Simple Things Matter
Here in the Boston area there’s a local “fast food” franchise called Boloco. I say “fast food,” because the service is fast, and the atmosphere is utilitarian, but I love Boloco. The name stands for “Boston Local Company” (there are 11 of ‘em in the area to-date), but I can’t help but hope that their concept takes off nationally.
They sell delicious, all-natural burritos. Free wifi. Awesome smoothies. Good prices. What else could a Social Media geek possibly ask for?
But what I like best about Boloco are the plastic cups. I took a picture of the cup for this blog post, but if you can’t quite make it out, the words on the cup read:
This cup grew up in Blair, Nebraska.
It’s made entirely of corn. It’s 100% compostable.
It will disappear no matter what you do with it.
Even cups matter.
These simple, clear statements make me feel good about my purchase. They make me wonder howcum Starbucks – which sells a gazillion Frappuccinos a day – can’t get all their plastic cups from the cornfields of Blair, NE. They make me remember that the fate of our planet is still an open question.
Boloco’s plastic cups make me think while I chow down a burrito.
Yes, “cups matter.” All of the simple things matter.
What simple things could you do to improve your customers’ experience?
Subscribe by Email
Click here for my LinkedIn profile
Comments
So, is the cup edible?
-- Mike
Posted by: Mike Driehorst | March 7, 2008 11:37 AM
The cup is as edible as ethanol is drinkable :-)
Posted by: Mike Harder | March 7, 2008 06:25 PM
The name is quite something- it would have entirely different connotations in the UK.
Bollocks = balls (as in testes)
Such as in the phrase
"What a load of bollocks" = I don't think much of that proposition
Boloco = a company of balls ? Or a latino set of gonads ?
What's the coffee taste like?
Don't answer that: I think I can guess.
Posted by: Nic Niewart | March 14, 2008 05:39 AM
I go to Dartmouth College and there's a boloco here in Hanover that recently opened, maybe a year ago. I think it's great that boloco is trying to do something to limit energy resource consumption. But it's not clear that using corn-cups is more energy efficient or better for the environment overall than petroleum-based plastic cups. use of petroleum is deeply involved in the production of corn, albeit more indirectly. it's not 'organic' corn, it's just corn, and farmers use tractors powered by petroleum, excessive amounts of petroleum-based fertilizers and chemical pesticides to grow their corn. more energy (from petroleum) is needed to process this corn into cups and to transport the corn and then cups to their destination. it's a step, but in the right direction? i'm not sure.
Posted by: Nick Williams | March 23, 2008 02:16 PM