Coffee machines for the catering industry

In principle, bean-to-cup coffee machines are simpler to handle than traditional espresso machines. Visual nearly everything runs automatically, allowing you to benefit from highly convenient operation. With a bean-to-cup machine, you can also prepare many different coffee drinks at the touch of a button.

On the other hand, a traditional espresso machine is an eye-catcher for many and cannot be beaten in terms of taste if a trained barista operates the machine. For many customers, the mere aroma of fresh espresso from a traditional machine makes their heart beat faster. The time required to prepare a latte macchiato or cappuccino is slightly higher, as it is prepared manually.

The bean-to-cup coffee machine prepares a finished drink at the touch of a button in just a few seconds. With a traditional espresso machine, several manual steps are required to achieve this. For some drinks, such as cappuccino, additional steps like frothing the milk are even required. In order to guarantee consistent quality, your staff must be well trained so that they do not lose track of things even in stressful situations. It is not uncommon for barista courses to be necessary for this, in which the staff internalise aspects like grind size, pressure, and the amount of milk foam for each individual drink. A bean-to-cup machine, on the other hand, delivers consistently high quality over the long term, without the need for trained staff or even in self-service environments.

Both machine types therefore have their advantages, and you should decide in advance which option you prefer and which is better suited to your catering business.  You can find a detailed explanation in our magazine article: Portafilter or fully automatic machine?

Prices for high-quality professional bean-to-cup coffee machines start at around 10,000 euros, but can increase significantly depending on the features, such as the choice of grinder. Traditional espresso machines for catering businesses are usually even slightly more expensive, and there are hardly any upper limits. This is particularly true if you require a somewhat larger coffee machine, which is typically needed in the catering sector.
To ensure that these high investments do not come your way all at once, we have developed a simple concept for the catering trade: rent your desired machine as our partner and at the same time receive the full all-round carefree service, from installation and calibration right through to the coffee bean. By renting a professional catering coffee machine, you are also on the safe side in the event of a repair or a machine replacement.

If you answer yes to the following questions, a professional coffee supply is needed for your business:

• Do you sell 50–200 cups of coffee (specialities) daily?
• Do you need a wide variety of coffee specialities?
• Do individual requirements need to be taken into account?
• Does your staff have little time for coffee preparation?
• Do you want to offer coffee-to-go?

In summary, a commercial coffee machine must be capable of the following:

• Speed: Short preparation time; ideally, the ability to make two drinks at once
  Wide range of drinks: Speciality coffees such as espresso, cappuccino and latte macchiato at the touch of a button. Also make sure the machine can prepare drinks in different sizes (pot, mug, cup).
• Quality: The quality of the coffee should remain consistent throughout. For greater flexibility, you should choose a machine that allows you to use fresh milk and milk alternatives, rather than having to rely on powdered milk.
• Ease of use: Your staff and employees should find the coffee machine easy to operate. At the same time, the machine should be able to save the presets for grind size and brewing time for each product.
• Appearance: Coffee machines are usually positioned so that guests and customers can see them. The machine should therefore also be visually appealing, as it serves as a showcase for your business.
• Easy cleaning: Nobody wants to spend ages cleaning their machines. That’s why all our machines have built-in cleaning and rinsing programmes that you can run automatically.
• Water filter: A water filter not only ensures better water quality, but also helps prevent wear and tear. If your machine doesn’t have a water filter, in many cases you can have one fitted as an aftermarket accessory.

Yes, we do have them for some models, such as the BARISTA Velluto XL hoppers for coffee beans and ground coffee. This means you don’t have to refill them as often. The Ultima Duo 2 already has two coffee bean hoppers with capacities of 1.0 kg and 1.2 kg respectively.