Posted February 9, 2018 3:10 am by Tony Hogarth
Finding the best coffee machine for your hospitality business depends on many factors, getting it right will lead to increased profits, efficiency and most importunately your customers coming back for more.
Deciding between an automatic machine, vending or manual coffee machine depends on whether you have a trained barista dedicated to making coffee, a self-service environment or limited staff to manage the coffee delivery and monitor the machine.
What is the right coffee machine for your hospitality business?
Automatic coffee machines
An automatic coffee machine is ideal for self-service in a canteen, clubrooms or a breakfast bar area. Many hotel chains use automatic coffee machines in their buffet areas or as a secondary machine after hours, once their barista has gone for the day, allowing guests to grab a coffee 24/7.
WMF coffee machines are high capacity, quality machines made in Germany. They grind fresh beans into each cup, along with using fresh milk to provide a quality coffee all in a one-step operation. WMF machines also make hot chocolate, providing a total hot drink solution.
An automatic machine can make from 50 up to 250 cups a day, with high capacity fast grinders and quality milk foam technology. The one-step operation makes them simple to use, untrained employees can prepare drinks easily or customers can make their own if in a self-serve area.
Depending on usage you can have the machine plumbed into the water mains, this means less maintenance, as you are not having to refill the water tank. A tanked machine gives you the advantage of being portable.
WMF – Automatic Commercial Coffee Machine
Commercial vending machines
Powder or freeze-dried milk options are a good fit if your hospitality business is in a remote area or left unattended for long periods of time, and there is no staff to re-fill the fresh milk or monitor the machine.
Brands such as Necta specialize in vending operations with floor standing to bench top models available depending on the capacity you require. The Necta brand uses powder milk and vending chocolate and grinds fresh beans ensuring a great tasting coffee.
Floor models will dispense cups, sugar, hot chocolate and coffee while benchtop models dispense drinks only. Capacity ranges from 120 drinks per day up to 600, to suit every organization.
Choose between a water tank or plumbed model for limited maintenance.
Vending machines offer a coin or pay-pass option should you wish to charge for your coffee.
Semi-Automatic Espresso Machines
Coffee Machines have come a long way in the past 5 years, manufacturers are now understanding the various business needs and designing technology to suit.
The WMF Espresso Machine, closes the gap between a traditional espresso machine and an automatic, by measuring the brewing parameters, the coffee grind and automatically tampering the coffee. These superautomatic machines monitor when the ground coffee requires adjusting with 100% consistency.
They look and act like a true barista machine, giving your business a professional look while allowing you flexibility, as staff do not need to be trained as a barista, or understand coffee grind, to use the machine.
Commercial Espresso Machines
If you have a trained barista an espresso machine is best, allowing you to extract fast and pour the very best espresso and offer every type of coffee imaginable for your discerning customers.
If you are investigating espresso machines, first ask your preferred coffee roaster. Roasters such as Little Owl can arrange free on loan machines based on purchasing a certain number of coffee beans per week. A good coffee roaster will also offer to train your staff, it is in their best interests to ensure you are delivering great coffee and coming back for more.
You may prefer to purchase your equipment, the most common machine brands in the industry are; Wega, Sab, and La Marzocco, along with coffee grinder brands Mazzer and Quamar.
There are finance companies dedicated to the hospitality industry, check out Silver Chef they offer rent to own packages and will finance your coffee machine over a 3-year period.
Take the time to investigate all the options open to you, ask questions about the support each supplier offers you. You want to know there is someone to call, should your machine breakdown, who has an expert team to resolve issues quickly and carries parts for fast servicing.