.
The Unique Challenges of COVID-19 to Business Owners
It’s hard to extend the freshness of many coffee products because the product itself is extremely sensitive to air, heat, light, and moisture. It only takes a short time for coffee to become stale when it’s not stored properly, even in its whole-bean form. This is true even if the coffee is brewed and refrigerated, it won’t stay fresh for long. This presents new challenges for hapless cafe and coffee shop owners who are struggling to attract customers back to their businesses after months being spent on lockdown.
The health crisis also changed the way we serve food and drinks. Customers want their food and drinks handled with as little physical contact as possible. This means many previous methods of serving coffee are no longer acceptable.
With fewer customers coming in, coffee products are kept in storage longer than before. Weeks or even months, of inactivity, decrease the products’ quality and flavor. Ultimately, this affects the viability of the business.
To store coffee products properly, you need a protective container that keeps air, heat, and light out. However, contrary to common beliefs, when coffee is protected from the elements, its flavor, taste, and overall quality remain the same for a long, long time.
When it comes to cold brew and nitro coffees, which are often stored in kegs and other air-tight containers, not all packages are created equally. Homebrew (Cornelius system) kegs aren’t as securely sealed or as food safe as Sankey D kegs because they have a cover that can be lifted open or not tightly secured. Such kegs are not tamperproof or food safe. Furthermore, if the kegs are not cleaned properly, or if the product is not pasteurized and packaged properly in an inert environment, the product can go bad within just a few days due to oxidation and pathogens. Being on lockdown for 3 to 4 months with no guarantees of businesses being fully operational within the year leaves a lot of money wasted on spoiled coffee because of limited stability issues.
Bona Fide Craft Draft Kegs: Helping You Save $$$
To retain the quality of pre-brewed liquid coffee and tea products a special production process is needed along with the best possible container to hold it. Bona Fide uses Sankey-D type kegs, which are the best type of kegs for precious beverages like wine, beer, or coffee. Our Craft Draft brewing and filling process preserve the delicate quality and flavor of products they contain for months, not days. When coffee and tea remain fresh for months, you don’t have to worry about the product going sour, losing its flavor, or spoiling due to periods of inactivity. The product remains fresh - as if it’s been brewed just minutes before serving.
Shelf Stable Nitro Coffee: While there are several choices of aseptic, bag-in the-box, bottled, canned, and liquid coffees on the market, most do not taste good due to the harsh manufacturing processes they are subjected to. Bona Fide, however, makes fantastic tasting still and nitro, cold coffee, and tea products that have an astounding 150-day guarantee - the longest shelf life of any keg coffee and tea currently available.
Kegs Sealed for Freshness: Combining our Craft Draft process with Sankey D kegs, the best keg design available, Bona Fide seals in freshness, quality, color, and flavor of its coffee and tea products for months on end. Our products are fully pasteurized, shelf-stable, and guaranteed. Again, it’s not easy to maintain the freshness of regular coffee, more so if it’s freshly brewed cold coffee. Investing in nitro kegs from Bona Fide will help you keep your stocks fresh, delicious, and ready to serve within seconds.
Future-Proof Business: No one knows yet when the health crisis will end but it’s nice to know that your investment in coffee and tea kegs are kept safe in uncertain times because you have partnered with Bona Fide® Brewing Company. Think of our Craft Draft kegs as a safety net that keeps your liquid coffee and tea products fresh even during months of lockdown.
No Additional Equipment Needed: A nitro keg does not require costly equipment and regular maintenance to retain or enhance its ability to preserve the product. This means you don’t have to spend more money on product storage. Bona Fide kegs can be stored in dry storage for 150 days without any worry about their taste or stability.
Ready to Serve: Our Craft Draft process and Sankey D kegs eliminate the extra steps needed to serve coffee. Simply pull the tap handle and you're ready to serve coffee to your customers. No need to spend time and money on extensive coffee prep.
In these grim, uncertain times, it pays to choose your products carefully, so you don’t end up losing more money during the health crisis due to stale and unfit products. While you can never be too sure that your stocks will remain fresh in the time of COVID-19, with Bona Fide kegs, you can have peace of mind knowing that your cold coffee and tea are safe, fresh, and ready to pour even months after the lockdown ends.