Power Up: A Fully Customised Smoothie Bar for Reuters
A Smoothie Bar Designed to Power Up the Event
Alongside our freshly blended fruit smoothies, attendees could choose from a selection of functional additions including collagen, protein and creatine, with vegan options also available.
It turned a simple smoothie service into something much more interactive, giving each guest the opportunity to create their own drink while bringing a strong wellness element into the event.
Personalisation Creates Interaction
One of the things we love about customised event hospitality is the opportunity it creates for interaction.
Rather than simply picking up a pre-made drink, guests were able to choose their smoothie and then decide how they wanted to Power Up their order.
That simple element of choice made the bar more engaging and gave our team a natural opportunity to interact with attendees while preparing each drink.
For brands planning corporate events, conferences, exhibitions or workplace wellness events, this type of personalised hospitality can be a great way to turn refreshments into an active part of the event.
Branding Beyond the Bar
The customisation didn’t stop with the menu.
Branding was carried throughout the Power Up Smoothie Bar, including a fully branded bar, branded back panel and custom branded glass tumblers.
The result was a cohesive setup where the drinks, service and physical bar all worked together as part of the wider event branding.
It’s something we believe strongly in at Barmotion: event hospitality shouldn’t feel like a separate supplier has simply arrived and set up a bar.
We become an extension of the brand we’re representing.
From the bar itself to the vessel guests walk away holding, each touchpoint provides another opportunity to keep the brand visible and in the hands of attendees.
Wellness Hospitality With More Choice
Wellness-led hospitality doesn’t have to mean limiting choice.
Smoothie bars can be tailored around the audience and purpose of an event, with options ranging from fresh fruit combinations and plant-based choices to functional add-ins such as protein and collagen.
We can also build a wider wellness hospitality offering around the smoothie bar, incorporating smoothie bikes, live raw juice bars, matcha, wellness shots, infused waters and other health-focused drinks.
It means the hospitality can be designed around the event rather than choosing a one-size-fits-all solution.
Creating a Smoothie Bar for Your Event
The Reuters Power Up Smoothie Bar at Convene Sancroft, London is a great example of how a familiar event favourite can be completely transformed through personalisation, interaction and thoughtful branding.
Whether you’re planning a corporate event, conference, exhibition, brand activation or employee wellness day, Barmotion can create a branded smoothie bar for events that is tailored to your audience, objectives and brand.
From the drinks and menu through to the bar, glassware and finishing details, we take care of the complete hospitality setup.
One brief. One partner. One seamless delivery.
Planning an event? Talk to Barmotion about creating a customised smoothie or wellness bar designed around your brand.
Four Years of Keeping Kier Caffeinated at Flood & Coast
Four Years of Coffee, Conversation and a Great Cause
With more than 1,800 coffees and hot drinks served, it was a busy few days behind the bar. So busy, in fact, that our baristas earned themselves the nickname “Angels of the Conference” from delegates — a title we’re more than happy to accept!
But what makes this particular event stand out for us goes beyond the coffee.
Turning a Coffee Into an Opportunity to Give
Kier uses the hospitality on its exhibition stand as an opportunity to support a chosen charitable cause.
Coffee and hot drinks are there for delegates to enjoy, with absolutely no expectation or requirement to pay. However, anyone who would like to contribute can make an optional donation when ordering their drink.
It’s a simple idea, but one that works incredibly well.
The barista bar is naturally a busy meeting point throughout the conference, so giving delegates the option to donate while they’re there creates an easy and completely voluntary way to contribute to a worthwhile cause.
We Took Care of the Donations Too
Our role went beyond running the barista bar.
Throughout the three days, our team also took care of the donation collection for Kier. Delegates who chose to contribute could donate by cash or card, and we managed everything behind the scenes — keeping track of the amount raised each day and watching the total grow as the conference went on.
Once the event was over, we calculated the final amount raised, took care of the admin and made the donation on Kier’s behalf. We also added a Barmotion contribution to the final total.
It’s a great example of what we mean when we say we bring more than just the coffee bar. For us, event hospitality is about understanding what our client wants to achieve and finding ways for the hospitality to support it.
In this case, that meant great coffee and a welcoming barista bar on the exhibition stand — but it also meant helping Kier turn that hospitality into an easy way for delegates to support a worthwhile cause.
It’s one of the things we particularly enjoy about working on this event. Kier gets to use its exhibition hospitality to support something bigger, delegates have an easy and completely optional way to contribute, and our team takes care of the practical side so the Kier team doesn’t have to.
Hospitality That Can Do More
We talk a lot at Barmotion about making event hospitality work harder.
Sometimes that’s about attracting visitors onto an exhibition stand. Sometimes it’s about creating a welcoming space for conversations, encouraging people to stay a little longer or simply keeping delegates well caffeinated through a busy conference day.
And sometimes, as with Kier at Flood & Coast, hospitality can provide an opportunity to do something positive at the same time.
A coffee is something many delegates will naturally stop for during an event. Giving them the option to make a contribution turns that everyday interaction into an easy opportunity to support a cause — without pressure or expectation.
Four Years — and Still One of Our Favourites
There’s something particularly rewarding about returning to the same event and client year after year.
We’ve loved supporting the Kier team at Flood & Coast over the past four years. They’re a wonderful team to work alongside, and being trusted not only with their exhibition hospitality but also with managing the donation initiative makes this one particularly special for us.
More than 1,800 hot drinks, three busy days, plenty of conversations and another opportunity to help raise funds for a good cause.
We’ll happily keep answering to “Angels of the Conference.”
Could Your Event Hospitality Support a Cause?
Working with Kier has also got us thinking about how we can make this type of donation-led hospitality available to more of our clients.
It’s where the idea for Conscious Café by Barmotion comes in.
The concept is simple: a client chooses a charity or cause they’d like to support, and we incorporate the opportunity to donate into their event hospitality. Our team can manage the collections through the bar, keep track of contributions and take care of the administration afterwards.
It could sit alongside a barista bar, smoothie bar or another Barmotion hospitality offering, giving guests the option to contribute while they enjoy their drink.
It’s still the same great hospitality — just with the opportunity to do a little more with it.
Interested in bringing a Conscious Café to your next event? Talk to the Barmotion team about creating an event hospitality solution around your brand, audience and chosen cause.
February roundup!
In this blog, you’ll see what we got up to in February!
United Kingdom
February was fantastic!
We were thrilled to join Wärtsilä with a sponsored bar at the Energy Storage Summit at Novotel London West for the 2nd year in a row! Our team was in full swing, treating visitors to passion fruit, strawberry and green apple crush from its sleek branded hospitality platform.
Take a look at the branded bar below:
Wärtsilä Crush Bar at Energy Storage Summit at Novotel London West.
Over to ExCeL, London, for the show that got all the #eventprofs talking, International Confex! It was vibrant and buzzing with energy, and we were thrilled to be back, sharing a stand with TechnaUK. Deploying a fully branded bar, we gave visitors a taste of what we do, offering Barmotion branded green smoothies, gourmet hot chocolates and a selected premium coffee menu.
Throughout the two-day event, we served over 1000 branded refreshments! ☕
We even had a team of Rock Stars serving up a storm in the VIP lounge, providing fabulous hospitality from Cvent’s speciality coffee bar, which you can see in the images below.
Barmotion at International Confex, ExCeL London.
South Africa
In South Africa, we had an exceptionally busy month providing our services nationwide.
We had a great time during our sextuple deployment at Meetings Africa, where we delivered not one but six branded speciality coffee bars!
The team of 8 headed over to Sandton Convention Centre, Johannesburg, for the event and brought their A-game, keeping the event attendees energised and refreshed with speciality coffees and, of course, good vibes and high energy.
Take a look at what we got up to in the images below!
Barmotion at Meetings Africa, Sandton Convention Centre, Johannesburg
We were also delighted to see Barmotion in the latest edition of Business Events Africa, discussing our top tips on making your exhibition hospitality count, which you can view on page 26!
Watch this space 👀
In March, as we prepare for warmer spring months in the UK, we’ll be heading to ExCeL London, delighting Armstrong Fluid Technology’s guests with speciality coffee at Data Centre World, ExCeL London, and deploying a health smoothie bar for Cleo Systems at Digital Health Rewired at the NEC, Birmingham.
Marking the end of the Summer season in South Africa, we are expecting an equally busy month in March with a handful of activation events for Marriott, where we’ll be deploying a popcorn and doughnut bar in multiple locations across Johannesburg over 2 days!
Stay tuned to our social media channels for updates and more.
Recognised for excellence by EXSA
The winner of the Exceptional Services and Products Award is chosen by an EXSA membership vote, meaning that we have been recognised for our excellence by our fellow industry professionals in South Africa. The awards followed the annual EXSA Conference, where we provided hospitality services, offering a selection of cocktails to delegates throughout the evening. Our event manager, Kelsey Humby, was on hand to accept the award.
Thrilled with the award win, our MD, Alexia Swart said, “I am incredibly proud of our team for their hard work delivering the best possible service to our customers, and on their behalf, at live events. It’s their dedication and enthusiasm to delivering outstanding services, that has been integral to this win”
Alexia concluded, “This particular award means so much to everyone here at Barmortion. At events, we strive for excellence, so we’re delighted to have been selected as the winner by our industry peers in a category that recognises excellence in both service and products.”
Double deployment at NHS Confed Expo
A busy couple of days for us at NHS ConfedExpo, Manchester Central, 14-15 June, with two branded mobile bars at this well-attended and important event. We created a colourful branded hospitality platform for our returning client Radar Healthcare! The Barmotion Rock Stars were energising visitors with a range of health smoothies and health shots, plus some tasty indulgences like jelly beans, cupcakes and cookies, all carrying the Radar Brand.
Meanwhile, over at the Healios stand, we deployed a fully branded speciality coffee bar, offering coffees, teas and hot chocolate, where delegates could find a more traditional energy boost if they needed it. Even in the hot weather, tea and coffee are always popular choices!
Clearly the best coffee at BCLA!
Taking the branded hospitality bar to the next level, Shapes Design created a fantastic cafe space for visitors to the Coopervision stand at BCLA 2023, 9-11 June, at Manchester Central. Barmotion brought the speciality teas and coffees, and supplied our trademark warm welcomes from our Rock Stars in elegantly branded aprons. The sleek, modern bar, vivid lighting and stand design really came together into a fully branded experience, and it was great to be a part of it, not least for the many compliments about our coffee from the delegates!
Coffee for Kier at Coast and Flood 2023
Coffee for Water Aid, courtesy of Kier
We were at the Telford International Centre for Flood and Coast 2023, 6-8 June, with a coffee bar for Kier, one of the UK’s leading infrastructure and construction companies. In tune with the subject of this event, Kier wanted to offer a free coffee to every delegate and invite them to make a donation to Water Aid either by cash or using a QR code on the front of the coffee bar.
We provided the branded speciality coffee bar, and our Rock Stars were kept very busy serving around 70-80 coffees an hour, equivalent to one coffee every 45-50 seconds!
Frappés at the Festival!
Keeping cool at the Festival of Work
We were back at Olympia London for the Festival of Work, 7-8 June, a hugely vibrant show. We were there with our wonderful client CoachHub, helping keep energy levels and focus up with our speciality and iced coffees. Everything was branded to a ‘T’ and matched the stand beautifully. We’ve worked with CoachHub before, including at Learning Technologies last month and it was great to be back on stand with them again! We were also on stand with the fabulous folks at HiBob, serving probably the most delicious and refreshing Health Smoothies and Frappés at the whole show!
Thriving in a learning environment
We had an amazing time at Learning Technologies at ExCeL London last week with Thrive!
The exhibition hall at ExCel London was buzzing with activity, and our Rock Stars were on hand serving energising speciality coffees, cappuccinos and lattes in the morning, and when happy hour arrived, the Espresso Martinis came out! Just the thing to round off a busy day on your feet!
Thanks go to Thrive for having us on their wonderful stand, and to Learning Technologies for putting together a busy and great-looking show!
No bar to engagement
We train our Rockstars carefully, not just in how to make delicious coffee, drinks and food, but also in customer service skills, and they learn how to make people feel welcome and how to put them at ease. And we extend this thinking to the design of our coffee and snack bars.
Fundamentally, we build the back shelf of our bars lower than everyone else, especially our coffee bars. Modern coffee machines can be enormous, and once you’ve stacked cups on top, you’ve built a big barrier to engagement, with baristas left to peek over the top, where only the tallest customers are visible.
As you can imagine, this isn’t a gift to engagement or customer service, so in our bar designs, we lower our work surfaces from the standard height of about 80cm to below 70cm. The difference a mere 10cm makes is surprising, opening up the bar in an immediately more open and accessible space, and giving our Rockstars an opportunity to do what they do best – make everyone feel welcome and special. Of course, sometimes we’re limited by having to use pre-installed bars and counters, but wherever we can, we try and make everyone a bit more visible to one another.
It works. There’s no question in my mind that dropping the height of the bars to keep sightlines open makes a huge difference to the look and feel of the stand overall. Compared to ours, other coffee bars at exhibitions begin to look like they’ve been defensively barricaded, with only the tops of the baristas’ heads visible bobbing up and down behind walls of steel topped with stacked cups. Barmotion coffee bars, by contrast, look positively inviting and welcoming.