Member Article

Success brewing for global coffee brand

AN international coffee brand is expanding into the UK with help from a Tyneside software expert.

Cafès Novell was founded in Spain in 1958 and the family-run company selects the finest coffee beans from the world’s leading coffee growing regions and roasts them to extract the richest espresso blend for the perfect cup of coffee.

Now the company is expanding into the UK using the expertise of Chris Hawley, MD at the Northern Path, experts in business software and process management.

Phil White, MD of Cafés Novell said: “Cafés Novell prides itself on making the perfect cup of coffee with our USP being exceptional customer service achieved through our technical controls and cost reduction for our trade customers.

“Cafés Novell select and roast the finest beans but if the controls are not right in a coffee shop or restaurant you can’t extract the perfect cup of espresso. A key point of difference for our brand is that we visit all customers weekly or bi-weekly to check their coffee machines for taste, the PH levels and water pressure as this massively affects flavour. Cost control is also crucial in our market so it’s important we continually check the grammage of coffee being delivered by customers to avoid waste.

“As well as technical controls we are highly focussed on technology to drive efficiency and to streamline the business ensuring we are highly competitive as we expand across the UK.

“The bespoke IT systems in Spain were not right for the UK and we knew we needed a new approach and platform that would be future proof.

“The Northern Path was the obvious choice as a partner to help us launch and grow in the UK because they are SAGE 200 and business process experts. We know the people developing our platform know Sage 200 inside out because they steered it’s development for years”

“In the past our sales team visited retailers armed with 10-20 brochures at a time and piles of paper forms. We are not totally paperless now - but we are not far short.”

Chris Hawley said: “The Northern Path, working with Inkwrks, developed a portfolio of digital forms and applications from sales contracts and orders to expense and holiday forms - and the remote sales force now only need an iPad wherever they go.

“New clients can be quickly checked and approved in seconds whilst the sales person is still in an initial meeting instead of days later, and new orders are captured directly from iPads into SAGE for the accounts department so the warehouse can pick and despatch immediately.”

“Working with the Northern Path we have really embraced what modern technology can offer, developed bespoke elements for SAGE 200 and CRM and streamlined other aspects of our operations to promote productivity and cost savings, which will be crucial as we aim to grow in the UK” added Phil.

During the 90s, Cafés Novell expanded throughout Spain and in 2011, its first international subsidiary opened in Italy. This was followed by other expansion in Hong Kong and the United States. In April, it launched its international brand range in the UK and has since opened UK head-quarters in Yorkshire.

The Cafés Novell brands will be available in the northeast for the first time from November and interested customers can contact sales@cafesnovell.co.uk for further information.

The Northern Path was founded by a team of former Sage employees and provides business solutions and business process improvements through Sage products as well as delivering bespoke software solutions.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by The Northern Path .