Minneapolis Office Coffee Service

Anyone who has delivered coffee in Minneapolis in January knows the real competitor is the parking ramp. Plenty of the downtown workforce reaches the office through the skyway system and never sees the street, and a delivery driver has to think about that too. The ramp has height limits, the dock may be inside a building across the skyway, and the cart still has to get from a van to the fourteenth floor.

Skyways and docks downtown

Ask a provider about their experience with downtown Minneapolis buildings before you sign. A driver who knows which tower has a freight elevator on the alley side and which one wants a reservation is worth more than a lower monthly figure. Saint Paul has a skyway of its own, plus state government and health offices around the capitol, and the same questions apply there.

The question is simple: who carries the boxes, and where do they leave them? A quote that says "delivered to the dock" can leave your office manager hauling twenty cases of cups upstairs.

Medical device country

The western and southern suburbs are known for medical device and healthcare companies. Plymouth, Maple Grove and Eden Prairie have office parks full of engineering and regulatory floors. Bloomington has the airport and the Mall of America, along with a stretch of corporate offices in the river valley. Eagan and Burnsville, in the south, hold regional offices and light industrial buildings. Those offices want a decent break room and often have a cafeteria nearby, so a coffee service has to compete with it. A good machine with real beans usually does.

Hospitals and clinics, including the university's medical campus, are waiting room buyers. Ask for decaf and hot tea, and for a machine that is easy to clean and does not need a technician to refill it.

• Plymouth, Maple Grove, Eden Prairie: office parks and mid-size companies.
• Bloomington, Eagan, Burnsville: corporate offices, hotels near the airport, and healthcare.

Winter changes demand

Hot coffee demand here is a long season. From late October through April, the break room machine is working at full tilt. That means more descaling and more filters, and more cups per head than a similar office in a warm city. Ask the provider to plan for that. A machine sized for a Sunbelt office may wear out early in a Minnesota winter.

Delivery is also weather dependent. A blizzard can close a route, and a good provider will warn you and keep a reserve in your cabinet. Ask whether they will let you hold a few extra cases at no charge. Cold weather is not a problem for coffee beans, but creamers should not sit in an unheated dock overnight, so ask about that too.

Water

Check the water in your building. Where it is hard, it leaves scale in a machine over time. A filter at the machine is low-cost insurance, and an annual descale should be on the service plan. Ask who is responsible for the filter swap and whether it is part of the route visit.

How the route reaches you

From a depot in the Minneapolis area, a provider can reach most of the suburbs on a standard route, though the outer ring in Blaine or Coon Rapids may see a less frequent schedule. Ask for the day and the window, and get the minimum order in writing. If your office is under twenty people, every two weeks is often enough. If you have a plant or a clinic that goes through a case of coffee a week, ask for weekly.

Hybrid attendance is still uneven at corporate offices in the Twin Cities, with lots of firms asking people in for two or three days. If that is you, pick a machine that makes one good cup and does not waste a pot, and let the provider adjust deliveries around busy days.

North of Minneapolis: Brooklyn Park and Blaine

North of the core, Brooklyn Park, Coon Rapids, Blaine and the towns between them have warehouses, light manufacturing, clinics and corporate service centers. Break rooms there are practical places: a microwave, a fridge, a good machine and a sign-up sheet for who buys the creamer. A coffee service takes that last job away, which is half the reason offices sign up. Ask the provider to stock the fridge as well, with milk and cream on delivery day, so staff do not bring their own.

Ask for samples from two roasters and let the office vote. It is a small step, and people accept a switch from a free-for-all pot to a fresh cup machine more easily when the choice was theirs.

Last, think about the lunch hour. Offices in Eden Prairie and Plymouth that sit in the middle of a business park have no coffee shop to walk to in January, so the break room machine is the coffee shop. That is a point for a better machine, not a bargain one, and it is why many of them add a second unit near the kitchen.

Minneapolis offices are polite, and nobody will complain about weak coffee to your face. They will just bring their own thermos.

Looking for a different city? Here are some nearby.

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