Coffee shops are not just a stop anymore. They’re where people live a big part of their day. 

Before 2020, a coffee shop was a place you stopped to grab your morning cappuccino and a muffin before heading to work. It was the place you’d meet a friend for a casual quick encounter, then you kept moving. Coffee shops were more like coffee stops; a transition point. 

That is no longer the case. 

Remote and hybrid work changed everything. In the US alone, work from home accounts for about one quarter of paid workdays, and office attendances have dropped dramatically. The old five-days-a-week office rhythm is a thing of the past. 

This means a rise of coworking spaces and coffee shops. Today, coffee shops aren’t just competing on the quality of coffee, but on housing people’s routines. 

If someone decides your café is where they’d like to start their morning, take their Zoom meetings, and discuss flowcharts, you’ve won. As a coffee shop owner, you should be asking yourself “how do we become someone’s default place?”

Remote workers tend to be loyal to their working spaces. Once they find a spot where they can focus and enjoy a coffee and a snack, you can count on them coming back again and again. 

So, time to think beyond coffee. 

Offer Something Worth Coming Back To

Besides reliable wifi, accessible outlets and good quality coffee, you need to find ways to stand out. You want to offer something other coffee shops don’t have. Here are some ideas you are free to steal to add to your menu:

Cacao affogato. That is not something you’ll find anywhere. It provides contrast: hot and cold, sweet and bitter, cacao and coffee. It’s a drink that helps you focus but it’s also a fun, unique dessert. It works at any time of day. 

Traditionally, an affogato is made with vanilla or fior-di-latte gelato, and an espresso shot. Your cacao affogato could use chocolate gelato instead, made with high quality alkalized cacao powder. To layer even more richness, you can drizzle cacao liquor over it, and top with crunchy cacao nibs for the ultimate chocolate experience. 

Another creative idea to add to your menu is a cacao cold brew, made with cacao husks or cacao nibs. This is something you cannot find anywhere. It’s pleasant, aromatic, and helps increase focus with much less caffeine. 

As a healthy breakfast option, you could have chocolate chia pudding, topped with fruit and cacao nibs. Who wouldn’t love to have a chocolate dessert in the morning? 

When you ask your customers if they’d like their order with cream, you could also ask if they’d like chocolate cream. What other coffee shop offers that? If they love it, (why wouldn’t they?) they’ll be making it their daily staple. 

Sometimes even just adding a complementary mini chocolate truffle with their coffee order can make them prefer you.

Here’s one no one has done yet: cacao pulp smoothie. You can mix other fruit in, but make it the center of attention. Cacao pulp is the sweet mucilage that surrounds the beans, a pretty common drink in cacao-producing countries like Ecuador. It is fresh and citrusy, and totally different. 

The first requirement to enter a coffee shop is that it must serve avocado toast. But, how many offer cacao toast? The same concept works with a special cacao spread that uses high quality cacao powder and nut butter and sea salt and honey. The dish includes chopped banana and strawberries and coconut flakes and cacao nibs as toppings. The item exists as a delicious and filling and healthy food that presents difficulty in locating.

Cookies work as an actual dessert which people can enjoy with their espresso. The selection includes more than standard cookies. The guests will experience surprise when they taste the fudgy chocolate tahini cookies. The visitors will discover that the items were essential to their needs. The combination of tahini fat with cacao bitterness produces a dense taste which pairs perfectly with strong coffee.

Sometimes routine beats novelty. Yes, viral items can create spikes, but when something is made into a routine, you generate more consistent sales. So the best additions shouldn’t just be made interesting, but easy to re-order. They should be unique enough to remember, and simple enough to crave again and become a habit. 

As a coffee shop owner, this is your time to shine.