Two years ago, with coffee legend Jim Carbone at the helm, WithMe embarked on a mission to elevate multifamily coffee.
Join us as we take a closer look at our brew-tiful journey!
How It Started
Creating SipWithMe was no small feat.
One of the hallmarks of SipWithMe’s sister amenity solution, PrintWithMe, is pioneering technology that allows multifamily owners and operators to set limits on the number of free prints residents receive each month.
Naturally, we wanted to integrate that same powerful and valuable functionality into our coffee amenity solution, so we we partnered with one of the world's leading bean-to-cup brewer manufacturers to help bring our vision to life. Together, we created a powerful solution tailored to the unique needs of multifamily.
But creating the ideal brewer was just the beginning of our vision. Determined to raise the bar on multifamily coffee even higher, we set out to find a way to deliver multifamily properties the freshest coffee of the highest caliber. Ultimately, we determined the ideal way to do that was to partner with a local vendor in every market.
To do this day, we take great pride in sourcing all of our coffee beans from local craft roasters. Not only do these partnerships help us guarantee quality and freshness, they directly support the communities we serve. Each of our roaster partners plays a pivotal role in ensuring that residents consistently enjoy the finest SipWithMe beverages.
Because our brewers are able to craft more than 20 different beverages, we also had to ensure all additional ingredients matched the caliber of our craft roasted beans. We carefully sourced the most delectable premium cocoa and vanilla flavors on the market, and our real non-fat milk powder froths up so perfectly, it’s like a barista did it.
Our final goal for SipWithMe was to solve the variable cost of multifamily coffee amenities. And we succeeded. The average cost of a coffee amenity ranges anywhere from $1,000 to $4,000 per month - with many premium programs boasting price tags much greater than that. Our innovative Cup Allowance program offers a cost-effective solution, helping properties reduce their coffee operating expenses by up to 60%.
WithMe is headquartered in Chicago, and Jim lives in the nearby suburbs, so we set our sights on the Windy City for our launch. Jim, the consummate coffee connoisseur, leveraged his strong relationship with Metropolis Coffee Company to bring them on board as our first roaster, and it proved to be the beginning of a beautiful relationship.
We installed our first machine at Hubbard Place, in Chicago’s River North neighborhood, on October 28, 2021.
But it hasn’t always been smooth sailing.
For example, because our machines need to be online constantly, poor cell reception and unreliable Wi-Fi concerns presented significant challenges in the early stages of SipWithMe. Thankfully, we devised solutions that have helped to overcome that hurdle.
No matter what obstacles our team faces, we always work quickly and diligently to find solutions, and we continually look for opportunities to improve and perfect our service.
How It’s Going
Over the past two years, we've achieved remarkable growth. By the close of 2023, we’ll have roughly 200 machines across 15 different cities, with ambitious plans for further expansion. By the close of 2024, we aim to expand our presence to over 25 markets and have more than 400 machines in operation.
We routinely survey our SipWithMe partners, and in 2023, we have earned a “Great” NPS score of 60. We’ve also seen incredible usage rates, with 51.7% of units using SipWithMe at least once per year.
As we celebrate SipWithMe's second anniversary, we look back on the challenges we've conquered, the milestones we've achieved and the vision that propels us forward. Our journey has been marked by innovation, collaboration and the pursuit of excellence. Here's to two years of SipWithMe - and many more to come!
