MPK Garages has launched a ‘Love You A Latte Mum’ campaign in the run up to Mother’s Day with its new Italian coffee partner Lavazza.
The Top 50 Indie is giving away a coffee voucher for every £2.85 purchase of the barista-style drinks at its 27 company-operated sites.
Customers buying into the promotion, running until March 15, will be able to enter a prize draw to win a trip for two to Turin.
It is the second offer that the Leicester-based operator has run since November, when it moved from its previous coffee machine provider of 10 years Smokin’ Bean.
It has also been running an ongoing deal at 12 of its sites, pairing a Co-op croissant with a coffee for £3.50.
Retail operations manager Stuart Platt says that working with the family-owned coffee supplier has given MPK more flexibility than ever to be inventive with its coffee offer.
“It’s not a case that the machines are in and we are done. It is more of a relationship with Lavazza,” he says. “We have never had this relationship with a coffee partner before where we have done promotions.”
Lavazza machines are now in over 350 retail sites – 25% of which forecourts – having launched at The Forecourt Show in 2024. Operators taking the brand include MFG, EG On the Move, Platinum Retail, Shinon Group and Pricewatch Group.
MPK Garages says that it chose Lavazza because it wanted a “recognised brand” with better commercials. But another benefit, says Platt, is that the profit margin agreement was based on the average number of cups expected to be sold across the site, rather than on individual sites.
“This helps us commercially and it simplifies things for us in terms of accounting because we have got one margin across the estate for coffee. You know where you stand with it,” says Platt.
Significantly, since introducing the Lavazza brand MPK Garages has increased the volume of cups sold per day by 18%, with positive customer feedback, says Platt. “It’s just a decent cup of coffee. It tastes like something you would get from a coffee shop,” he enthuses.
MPK Garages owns 28 forecourts, one of which is commission operated and has not taken the Lavazza brand.
Lavazza is exhibiting at the National Convenience Show at the NEC on stand number Y60, from April 13-15. It will be offering free hot drinks for the duration of the exhibition, which this year includes The Forecourt Show.
