Coffee In The Morning, Mocktails Through The Evening: DGP 2026 For Insmed

For Insmed at DGP 2026 in Munich, we delivered a premium coffee catering service alongside an interactive mocktail bar hire concept built around a beach-inspired stand theme. The result was a stand with energy from morning to evening, steady queues, strong delegate engagement, and a service shaped by careful planning, flexible logistics and plenty of behind-the-scenes problem solving.

A Brief Built Around Atmosphere

Some event briefs are all about function. Others ask you to help create a feeling.

For DGP 2026 at ICM Munich, Insmed wanted its stand to have a beachy, summer feel. That immediately opened up a more creative conversation about the drinks service. Coffee still needed to be excellent, polished and reliable. But the brief also called for something fresh, interactive and more obviously connected to the stand concept.

That was where the mocktails and spa water came in.

Rather than treating drinks as a background extra, the aim was to make them part of the stand experience itself. We offered not only a high-end coffee catering service, but also an interactive mocktail bar hire setup that gave delegates another reason to stop, look and engage.

A Drinks Concept That Kept The Stand Busy All Day

The service had a clear rhythm to it, and that made a real difference.

Coffee in the morning gave the stand a strong start. It created early footfall and helped the space feel busy from the first part of the day. Then, as the day moved on, the mocktails carried that energy through to the evening. The stand had a continuous queue, and the drinks became a genuine talking point with delegates.

People naturally gather around great coffee, it’s a simple and effective way to get conversations going. Add an engaging mocktail offer into the mix, and you give the stand another layer of appeal. Guests have a reason to pause, ask questions and spend longer in the space.

That is exactly what happened here: coffee brought people in during the morning. Mocktails kept the conversation going right through to the evening.

Working In Partnership To Deliver The Brief

To bring the concept to life, we partnered with our sister company, Bar Creative.

That collaboration allowed us to offer something broader than a standard stand coffee setup. The coffee catering service brought the quality and consistency clients expect from Social Espresso. The mocktail bar hire element added theatre, freshness and a visual hook that matched the summer theme. The two services worked well together because they were designed as one joined-up experience. The stand did not feel like it had separate drinks offers competing for attention. It felt coherent, considered and aligned with the client’s brand.

Why Presentation Mattered

When a service is part of the brand experience, presentation matters just as much as practicality.

For the mocktails, we used polycarbonate glasses. They gave the drinks a more premium feel than standard disposable plastic and helped reinforce the higher-end look Insmed wanted on the stand. They were also one of the more sustainable options available for this kind of event service.

Because we were able to collect the glasses and reuse them between days, we reduced waste while keeping the presentation strong. That may sound like a small detail, but details like this often shape how polished a stand feels in real life.

For us, a coffee catering service is never only about what is in the cup. It is also about how the whole service looks, feels and supports the client’s wider presence.

International Events Need Serious Planning

An overseas event always comes with more moving parts.

When a project is taking place outside the UK, transport and stock planning become a major part of the job. Equipment, branded items, consumables and all the smaller service details have to arrive in good time, be checked thoroughly, and be ready well before the event opens.

For DGP 2026, we transported our stock three weeks before the event. That gave us time to make sure everything arrived as it should and could be checked again before service began. Our logistics team works months in advance for this kind of event because that is what is needed to keep things smooth on site.

Clients usually see the finished result, a calm, well-run service with no obvious stress. The reality is that a lot of that calm depends on planning long before event week begins.

What The Planning Included

• Transporting stock to Munich three weeks in advance
• Coordinating service details across coffee and mocktails
• Preparing for overseas setup requirements
• Managing branded items and glassware
• Adjusting staffing around load-in changes

The Last-Minute Problems That Still Need Solving

Even with good planning, event work still has a way of testing you.

One of the challenges on this project was a last-minute napkin delay with DPD. That set off a chain of extra tasks which included a redelivery, a trip to the post office, time spent waiting to see if the parcel had arrived, an Uber ride to London Gatwick Airport, and then onward travel to Munich.

It sounds dramatic for napkins, but this is exactly what event logistics can look like. Small items can suddenly matter a great deal when they are part of the branded finish of the service. What matters most is not whether problems appear. It is whether the team solves them without letting the client feel the disruption. That’s often what going the extra mile really looks like.

Adapting Four Days Before The Event

Another challenge came just four days before the event, when a change to the load-in schedule affected our original service plan.

That meant reshuffling logistics quickly. To stay ahead of the change, we flew our barista and mixologist out a day earlier so the setup could still happen efficiently and the stand would be fully ready for service. It was a practical adjustment, but an important one.

Behind every smooth espresso is a calm, confident barista, backed up by Social Espresso’s years of experience; together we help your brand look effortless. The same goes for the wider team working around the service. Good event delivery depends on people who can stay calm, make decisions quickly and keep standards high even when the plan shifts.

Buying Stock In Munich

This event also required local sourcing once we were in Germany.

Because of EU standards, we had to buy stock in Munich rather than rely entirely on transporting everything from the UK. The menus had already been agreed between our event planner and the client, but the responsibility still sat with the mixologist to source what was needed and make sure the promised service could be delivered properly.

That meant purchasing all ingredients locally, including flavoured syrups and a large quantity of ice. This is one of those less visible parts of mocktail bar hire for international events. The menu may be agreed in advance, but the final quality still depends on knowing how to source well on the ground.

It was another example of careful preparation meeting practical flexibility.

A Service That Matched The Stand

What made this project satisfying was not just that it ran well. It was that the drinks service genuinely matched the brief.

Insmed wanted a beach-inspired stand with a summer feel. The service helped bring that to life in a way that felt useful, polished and easy to engage with. Coffee gave delegates a strong reason to stop in the morning. Mocktails kept the stand lively later in the day. Together, they turned the drinks offer into part of the stand’s identity.

Our mobile coffee bars create a buzz to bring energy and connection to any stand. Paired with well-judged mocktail bar hire, that effect can be even stronger. The stand becomes somewhere people want to spend time, not just somewhere they pass by.

Key Takeaways

At DGP 2026, we combined mocktail bar hire with a premium coffee catering service to help Insmed create a stand experience that felt distinctive, busy and fully aligned with the brand brief. Strong presentation, careful overseas logistics, quick problem solving and a joined-up service concept all played a part in making it work.

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