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How to select the best office coffee or coffee vending machine

The preferences of your customers and the requirements of their workspaces weigh heavily when deciding office coffee or coffee vending machines.

Image provided by iStock.

October 31, 2022 by Sam Roberts — Digital Marketing Manager, Connect Vending

It might be that your current office coffee and coffee vending machines have reached maximum capacity, the reliability of your older machines is now being questioned, or you want to upgrade to a bean-to-cup machine.

Whatever your circumstances, choosing the best office coffee and/or coffee vending machines requires some serious thought.

Demographics

We talk about knowing your customers' demographic a lot, because it's such a crucial factor in identifying the right solution. Having a deep understanding of how your customers' staffs interact with coffee machines in the office can be the difference between a hugely popular and successful installation and implementing a solution that no one uses.

Environment

Equally important is the physical environment.

If your business serves industrial manufacturing environments or sites where there's a lot of movement, machinery and noise, you'll have to ensure that any coffee machine you consider has the right physical properties to cope with knocks, bangs and greasy gloves.

Floor standing coffee machine manufacturers know how important it is for machines to be durable and reliable and offer specific machines that are designed to survive well in these fast-paced manufacturing environments.

You might have to compromise on the aesthetics of a machine, but in most cases where you're looking for coffee machines in industry, this isn't something your workforce will be too fussed about.

It's also worth considering the impact of break times, including lunch breaks, and whether there will be times of especially high demand on machines, as this is likely to have an impact on which coffee machine you choose.

Some machines which have bean-to-cup coffee and fresh espresso options are likely to take longer to dispense a drink, leading to queues at machines and unhappy staff. Opting for machines with quicker serve times and soluble coffee can reduce queues and make sure your customers have access to quality coffee quickly.

In office environments, you will have more flexibility to pick between a large range of countertop and floor standing machines, and the focus is more likely to be on the quality of a drink than the speed of the vends. In settings where brand image and client perception is of high importance, you'd be better opting for bean-to-cup coffee, potentially with fresh milk capabilities, and even add-ons such as syrup stations.

Drink preferences

This leads on to another important factor to consider in your decision-making process — drink preferences. It's fair to say that a couple of decades ago, coffee from a vending or office coffee machine came in very simple varieties, either with or without milk, and with or without sugar.

Since then, the variety of coffee drinks available has broadened significantly, with retail coffee chains offering iced coffee, Frappuccino and a range of milk- or espresso-based coffees.

We've seen consumers embrace this newfound caffeine individualism with open arms, and the impacts of this are now being felt within the workplace. Demand for high quality drinks and the flexibility to choose between two different milks, between coffee beans or instant coffee and to have syrup shots in drinks from automatic coffee machines is at an all-time high. And it's not likely to abate any time soon. Instead, it's likely to continue to grow, and so knowing exactly what sort of drinks your customers like to consume and expect to have available is paramount.

Dietary requirements

Trends aside, the legitimate dietary requirements of your customers should also be at the top of your list of considerations — lactose intolerance being the single most obvious allergy to bear in mind when selecting a machine.

If dairy intolerances or allergies are prevalent in your locations, you've many options including dual milk coffee machines that avoid cross-contamination between milks and ensures that non-dairy coffee can be safely consumed by consumers.

Likewise, those who follow vegan or vegetarian diets can utilize the flexibility of machines that have multiple internal milk cartridges, one of which can be purposed to hold powdered almond milk as an alternative to dairy.

Machine calibration is a very underappreciated and often overlooked part of the process — the correct calibration will make for a fantastic cup of coffee and should be taken seriously.

It is important to understand the preferences of your customers and the requirements of their workspaces to provide an office coffee or coffee vending services that best meets their needs.