Family Express – Bean to Cup Partnership & Upscale Hot Tea

Family Express announces a chain wide Bean-To-Cup rollout in partnership with Franke Coffee Systems. Additionally, the Company is bundling the Bean-To-Cup initiative with the most upscale hot tea offering in the C-Store space.

FE has begun the rapid deployment of Franke Coffee Systems Bean-To-Cup equipment in all of its stores. The lineup will include twelve HOT and twelve ICED Flavors. Gus Olympidis, President & CEO of Valparaiso-based Family Express, said “We wanted to deliver a Superior Quality drink to our valued customers, but we also wanted a large screen in order to tell the story and the ability to execute with minimal friction of only two touches. Franke Coffee System Technology offered the only platform in the BTC space that could deliver all three objectives.”

Concurrent with the BTC rollout, the Company is announcing a partnership with The Metropolitan Tea Company to bring Metz Luxury Tea to Family Express.

“Our goal was to distance our Tea offering from the ordinary C-Store experience. Metz Luxury Tea is the preferred Tea brand at Four Seasons Hotels,” said Ryan Fasel, Director of Marketing for FE. “Everything in our hot dispensed lineup breathes the essence of Quality and we wanted a Tea option that communicated our difference in the marketplace.”

About Family Express
Valparaiso, Indiana based Family Express, throughout its 46-year  history, has strived to deliver a unique customer experience by building relationships with its customers and its communities. The Company’s vertically integrated business model is crowned by its “Living Brand.” Family Express assesses some fifty prospects before it hires the one person that is ideal for serving its customers.   

About Metropolitan Tea
Founded by Tea Master Gerry Vandergrift, The Metropolitan Tea Company has been a pillar of the global luxury tea market for decades. With an ever-expanding inventory, our company offers one of the world’s largest wholesale sources of premium teas, teapots, and accessories. As a manufacturer, we refine, blend, and pack luxury tea and herbs for foodservice, online stores, cafes, restaurants, and more. For more information visit Metrotea.com.

About Franke Coffee Systems
Franke Coffee Systems, a division of the Franke Group, is a world-leading solution provider of fully automatic coffee machines for professional coffee making. Our passion for the best coffee quality motivates us to elevate the customer experience through state-of-the-art innovations. Learn more at coffee.franke.com.