Find out more about what Gloria Jean's has in store for its future
QSR Media got a chance to talk with the people at Gloria Jean's Coffees about their plans to undertake a strategic review following on their brand's 20th year in Australia.
Gloria Jean's Coffees was founded in 1996 in Miranda, Sydney., and now it has more than 400 coffee houses, and presence in every Australian state and territory. The brand aims to deliver the highest quality coffee while providing personalised service in a vibrant store atmosphere.
QSR Media: What's new at Gloria Jean's Coffees?
2016 has been a good year for Gloria Jean's Coffees as the brand continues to lay the foundations for future growth, driven by the increased support, expertise and scale of Retail Food Group.
Our current Winter drink campaign features a delectable 'Choc Walnut Brownie' latte, chiller and hot chocolate and is available until the 31st of August. The Gloria Jean's Coffees drink innovations team are excited to reveal new food and drink products for our guests, with launches in Spring and Christmas - so watch this space!
QSR Media: Any big plans for the year?
Gloria Jean's Coffees has been undertaking a strategic review as it celebrates its 20th year in Australia in 2016, and it's timely that the brand refocuses to ensure its relevance in the market and in turn exceed our guests' expectations now and in the future.
Gloria Jean's Coffees aims to be innovative to delight consumers and execute consistency in order to grow. By identifying the challenges facing us, we have the opportunity to not just overcome them, but to push the brand ahead of the market.
Our overarching priority is always attracting more guests to our brand and improving the profitability of our franchise partners. Our key priorities which underpin that ethos are our brand positioning, our culture and continuing to deliver our guests with the best possible experience. These have been our priorities in 2016 and will carry across into 2017 as we focus on maintaining our market leading position.
QSR Media: Can you tell us more about the Gloria Jean's Coffees plans for drive thru coffee houses? Can we expect more drive thrus in the future? If so, where?
Gloria Jean's Coffees prides itself on providing the Australian community with a quality coffee experience. Putting our guests first is at the forefront of the brand and engrained into the strategy to drive the brand forward and provide our customers with satisfaction through the latest coffee trends.
Innovation is at the heart of the business and through embracing the new drive thru concept, it has allowed the brand to reach a whole new demographic of customers taking into consideration their busy lifestyles and need for convenience, further positioning Gloria Jean's Coffees as Australia's leading specialty coffee house.
Gloria Jean's Coffees continues to focus on future growth and national expansion across Australia, which entails searching to secure suitable drive thru locations. As the Gloria Jean's Coffees drive thru model differs from a traditional retail location, convenience to the customer forms a key part of the experience.
Locations are determined based on a number of critical elements that come together to determine the potential of a particular drive thru site. These are the location, site selection, people equation, team capability, local marketing, community involvement, and ongoing product innovation which are all required to deliver the best outcome for the customer.
QSR Media: What are the opportunities you see in the coffee scene right now? What about challenges?
Technology is currently an extremely important trend in Australian retail, therefore leveraging technology through a digital platform to either enhance customer experience or drive greater effectiveness within the business operating system is vital.
The brand plans to leverage digital growth on a greater scale by further enhancing our IT and digital platforms. Gloria Jean's Coffees will look to leverage its digital applications to best serve our customers in order to make the experience seamless and convenient for their busy lives.
The biggest challenge for coffee chains is the evolution of service culture and convenience. We acknowledge that it's important to create a point of difference through offering that next level of customer service and improving innovative methods of operation to withstand the highly competitive market that we operate in.
Gloria Jean's Coffees overcomes this through the dedication to providing our franchise partners with training support and also the commitment to quality from our baristas. The focus is always to create the best coffee, made just the way our customers like it, because the best coffee also means the best service.
QSR Media: Any other comments?
Gloria Jean's Coffees continues to strive to be Australia's leading specialty coffee house. Quality remains a high priority in our business strategy given that customers will always search for that perfect cup of coffee. We source, roast and distribute our own specialty coffee blends from our Australian based roasting facility, ensuring that our consistency to quality is met nationally. We continue to focus on menu innovations and the development of our existing product offerings to stay ahead and exceed customers' expectations now and in the future. We aim to stay relevant in the market and consistent to our customers.
