It occurred to us when we were talking about Fairtrade Fortnight last week that we’ve never pulled together an events and occasions calendar for coffee shops in the UK. Festive seasons, national holidays and food and beverage-related events are all outstanding opportunities to promote your coffee business and test the capacity of your coffee machines. For businesses like yours, footfall and awareness have a knock-on, cumulative effect. The more frequently you tap into mainstream and niche moments in people’s lives, the greater the potential for growth and profit.
Publicity and promotions around special occasions has always been something restaurants and pubs have been particularly good at. Independent coffee shops have just as much to gain, but aren’t consistently exploiting opportunities.
So, here it is. It’s as comprehensive as we could think of, but please do contact us ASAP if you think we’ve missed anything out! For special days where the benefit isn’t so obvious, we’ve mentioned why they matter when looking for promotional coffee ideas. Just remember, depending on the scale of the season or special day, you’ll want to be planning your promotions, campaigns and specialty coffees a good couple of months in advance of the date.
2018 campaign calendar for UK coffee shops and mobile coffee vendors
March 17th St Patrick’s Day
March 20th Spring Equinox
March 20th International Day of Happiness
March 30th Good Friday
April 1st Easter Day
April 2nd Easter Monday
April 6th Walk to Work Day (who doesn’t need a coffee on their way to work?)
April 7th World Health Day (check out the health benefits of coffee)
April 10th National Siblings Day (get brothers and sisters together for a catch-up coffee)
April 16th – 22nd UK Coffee Week
April 21st National Tea Day (because you’re surely not only selling coffee?)
April 22nd The London Marathon (got a big screen in the shop? Show the event live)
April 23rd St George’s Day
May 7th May Day
May 12th World Fairtrade Day
May 14th British Sandwich Week
June 5th World Environment Day (what a chance to launch your biodegradable coffee cups!) World Oceans Day follows on June 8th, so why not make the whole week about cutting back on disposable plastic waste?
June 9th Queen Elizabeth II’s official birthday
June 17th Father’s Day
June 28th National Freelancers Day
June 29th National Cream Tea Day
July 7th World Chocolate Day (special offers on your finest hot chocolate, perhaps?)
July 30th International Friendship Day (communal coffee time, we think)
August 22nd World Plant Milk Day – an environmentally friendly dairy alternative
September 3rd-5th Tea & Coffee World Cup, Birmingham NEC
September 23rd British Food Fortnight (22nd Sep – 7th Oct)
September 28th National Cupcake Week (18th – 24th)
September 28th World’s Biggest Coffee Morning
October 1st National Coffee Day
October 7th Grandparents’ Day
October 9th Chocolate Week (9th – 15th)
October 16th National Baking Week (16th – 22nd)
October 31st Halloween
November 3rd National Sandwich Day
November 5th Bonfire Night
November 11th Armistice Day / Remembrance Sunday
November 12th National Recycling Week (12th – 18th)
November 13th Kindness Day
November 30th St Andrew’s Day
December Christmas – use as much of the month as you want!
December 31st New Year’s Eve
Even back to school dates can be a chance to promote your business. For example, why not have a special offer for stay-at-home dads and mums, or home-based workers, to celebrate their extra freedom now the kids are back at school? Marketing comes down to imagination. Good luck!
We’ll publish the full year’s calendar of events for 2019 later this year – so don’t forget to contact us with your suggestions.