Amid changes in OCS, 2024 could be the right time for a re-imagined CTW event
If you listened to my October 22nd Vending & OCS Nation podcast from Automatic Merchandiser, then you know that this year’s Coffee, Tea and Water Show (CTW) is going to be different. A first glance, I asked myself, “Why change what seemed to be a good thing?” Upon further consideration, making this event about education and collaboration is a great idea. Office coffee service operators are experiencing a changing business climate that will certainly require even more pivoting. This is a good time for a healthy exchange of ideas.
An evolving OCS industry
Look how the OCS business has evolved over the past couple of years as operators wait patiently for the big “return to work” that has been promised again and again. OCS operators are now pantry service providers, and some are moving to micro markets and even smart markets. They have seen their operations change dramatically and their SKU count swell from maybe 200 to over 2000 in some cases. Now, it appears that the return to work might actually happen in 2025 as office populations are steadily rising.
When the state of an industry is static — business as usual — trade shows can do the same old thing. That means opening speakers, education sessions, exhibitors in their spots and attendees marching by those booths. As NAMA chairperson Tom Steuber of Associated Services pointed out, the OCS business is experiencing big changes, and the CTW event needs to change with the times.
OCS operators can learn from each other
“This is such a time of change for the office coffee market and for people who work in offices. There’s so much change. For our industry to be successful, we've got to change with the times. We're putting real emphasis at CTW this year on learning from each other — peer-to-peer learning — but also bringing in some real experts who can talk about company culture to help us evolve into this new paradigm,” he said.
“Traditionally, CTW has been such a great place to find equipment and different tools you can use as you're going out there. The change that we're implementing this year is really more about helping operators become partners with their suppliers,” said Linda Saldana of Seventh Wave Refreshment, who is the chairperson of the Stakeholder Task Force that reimagined the new CTW for NAMA, scheduled for December 11-12 in New Orleans.
“Unlike micro markets and vending where you can just place equipment and kind of move away from it, coffee and pantry services are demanding a lot of knowledge, are demanding a lot of new products, a lot of new programs, and those are things that we can be exposed to in this CTW environment,” she said.
Becoming a valued partner
Steuber said this year’s CTW will once again be education-oriented but with a different focus. “The education will be better than ever because the need that we have in our industry is to be able to become more of a valued partner with our clients so that we can help them see the path to the future. There's so much demand now within the workplace to try to get people to come back to the office and for those workers to be happy when they do come back,” he said.
“Our clients are looking for ways to do that and we're hoping that they're going to look to us as experts in ways to accomplish that. We think that this year, the way that we've designed the educational portion of CTW, we're going to learn from people within our industry who are already doing this successfully, but also from people who are experts outside of our industry who really understand company culture and the changing role of the workplace.”
A conference conductor
“The whole structure of CTW is going to be different than what it's been in the past. For those of us who went to the executive forum back pre-pandemic, we're taking a page from how that was run. We’re going to have what we're calling a conference conductor, Dr. Daren Martin. We're going to be doing more as a whole group, but also breaking up into smaller groups. Dr. Martin will be our MC. He's our keynote speaker. He'll be with us the whole time. His expertise is in work culture, and he'll be able to address that in his keynote, but also to lead discussions among us,” Steuber explained. “He will also lead a fireside chat with Graciela Chadwick, COO at Crumbl, and will summarize the most important takeaways from the day—highlighting insights that can fuel business growth, improve employee engagement, and drive profitability.”
The supplier experience will be different as well. The convention floor is referred to as the “Connection Hub” and Saldana said that it will be more of a meeting space than an exhibit hall. “We want suppliers to bring their ideas,” she added. Steuber noted that since the Connection Hub will be open throughout the event, he believes that will be a big advantage for both the suppliers and the attendees.
Bob Tullio
Bob Tullio is a content specialist, speaker, sales trainer, consultant and contributing editor of Automatic Merchandiser and VendingMarketWatch.com. He advises entrepreneurs on how to build a successful business from the ground up. He specializes in helping suppliers connect with operators in the convenience services industry — coffee service, vending, micro markets and pantry service specifically. He can be reached at 818-261-1758 and [email protected]. Tullio welcomes your feedback.
Subscribe to Automatic Merchandiser’s new podcast, Vending & OCS Nation, which Tullio hosts. Each episode is designed to make your business more profitable.
