Coffee is a fastest growing commodity in any market in the world and every day coffee shops are popping up like a popcorn in every corner of the world. Coffee is no more luxury and is gradually accepted as a common drink among newer generations. Therefore a dedicated career in coffee or entrepreneurs who are inclined to invest in coffee shops are growing everyday. The most important and valued item while opening a coffee shop is the coffee machine. Most people confuse themselves thinking that the only coffee machine are the big Double or Triple head manual or semi-automatic espresso machine. Most think those are the machines that are getting Cappuccinos & Latte’s in their cup .
First, it is important to know that there are many coffee machines in market and spending big money on bigger machines without calculating the Cost and Return on Investment from the machine will be a very bad idea.
Even if you try to find coffee machine in Google there are overwhelming results of coffee machine. If you are Novice how can you know difference between commercial, automatic coffee machine, instant vending machine or home use coffee machines? Are you even fascinated by the right one that is required for you? Or are you looking in the wrong place for the machine that is actually going to satisfy your business requirements?
Commercial Machines – What are they?
A range of commercial machines are available in market, the only thing you have to keep in mind is how big your business is and how fast you want to service your clients. If people are queuing up for the coffee and some are not getting their coffee on time, or some clients are getting frustrated and you are losing business then you have to have a commercial high volume coffee machine.
For clear understanding in terms of coffee machine – the terms “commercial”, “industrial”, “restaurant”, “Home Use” coffee machines are all exactly the same thing. They all brew espresso based drinks. Some coffee machine are designed to serve large volumes of coffee in close succession but some are slightly slower to operate.
The main thing that differentiate the espresso based coffee machines are what level of manual intervention is required to prepare a cup of coffee (manual or automatic).
Manual coffee machine require skilled labor to operate and prepare the coffee and they are called Barista. Barista knows how many grams of ground coffee to add, the pressure at which to tamp the porta-filter, extract the espresso at right temperature and know how to froth milk with the frothing wand manually. Additional skilled labor to operate a coffee machine is added cost to every cup you serve.
Commercial automatic machines are typically larger than home based automatic machines. The main specialty of automatic coffee machines are they allow to prepare coffee (including grinding of the coffee beans, tamping, extraction of coffee and frothing the milk) at a simple touch of a button that can be operated by even a little child.
The major factor to consider while choosing the machine is by determining how many cups of coffee per day you would need the machine to dispense. You need to work that out as a rough estimate before going looking for coffee machine to buy from the market. Some machines will not cope with high volumes while others will be temperamental when not being used enough.
Low volume coffee machines are recommended for just fifty cups per day. Medium volume coffee machines are recommended for 150-200 cups per day. High volume would be 200-500 cups per day.
Types Of Coffee Machines – Which one is right for you?
Bean to Cup
These are usually fully automatic coffee machines that gets your coffee on a touch of a button. These machines have the ability to grind coffee beans, tamper and dispense a perfect espresso. Most of them also have built in milk forther to dispense a perfect cappuccino or latte without human intervention. Bean to cup machines are usually suitable for self-serve environments like office, cafeterias, small cafe, guest houses, lodges, motels etc. Usually these machines doesn’t require special person to operate.
Instant Coffee Vending Machine
These types of machines are getting largely popular in corporate houses that are still cooking tea/coffee in their Kitchen. Messengers serving tea/ coffee at staff desk are no more acceptable in most corporate offices. Thus they are installing Instant Tea/Coffee vending machines at their premises to serve their staff and clients. These machines operate by feeding instant coffee powder (combination of coffee, milk powder & sugar) in the machine and dispense tea/coffee instantly. These are relatively faster than Bean to cup machines and can dispense continuously. For high-quality coffee to your customers or your staff then bean to cup machine will be far better. Automatic coffee machine grinds and brews coffee instantly. This type of machines are typically used for cheaper options where everyday tea/coffee needs are fulfilled.
Manual or Espresso Machines
These machine are mostly referred to as an espresso machines. These machines produce some of the best quality coffee. For that Barista needs to know the skills to grind, tap & brew a perfect cup of coffee. This type of machines are normally used in high volume areas where people will queue up for their coffee. These machines are used in restaurants where additional cost of Barista is no issue to serve a perfect cup of coffee. An additional backup Barista is also required just in case your Barista could call in sick because not everyone could make a great coffee.
In summary that commercial espresso machines are best to operate in restaurant or cafes with the capacity to make in excess of 300 cups per day to justify ROI on machines and hiring Baristas. For starters, consider the machines that do the dirty work for you by getting an automatic coffee machine. You just have to make sure your customers are happy. This will allow to reduce operating cost (without needing to hire a dedicated Barista), that would increase your profitability of the business.