Prime in Pantry: How Marché delivers on concierge pantry service

After working with the national chain, Billy and Brandon began to brainstorm ways in which they could take their combined vending experience, pantry service knowledge and customer-centric focus to fit the New York City landscape. “Marché was formed by recognizing the need for a pantry and coffee service that would be a concierge-type service for our clients,” said William. “We manage our clients’ vast programs in-house while also managing the budget, product selections and any catering or office service they need.”

The Marché brand was launched in late 2019. The company, however, encountered a major hurdle soon after it started. In March 2020, a day after the installation of Marché’s first big account, New York City shut down due to COVID-19 restrictions.

Despite the setback and uncertainty, Marché’s co-founders strategized ways in which they could grow their business, including offering snack boxes and dropping off fliers at different locations. In 2021, as companies began requiring people to come back to the office, Marché began picking up traction.

Excelling in concierge pantry service

Marché found early on that their concierge pantry service offerings were just what clients needed to incentivize their employees to come back into the office. “When employees come back to the office, companies need things to ‘wow’ them,” said William. “So, our goal is to impress the employees with our product offerings, from snacks to hot and cold beverages to ancillary products.”

Many clients utilize the high-end snacks and beverages Marché provides as a “perk” to entice their teams to stay in the office. “Our clients would rather keep their employees in-house because they know they’ll be working,” William continued.

Operating a concierge pantry service means that Marché must understand the needs of its clients — and execute these needs at the highest levels day in and day out. “This is not vending where you shut the door and come back a week later,” said William. “We have an attendant model at some locations, so we have someone on our staff on location cleaning the machines, filling the product and maintaining an aesthetic. This helps us create a deeper relationship with our clients and the clients’ culture.”

In some locations, Marché will fill shelves three times a day — at 8 a.m., 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. — to ensure that the pantry is consistently full and so that the employees don’t feel a need to stockpile product early in the day for fear of it running out.

But, what makes Marché’s pantry service high level is the amount of care placed on the product offerings and how those products are displayed.

Marché emphasizes breakroom aesthetics, working with each client’s overall office design. “We want to blend into the client’s office aesthetic so that there’s a natural flow,” said William. Marché will bring in wooden displays, specialized racks, bookshelves, modern baskets, custom billboards and bamboo utensils to match the office design. “From the displays to the coolers we use, we don’t want it to just be aesthetically pleasing. We want it to be efficient, too,” said Billy. “We will add pushers so that products move forward and shelves don’t look empty.”

When it comes to product offerings, Marché likes to work with smaller brands, including women-owned and minority-owned businesses. They also try to keep 20% of the products local to New York City. “It’s all about the product,” said William. “We are always looking for the latest and greatest products to offer our pantry clients, which fall into the 25- to 40-year-old age demographic.” He notes that the younger demographic prefers snacks that are flavorful, healthy and in single-portion sizes. “People like the minis or the single-portion product because then they can try a new snack out to see if they like it. And it stretches the clients’ budget a little more.”

Brandon often travels to different shows across the country to find new products he thinks the New York clientele will enjoy and appreciate. “We set up tastings with contacts on site to see if they like the products and to see if the employees like it,” said Brandon. “If we don’t think it’s going to do well in the office, we’re not going to push it.”

“What our team tries to do is get that ‘wow’ factor from the client, and it’s all about the product,” said William. “We didn’t want to be the micro market or the pantry company that is going to serve what you’d see in a vending machine.” Marché will opt to give clients the best products within their budget, even if that means less variety. “Even if there is a smaller budget, we put care into each client’s product offerings,” said William. “We will filter out and change it up as needed because, at the end of the day, no one wants to go to the office for three or four months and see the same product. We try to keep our customers engaged, whether it’s changing out the flavors or the brand completely.” Popular pantry items include prebiotic sodas, energy drinks, organic chips and popcorns, dried fruits and mini protein bars.

The Marché team trains on-site pantry attendants and route drivers on how to service all machines, and they show on-site employees how the machines work, too.

“It’s very important that we educate our employees and our clients how to use all machines, from a cold brew machine to an espresso machine," said William. “We don’t install the machines and leave. We try to help our clients understand how it works because if their experience is good, it makes it better for everyone.”

When the Marché team operated Champion Vending, they did not offer OCS because it seemed like something too difficult for them to do. Today, however, William believes that managed the right way, coffee service can be one of the biggest assets. Billy agrees. “Believe it or not, I believe coffee’s the easiest part of what we do,” he said. “As long as you have new machines that are maintained daily.”

The Marché team tries to make everything as efficient and easygoing for the customer as possible. “We want them to know that if we’re servicing their account, we have them covered,” said Billy. “The last thing they’re worrying about are the snacks, beverages and coffee.” When it comes to customer service, Marché treats all clients with the same care, no matter the size or budget. “We have accounts that are $1 million accounts and others that are less than $1,000 a month, but if we decide to take them, they get the same service and the same look,” said William. The Marché team learned this lesson from servicing Facebook in its early days. “A company can go from small to big quickly,” said William. “So, we treat all our accounts the same, and if we take your account on, you’re going to get the same level of scrutiny and intensity and work that any other account gets.”

The Marché team has found that as they gain their clients’ trust and confidence, those efforts have led to more business in terms of ancillary items as well. “We have a customer-centric attitude and relationship,” said Billy. “We are very attentive to our customers because for us, it’s doing what we love to do.”

The Marché team is so committed to its customer service that they do not pin their clients down with contracts. If a customer isn’t happy, the Marché team will leave. “If we aren’t doing our job, shame on us,” said Billy. “That has yet to happen, though.”