An April day to remember
Tasting Day!

That cup of coffee you drink before going to work, or that nice, cold drink you sip as you’re working at your desk—there is a type of magical power hidden in these beverages. No matter how tired you are, sipping on a delicious drink can help clear your head and put some extra life back into your arms and legs. It’s no wonder that so many people talk about the “energizing” power of coffee! The Tasting Day event—organized by the Business Supporting Team—was a surprise event that treated Hyundai Glovis’s hard-working staff to the magic of coffee and delectable sandwiches.

3 types of coffee beans and 10 types of sandwiches

On April 5, when the cherry blossoms were in full bloom, a special event was held at the coffee shop on the 33rd floor of the Hyundai Glovis building. It was “Tasting Day,” where staff members sampled new coffee brews and sandwiches that were being considered for the coffee shop’s new menu. Manager Kim Dong-sub of the Business Supporting Team, who planned the event, sent a surprise invitation to the members of the Open Chat Committee. “We are sending you this surprise invitation on this warm spring day to provide better services at the coffee shop on the 33rd floor.” Wit this message he asked staff members to take a break from their work and be one among the first to taste the coffee shop’s new menu items.

The coffee shop on the 33rd floor is operated in collaboration with Hyundai Green Food and is Hyundai Glovis’s most popular hot spot, selling as many as 2,000 beverages per day, and boasting an impressive array of menu options that are comparable to other franchise coffee shops. At the Tasting Day event, blind taste testing was conducted of three new coffee brands—Caffe Themselves, Vergnano, and Dallmayr—together with Illy beans, the preexisting brand served at the coffee shop. Served alongside the coffee were 10 new sandwich options, including bacon cheese tomato, basil chicken, and tuna vegetable. Staff members who visited the 33rd floor at 3 pm in the afternoon were able to fully enjoy a variety of treats, bursting with new flavors and fragrances.

New menu options for the 33rd floor coffee shop!

Staffers who received an invitation to the tasting event were allowed to bring one or two of their colleagues. After tasting and sampling the different menu options, participants were asked to vote for their favorites online. The coffee variety that overwhelmingly won out over the formerly served Illy beans was the Caffe Themselves’ Hommage Black. “It has a sharp, Sicilian-style flavor and intense body that is characterized by a dense, non-acidic taste, making it a favorite among Koreans, who tend to shy away from strong acidic tastes,” explained Manager Hwang Hye-jung, the coffee shop’s manager.

Each of the 10 sandwiches received a similar amount of votes, meaning that different sandwich options will now be offered on different days of the week. The sandwich that received the most votes was the Egg Scramble Morning. The new menu has been available at the coffee shop since April 17.

Is this the first time you had a Tasting Day?

We held a similar event in June 2020 at our previous office building, but this is the first time we’ve held this type of event since moving to our Seoul Forest office.

It seems that you invested a considerable amount of time and effort into preparing for this event.

We appreciate your compliment. Since we are responsible for the operation of the coffee shop, we put a lot of effort and thought into both the new menu items and event. Before selecting the coffee varieties and sandwiches for the tasting, we analyzed the order and sales data collected over the past six months and consulted with Kim Min-ji, the manager of our company’s restaurant and Manager Hwang Hye-jung, who operates the coffee shop. We also had a professional barista from Hyundai Green Food come to assist us.

What was the atmosphere like on the actual Tasting Day?

We set up everything based on the number of members on the Open-Chat Committee, plus one or two accompanying guests for each committee member, but we were grateful because more people came than we expected. Since so many came, we were able to collect more precise data. It may be a bit of an exaggeration but it felt as exciting as a luxury brand product launch. (Laughs)

What changes do you see for the 33rd floor coffee shop in the future?

We changed the coffee beans from a milder flavor to a dark-chocolate flavor, and instead of offering 5–7 types of sandwiches every day, we switched to providing 10 different types of sandwiches that rotate based on the day of the week. Customers who eat sandwiches from the coffee shop as their breakfast will now be able to enjoy a different type each day. The Hyundai Glovis café will continue to evolve as a space for relaxation and communication through ongoing conversations with employees.

Is there anything you would like to ask of employees using the coffee shop?

The coffee shop at Hyundai Glovis has a very high order-to-occupancy ratio compared to other company in-house coffee shops. We appreciate the interest and support shown by our employees who drop by frequently. However, there are many cases where customers pick up their orders late during the morning hours when we have a bunch of orders, which makes it difficult for the café managers to provide timely service. The coffee shop and Business Supporting Team are continuously trying to improve service during peak hours, and we are striving to provide better, faster services in the near future.

How do you feel after successfully holding Tasting Day?

Manager Kim Dong-sub and I were worried that we wouldn’t get as many people as we prepared for, but it was a needless worry. We expected about 70 people to show up at the most, but nearly 200 came. All the participants actively answered the questionnaire and the event ended up being a resounding success. In fact, all the sandwiches we prepared were eaten up. I think people enjoyed the sandwiches even more because the event was around that time in the afternoon when you usually start getting hungry. (Laughs)

How did you select the coffee varieties and sandwiches for the event?

We selected the beans recommended by Hyundai Green Food’s Café Department. Since we wanted to provide beans from famous coffee houses, we even asked for beans from Starbucks. However, we heard that Starbucks didn’t have a stable supply, so we ultimately chose coffee varieties with good availability and that people don’t have such strong opinions about. The sandwiches are ready-to-eat ones made by our Smart Food Center. They are excellent in terms of both quantity and quality compared to the previous sandwiches offered, and we believe our customers will be more than satisfied. In particular, many people are happy that we are now providing two different types of sandwiches for each day of the week.

What was everyone’s reaction to the new menu?

The response has been positive, not only for the coffee but also for the sandwiches as well. Previously, we used to prepare and sell about 70 sandwiches a day, but now we sell about 90 sandwiches and they sell out even earlier in the day. In the future, we plan to increase our number of sandwiches even more.

Is there anything you would like to say to your customers?

Although it was hectic preparing for the event, I’m happy that everyone actively provided their feedback and that we were able to improve our variety of coffee beans and sandwiches. I hope that everyone continues to enjoy the new menu items. Also, please feel free to share your opinions about the menu and the coffee shop at any time, and we will gladly take your feedback into consideration. Let’s go, Hyundai Glovis!

By the Editorial Department
2023.05.09