The renewed Shell Café brand welcomes customers in Ukraine and the countries of Central and Eastern Europe

                                                                   COMBINE ROAD AND COMFORT

Shell is launching a new coffee brand Shell Café all over Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) (to replace the Deli by Shell brand) — and, as always, at the highest level of service and product quality.

The Shell Café concept, developed by Shell global team, provides a range of activities: from tasty beverage preparation and up to a new level of service and comfortable arrangement of fuel stations areas. These enablers complement each other and are aimed not only at the refreshed and widened  product range, but also stepping ahead  in the cultural journey of coffee consumption athmosphere, meeting increasing expectations of people on the move.

First, it is the creation of a new deliciuos taste of our special line of beverages made from the highest quality varieties of coffee beans. For this purpose, Shell has teamed up with world-renowned brewing and roasting experts to create two blends of roasted coffee of their own brand made from high-quality coffee beans. A true coffee lover will highly appreciate, for example, the following blend:

— “Taste of South America”: 80% Arabica, 20% Robusta, rich, deep, perfectly balanced with the taste of dark chocolate. Origin: Southeast Asia, Central and South America;

— “Soft fruit taste”: 100% Arabica. Origin: South America.

Second, it takes into account the peculiarities of long-distance travel: coffee will be consumed primarily by drivers and their passengers who are on their journey. Therefore, the fuel stations offer appropriate service conditions and additional products, even tableware, from which, if necessary, it is possible to eat on the spot or order dishes “to go”. For example, customers can order a drink into their own thermo cup, which will keep their coffee fresh and hot for hours.

Third, it is the arrangement of cozy and comfortable coffee shops at the service stations, so that the customers can have some comfortable rest and relax with a cup of aromatic drink and tasty, delicious food. And here, at the stations, it is not only the interior of the premises (a comfortable arrangement of furniture, a harmonious color palette with finishing details and a decor, spacious halls) which is considered, but also the environment. Worth to stop at the terrace coffee shop of service station 4221 in Bila Tserkva immediately on the Odessa-Kyiv highway where travelers can fully enjoy calming view of a beautiful lake while refreshing.

Fourth, many service stations are equipped with comfortable parking spaces so that drivers — even of large cars and buses — can comfortably stop and have some rest in a coffee shop together with their passengers.

And fifth, the coffee culture brand Shell Café offers not only this popular world drink, but also a wide gastronomic range, which is a useful and pleasant complement to the rest at a service station. For example, the Shell menu in Ukraine, which is based on the idea of ​​”world of cuisines”, offers quesadilla, a national Mexican dish and such types of hot dogs as “Bavaria”,  “New York” and Tyrolean, which is new and very unique with  sausage in bacon. And the Shell innovation team does not stop there: visitors will find a lot of pleasant surprize in gastronomy and service.

WHY COFFEE?

Shell has once conducted a large-scale survey of more than 10,000 customers from five European countries. According to this research, coffee is one of the important reasons (not taking into account the actual refueling of cars), why the drivers stop at a service station. This is not a surprise, because strong quality coffee helps to refresh yourself and generally take a break from the trip.

However, to stop “for coffee” means not only to have some aromatic drink with coffein. It also involves physical movements, stretching muscles (after all, sitting in a car for a long time is quite exhausting) and in general switching attention to something other than driving along a monotonous traffic lane. These needs of customers are considered in the concept of Shell Café: Shell launches this brand to create a completely new coffee experience, and at the same time to make the service station a place that offers a variety of amenities and services and where you can efficiently relax.

Thus, in addition to a completely new line of quality coffee and other products, it provides the arrangement of coffee shops and “coffee corners”. This is a new global brand of Shell Group, which has been launched in Europe.

But coffee is above everything else. In the above-mentioned survey consumers shared their ideas of a perfect drink. Their thoughts were taken into account when developing the new concept of coffee shops.

SHELL CAFÉ IS GAINING POPULARITY IN UKRAINE

As noted by Peter Kerekgyarto, General Director of Shell Retail in Ukraine: “Shell Café is not just a coffee shop, but a trendy place where you can relax, have delicious meals, enjoy a signature coffee blend. We paid special attention to coffee development. Customers have very high expectations for this drink at service stations. Shell Café is creating a new experiment  based on high quality coffee, tasty food and unique experience.”

The first Shell Café, which fully meets all the above characteristics, opened in Ukraine in July 2021 at the service station 4221 in Bila Tserkva (377-A Petro Zaporozhets Street). New coffee shops are already operating at the service station 4044 (Chaiky village bordering with Kyiv, near the exit to the E-40 highway towards Zhytomyr) and the service station 9101 (near the Reshetylivka town, Poltava region, on the Kharkiv-Kyiv E-40 highway). In the coming months, the update will take place all over the network.

It is noteworthy that Ukrainians take the first places, next to their European neighbors, in the time of promotion of the Shell Café brand. Although the  new Shell Café format just started this yearin Central and Eastern Europe, according to Peter Kerekgyarto, their quick development in Ukraine is just a matter of the nearest future.

Shell service stations in Ukraine are equipped with modern coffee machines which give the possibility to prepare aromatic coffee with soft stable milk foam. A new coffee variety Classic Crema Rainforest Alliance has been introduced, which meets European trends and will be used to prepare our coffee drinks.  The main difference is that the new blend contains Arabica and Robusta beans. This blend of dark roasted beans has a rich and intense taste, whereas the addition of Robusta beans creates a stronger taste and pleasant aroma. In addition, we have updated the coffee menu with consideration of European trends, added large portions so that customers could enjoy the taste of their favorite coffee on their way.

HOW ARE OUR EUROPEAN NEIGHBORS DOING

Shell Cafés are opening in CEE and will soon open in, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Belgium, the Netherlands, France, Luxembourg.

Thus, in Hungary, in addition to the introduction of a new line of drinks based on the developped blends (in this country, they are called “Taste of South America” ​​and “Taste of Africa”), Shell Café in this country will also offer a new range of national dishes and other beverages.

The research conducted by NMS marketing agency showed interesting results. It showed that during long trips (over three hours) most Hungarians stop for a short break from time to time, and mostly at the service stations, to rest, have some meal and refresh. The main indicators of coffee quality for them are the country of origin and a professional coffee machine, which makes it possible to prepare a premium drink. The range of coffee is also very important. When stopping at a service station, the friendliness of the staff is extremely important. About 60% of surveyed Hungarians said that polite staff may facilitate a spontaneous decision to drink coffee. The frequency of coffee consumption in Hungary corresponds to the frequency of cars refueling, which shows a significant potential to make the service station a place for a short coffee break. In addition, two thirds of surveyed customers prefer to drink coffee at a service station and rest at the same time. Surveys of 2020-2021 also show that Hungarians are finally returning to the habits they used to have before the pandemic and are starting to travel more. In April 2020, 40% of respondents said they plan to spend less on travel and recreation, whereas in March 2021, almost 40% of respondents said they still plan to travel within the country, and 20% expressed their intention to go abroad.

In general, the Shell Café concept is available at 129 Shell service stations throughout Hungary.

The situation in Poland is a bit more “productive”: in this country, Shell Café has opened at 237 Shell service stations, which offer coffee blends developed by the company named “Espresso” and “Lungo/Americano”. In this country, as well, there are quite interesting statistical “coffee” studies. Thus, according to the SW Research survey conducted by Shell Poland, among 1,000 coffee consumers, 86% drink this beverage every day, and 26% — three times a day, herewith 40% drink coffee in the morning (from 6.00 am till 10.00 am).  Most Polacks drink coffee to enjoy the aroma (62%), refresh oneself (48%), or it’s already a habit (43%). It’s interesting that 80% of “coffee lovers” drink coffee outside during walks, and 41% of them buy a drink at a service station. 46% of respondents say that they visit the stations at least once a week. For 78% of respondents, the most important indicator of coffee quality is the aroma, for 76% – the taste, and for 37% – the quality of beans. As we can see, the process of making coffee is especially important, that is why the employees complete barista trainings at a specialized academy in Warsaw — Shell Café Academy.

In the Czech Republic, Shell Café is already operating at 168 of 180 Shell service stations. Depending on the size and location of the stations, various formats of coffee sales are available to the customers: from full-scale coffee shops to “coffee corners”, where customers can buy freshly ground coffee to go. All sales points are equipped with the most modern coffee machines. The visitors of Czech Shell service stations can also enjoy freshly cooked grilled specialties, baguettes, rolls and panini. In this country, hot dogs are especially popular, which received “Česká chuťovka” (“Czech snack”) award and dTest quality mark.

SHELL CAFÉ MAY BECOME AN EXAMPLE TO FOLLOW

As you can see, Shell Café is a totally new brand of concept coffee shops and high-quality coffee. It also manifests Shell’s desire to change the purpose of service stations, which has been practiced till now: from a place for only refueling to a certain locus which provides a wide range of retail services, comfortable service and the possibility to fully relax.

In the countries of Europe, Shell Café replaces the current retail Deli by Shell brand and offers two signature coffee blends, developed by world-renowned coffee experts and masters of roasting, and in Ukraine, respectively, continues to develop the renewed Shell Café brand.

The Shell Café brand fully meets the highest standards of responsibility and ethics, and all coffee varieties are certified according to Rainforest Alliance Certified™. It is worth mentioning that the “Rainforest” certificate confirms that the beans are supplied in accordance with three basic principles of sustainable development — social, economic and environmental. Suppliers and farmers must adhere to strict criteria for the manufacturing and processing of coffee products.

ABOUT SHELL IN UKRAINE

Shell is a global group of energy and petrochemical companies with 83,000 employees in more than 70 countries. The company uses advanced technologies and take an innovative approach to help build a sustainable energy future. Shell also invests in power, including from low-carbon sources such as wind and solar; and new fuels for transport, such as advanced biofuels and hydrogen.

Shell Retail business entered the Ukrainian market in 2007. Since then, Shell-branded fuel sites network has been operated by Royal Dutch Shell. Shell Retail Ukraine is a part of the Central and Eastern European cluster of Shell Downstream. Shell in Ukraine employs around 1 500 people.

To date, the network of Shell-branded fuel sites consists of 132 stations in 20 oblasts of Ukraine, offering its customers high-quality motor fuel products, including Shell V-Power fuel, diesel & LPG, as well as a solid range of Convenience Retailing goods, tasty food & beverages products. In an effort to meet the expectations of a growing number of Ukrainian electric vehicle owners, Shell in cooperation with its partners installed six electric vehicle charging modules at selected fuel sites.