Why does airport coffee suck so bad? And why are airports still not putting good independent coffee shops in them?

29 Sep Why does airport coffee suck so bad? And why are airports still not putting good independent coffee shops in them?

Airports (and Train stations) - a strange mixture of waiting rooms and race tracks. People are either sitting or walking or running in them. I have always loved airports and the excitement and energy they hold. I always dream of having a fantastic coffee to round off the experience before setting off for the boarding gate. And I’m always disappointed.

I’d love every airport to be like Stockholm Arlanda’s Terminal 2 and have an independent espresso bar like Jorgen & Nyström in there. The only false note in this example is that Jorgen and Nyström is in arrivals, not departures.

In Paris, several coffee players have appeared in the terminals as franchises bought by big groups. Despite the fact that one or two use a decent La Marzocco machine, the coffee is universally dreadful. This is because they are not operated by baristas, but untrained personnel paid low wages. And it shows in the product.

I state openly that LOUSTIC would love to operate at the departure gates of all Paris airport terminals, at CDG and Orly. I think we can add to that great airport experience. Except that airports don’t seem to deal with independents. Why? Do they not trust us to run a superlative affaire in a very high volume environment?

Pretty much all the food businesses there are operated by huge franchising groups like SSP and Elior. They have the rights to Starbucks, McDonalds, etc. And they pay huge fees to airport operators in rent. Fair enough - the footfall is enormous. But why are only huge groups with shareholders allowed to participate when smaller independent operators can do a far better job with service, quality, and staff training, plus pay their staff better?

So how about it, Aéroports de Paris? Are you ready to give us our chancen, like Stockholm has done with Jorgen & Nyström?

WE ARE READY.