Coffee Vending Machine Tips Before Buying or Renting
There are really four categories of options to choose from when picking a coffee vending machine. How do you know which solution is right for you? Usually answering one of the questions below will lead you down the right path.
Do you require simplicity and press-button functionality?
Do you absolutely require fresh milk options?
Do you want to cater for each individual’s specific taste?
Are you comfortable with just black coffee?
Let’s assume that coffee vending machines best suits your needs, then let’s decide which coffee vending machine is right for you?
There are many reasons to opt for a coffee vending machine for your office. Reduce the usage of milk and sugar, provide a variety of options (cappuccino, hot chocolate etc.) for your staff, to impress clients, provide a cleaner coffee station. However, if you can answer the question “What is the primary reason for wanting to get a vending machine” will give you the best idea of the right coffee vending machine for you.
Below is a list of the most popular reasons given to us by our customers when they started their search.
Instant Vending Machine without Hot Chocolate
Coffee Vending Machines can definitely help you save costs through their ability to control people usage of milk and sugar. Often vending machines allow for only a certain amount of milk and sugar to be dispensed. Although controlling sugar usage can result in tremendous sugar savings the real cost save usually comes in the form of milk saving. We have seen some customers save 50% of their overall consumables bill due to this.
Unfortunately when you throw hot chocolate into the mix, all these cost saving usually get eaten up, so our advice would be to not use hot chocolate in the vending machine if cost saving is the primary goal.
Also it must be noted that we have had customers where they have not saved money through the implementation of vending machines. It does depend on how the milk and sugar was used prior to getting a machine. If a lot of milk and sugar goes towards cereals and porridge then coffee vending machines can be a great solution to curb this but if your staff is fairly well behaved when it comes to these things then you might find that vending machines save only a small amount of costs and sometimes don’t save at all.
Bean to Cup coffee vending machines also seldom result in cost saving solutions unless you are moving from a capsule coffee system. Beans are quite a bit more expensive than instant and although costs can be saved through milk and sugar control, similarly to hot chocolate, beans usually eat up the savings of the milk and sugar.
Instant Vending is the way to go here.
Instant or Bean-to-cup Coffee Vending Machine
Making a great impression often means serving hot chocolates or cappuccinos. Both instant and bean vending machines can make the whole range of coffee varieties so either bean or instant would work.
Instant or Bean-to-cup Coffee Vending Machine
Great coffee can definitely change employee’s view of the company and boost their general morale. We have seen this done to great effect with both instant and bean vending machines. Deciding between which options here often depends on what your staff are used to. If your staff have an advanced coffee palette then bean to cup vending would typically work better here but if your staff are new to coffee drinking then an instant vending solution can also work great here.
It depends
Vending machines can be some of the most expensive coffee machines on the market because of their multi functionality and design to be used in large environments. Purchase prices usually range from R19000 upwards. Rental options often work out will be cheaper when you have staff compliment of over 20 people because you can get a low rental when you coffee consumption is sufficiently high but if you think your usage is going to be fairly low (if you plan to put the vending machine in a boardroom or low usage area) then purchasing might be better over the long run.
We like 100% milk
For the most part, coffee vending machines use powder milk. Powder milk is divided into three categories:
- Creamer – Creamer is a milk substitute (like cremora). Creamer usually consists of 2 main ingredients, namely palm oil and glucose. Creamer is great if you want to save as much costs as possible but not so great if the wellbeing and enjoyment of your staff trumps cost
- Combination – Combination milk powder is popular and it costs between pure milk powder (dehydrated milk) and creamer. It is slightly more healthy than 100% creamer but a bit more pricy
- Pure Milk Powder – Pure milk powder often consists of 100% fat free milk which has been dehydrated so that when it is rehydrated (mixed with water) it tastes pretty much identical to milk (It is milk at the end of the day) This is the most expensive of the 3 options but often still works out quite a bit cheaper than traditional milk when used conjunction with a vending machine
We hope you have found the above guide helpful.