Quality coffee is no longer limited to cafés. Piazza D’Oro explores how its partnerships with hotel group Accor and Maybe Cocktail Festival are facilitating premium coffee experiences in a variety of hospitality settings.
Over the past decade, coffee has become a daily ritual for many people in Australia and New Zealand. Enjoying a premium cup is the norm as taste buds have become attuned to quality beans, expertly prepared by skilled baristas using intelligent technology.
As such, consumers now expect to have access to great coffee in all manner of hospitality venues – not just specialist coffee shops and cafés. One setting that’s particularly aligned with this need is hotels, in which overnight guests seek a quality cup with their breakfast or while relaxing in their room.
For Accor, one of the world’s largest hospitality groups with more than 5000 hotels and resorts in 110 countries around the globe, offering a coffee experience that complements the venue and its customers’ expectations is a priority. Ben Creek, the company’s Regional Director Food & Beverage Pacific, says over the past few years hotel customers have come to expect a quality coffee experience, no matter the type of venue.
“For me, coffee should be one of the things we can deliver well no matter the price point of the customer. From economy to luxury, we want to provide a fantastic cup of coffee,” he says.
Accor has more than 20 brands in the Pacific region, ranging from economy hotels such as ibis to premium and luxury venues such as Pullman and Sofitel. Ben oversees the food and beverage departments of the group’s 440 venues in the region, which range from in-bedroom beverage-making facilities to artisan coffee shops and fine-dining restaurants.
“Within our range of hotels, there are many different tiers of coffee experiences. We’re starting to see a shift in the venues that offer a buffet breakfast, with more customers willing to pay more for a barista-crafted coffee,” says Ben.
“Although there are still cost-of-living challenges, I think that shows people are happy to pay for an elevated experience, with coffee considered an everyday luxury.”
In fact, Ben believes since COVID-19 the role of hotels has started to shift, which has influenced the food and drink offering.
“The hotel is now more of a community place to spend time, whether that’s working from the lobby, meeting with friends or family for a coffee, or finishing dinner in the restaurant with an espresso,” he says.
“It’s not just the case in our premium venues but right across the board. The hotel lobby is becoming a space to work, meet, and enjoy a coffee. It’s been fascinating to see this change across our locations.”
Across its hotels in the region and the Qantas Lounges it manages, Accor serves around 30 million cups of coffee each year. At the end of 2024, the group wanted to uplift the coffee offering across its brands and sought a new roasting partner that could deliver a spectrum of coffee experiences.
“We’ve got a huge variety of different venues and locations, so it was really important for us to identify those unique needs and find a partner that could match those experiences,” says Ben.
After meeting with a range of companies, Accor decided to partner with JDE Peet’s, which encompasses brands including Piazza D’Oro, Campos, Hummingbird, Moccona, and L’OR. Ben says that apart from providing consistent quality, one of the biggest factors influencing the group’s decision was JDE’s commitment to sustainability.
“Sustainability has become a key driver of consumer choice, with many people willing to pay a premium for products that reflect their values. JDE Peet’s sustainability program and approach to sourcing were very exciting for us,” he says.
“The second element was the training the company provides. Great training that can help us deliver a fantastic experience – from high-volume coffee for conferencing to our specialty coffee shop venues – is essential. The equipment they provide also contributes to us being able to uplift our coffee offering.”
Being able to offer a locally roasted product, such as Piazza D’Oro, was also a priority for Ben and team.
“Aussies love to buy Australian-made products and it’s the same in New Zealand. It makes the experience feel more authentic and it reduces the carbon impact of the transportation,” he says.
“The capability of JDE Peet’s to be able to roast the different coffees locally was also a big decision-maker for us.”
Piazza D’Oro, which is roasted in Sydney, is served in many of Accor’s locations across Australia. Ben believes it’s the brand’s Italian heritage that makes it a great fit for the group’s hotels.
“Many of our guests love that strong, robust Italian-style coffee that Piazza D’Oro is known and loved for. When we established the partnership, our job was to match each brand to the clientele in each of our locations,” he says.
Through its new partnership with Accor, the team at Piazza D’Oro were introduced to the hospitality collective Maybe Group, which runs the annual Maybe Cocktail Festival. This year’s event, sponsored by Accor, took place from 7 to 13 April and saw 20 of the world’s best bars host takeover events across Sydney. For the first time, Piazza D’Oro came onboard as the coffee sponsor.
“We launched the festival three years ago. Our flagship venue, Maybe Sammy, has been in The World’s 50 Best Bars list since it opened six years ago. Being part of this global community means not just travelling to, but learning from, some of the best bars in the world, and this festival was our way of bringing that experience home to Australia,” says Tess Hayley Mol, Senior Brand Marketing Manager at Maybe Group.
“This year, we welcomed 20 of the world’s best bars to Sydney and hosted pop-up events at venues across the city, as well as masterclasses and other events. The festival is impossible to put together without the brand sponsors that support us, which this year included Piazza D’Oro as our coffee sponsor.”
As well as providing quality coffee for the masterclass and lecture events, Piazza D’Oro also supplied beans for some of the cocktails. Tess says over the last decade coffee has become an increasingly popular ingredient in cocktail bars.
“For years, coffee cocktails were synonymous with the Espresso Martini, but the category has a much richer history and an exciting future,” she says.
“People are more curious and experimental when it comes to coffee and I think education has played a huge role in this. Coffee lends itself well to cocktails and blends beautifully with spirits.”
The team at Piazza D’Oro saw the benefit in partnering with an influential event such as Maybe Cocktail Festival as part of its drive to establish quality coffee in a wider range of hospitality venues across Australia.
“The festival was a great collaboration of innovators and artisans of their craft, and being able to bring Piazza D’Oro into that was a match made in heaven,” says Ben.
“There’s never been a more exciting time for coffee in hotels and other hospitality venues. People are looking for that elevated experience, whether they’re at home, staying at a hotel, or in a bar.”
For more information, visit piazzadoro.com.au
This article appears in the June 2025 edition of BeanScene. Subscribe HERE.
