The New Liquid Gold

Coffee drinkers know how important coffee is to us. I haven’t met a Certified Meeting Professional yet who didn’t need an IV drip of it every morning while on-site during an event. We certainly know how grumpy our attendees get if they can’t have their morning coffee the minute they open their eyes. Trust me, I’ve seen post-event survey results where someone complained that standing in line more than five minutes to get their coffee just about ruined their life.

What some of you may not know is that the industry has also realized just how important coffee is to everyone. Where we used to pay $75 per gallon (yes, this is already ridiculous, I know), we are now being asked to pay $145-$169 per gallon (yes, this is insane). I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw the quote in a recent proposal for F&B (food and beverage) at an upcoming event. I initially thought it must be a typo. This couldn’t possibly be right. It’s water, beans, and heat.

That’s not all. We also pay “plus, plus” on said coffee (ie: $145++). The first plus represents sales tax and the second plus represents service fees which run in the neighborhood of 26%-28%. Meaning, at $145++/gallon with 8% sales tax and 28% service fee, one gallon – roughly 12 cups of coffee – will cost you $197.20/gallon. That’s a $16.40 cup of coffee, friends. Not even an airport Starbucks charges that.

To add insult to injury, we’re noticing an increasing number of “fees” or “taxes” that are being added to our master accounts as well. Things I’ve never seen before that I am sure have been added as a way to recoup the 2020-2021 revenue losses felt by hotels and convention centers. Listen, stop already. Currently we’re dealing with Resort Fees, Administrative fees, and Credit Card Fees.

Other fees include; electrical service fees, patch fees, processing fees, convenience fees, onboarding fees, and licensing fees. Some of the taxes I’ve seen are: a leisure tax, homeless tax, and occupancy tax. Then there are surcharges like technological support and recovery charges.

Mind you these are not room rates, meeting space rental costs, or the price of AV, electricity, or transportation. These are additional fees tacked on at the end of the bill. For those reading this who attend events and wonder why things feel like they’ve been scaled back, now you know why.

This is just another challenge that forces us to use our creative thinking skills. And, event hosts are asking themselves the hard questions once again; what is most important to our goals and objectives or what parts of our event have the highest value? You will most likely have an amazing time at your next event. You’re just going to have to bring your own coffee.

Have you encountered a new or unusual expense on your master account? Share it here or send me an email, I’d love to hear what it is!

Let’s see how many event planners we can get this blog to! Share it on your socials and with those you know who work with events.

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