Best Coffee Vending Machines: The Best Brands on the Market
There are countless lists on the net advising which is the best capsule coffee machine or best automatic coffee machine on the market but surprisingly there is very little light shed on what makes a coffee vending machine great and which are the best coffee vending machine brands on the market today. In this post we will try to simplify the coffee vending machine world to help you decide which is the best vending dispenser for your business.
Coffee Vending Machine Brands: How Many Brands Are There?
The reason why people are often far more familiar with automatic and capsule coffee machine brand names compared with coffee vending machines is because the world of vending consists almost entirely of private label machines (private label machines are machines which have been rebranded and renamed for individual vending operators). There are about 5 big global manufacturers of coffee vending machines and each manufacturer customizes their machines AND names their machines according to their customer’s requirements. Our bean vending machine for example is called the “Aqua Bean Vending Machine” and is made for us by a company called Rhea Vendor in Italy. Our Aqua Vending machines is in fact the exact same machine as the XX-OC vending machine sold by Eden Springs in the Netherlands with the only exception being the difference in name and different branding. Likewise, www.office-coffee.co.uk’s bean vending machine, the PRO is none other than the Bravilor Esprecious coffee vending machine. Because of all this rebranding and renaming, most customers are left with the feeling that there are 100’s or even 1000’s of coffee vending machine brands on the market to choose from when in reality there are only a handful of options.
Coffee Vending Machine Companies:
Although there are new coffee vending machine companies emerging in China and India almost daily we will concentrate on the established players in the market. The big 7 vending machine manufacturers are Rhea Vendor or Italy, Bianchi of China, Bianchi of Italy, Bravilor, N&W Vending, Godrej and Azkoyen vending. Each of these companies represents something different in the world of vending but we will give our two cents on which vending machines are the best of the bunch.
#1: Bravilor Coffee Vending Machines
Bravilor was traditionally known as a filter coffee manufacturer but in the last few decades it has built up its street cred as one of the best in the business when it comes to coffee vending machines. What separates the Bravilor vending range from the others in our opinion is its downright obsession on simplicity. All the other machine brands have the ability to be tinkered with to the nth degree, whereas Bravilor is literally a plug and play unit with the ability to be customized easily by the consumer without almost any knowledge on the operation of vending machines. Instant vending machines are priced competitively in the market with their bean vending machines, the Esprecious, sitting in the middle price bracket. Popular Bravilor unbranded model names include the Esprecious, Quinto, Bolero and Solo.
Our Rating:
Value: 4/5
Simplicity: 5/5
Looks: 5/5
#2: Bianchi Coffee Vending Machines
Bianchi of China, who was the original manufacturers of Bianchi of Italy, now competes with their former customer. Essentially similar models are coming out of both production houses and for that reason we will treat them as one entity in this listing. Bianchi vending combines value with looks, in our opinion, better than any other vending company and produce one of the lowest price bean vending machines on the market. Bianchi has a big following in the U.K., South Africa, and Australia and due largely to their competitive pricing, remain one of the biggest vending machine companies worldwide. Popular unbranded model names include the Lei and Sprint
Our Rating:
Value: 5/5
Simplicity: 3/5
Looks: 4/5
#3: Rhea Vendor Coffee Vending Machines
Rhea Vendor is surely one of the Juggernauts of the vending industry. Anyone who knows vending knows Rhea Vendor. Rhea Vendor are particularly famous for making the Nescafe Coffee Vending machine range for a number of years and more recently have also become the manufacturer for Chaywa. Rhea has one of the largest numbers of vending machines to choose from including a large snack and can vending machine range. We have used Rhea Vendor for the past 3 years to manufacture our Aqua Bean Vending machine and as a whole we are very happy with their work. On the plus side, it is possible to customize literally anything and everything on their machines to enable the operator to make any combination of drink options desired. On the downside, Rhea Vendor machines are considerably more complicated than the Bravilor range for example and this complexity means there are a lot more things that potentially can go wrong. Popular unbranded models include the XX-OC, Barista and Cino.
Our Rating:
Value: 4/5
Simplicity: 2.5/5
Looks: 4/5
#4: Necta Coffee Vending Machines
N&W was formed in 2000, combining two monster vending companies, namely Wittenborg of Denmark and the Italian company Necta. Necta’s range of machines are of one of the highest quality worldwide and are particularly adept in high usage environments. Necta offers a range of instant and bean vending machines with some popular unbranded model names being: Karisma, Kobalto, Koro, Korinto, Krea and Krono. Necta is among the higher end when it comes to machine pricing and has long established presence in South Africa, Europe and Australia.
Our Rating:
Value: 3/5
Simplicity: 3/5
Looks: 4/5
#5: Azkoyen Coffee Vending Machines
Azkoyen is probably N&W’s closest competitor for the heavy usage coffee vending market. These two companies are always on the forefront of vending technology and both have large snack and can vending machine divisions to match their coffee companies. The Azkoyen range has recently come out with, in our opinion, the best looking coffee vending machines on the market today, albeit at a steep price. Popular unbranded model names include: Novara, Zen and Zensia.
Our Rating:
Value: 2.5/5
Simplicity: 3/5
Looks: 5/5
#6: Godrej Coffee Vending Machines
For Godrej Coffee Vending to be in our last place is perhaps a little unfair but due to newness of Godrej as a coffee vending machine brand we thought it unfair to be placed above any of the usual juggernauts until it has gained momentum and respect worldwide. Godrej coffee vending represent the low cost option in the coffee vending market. Coming in at about half of the formally lower cost options like Rhea Vendor and Bianchi, Godrej definitely stands to make waves in this industry. Godrej, which is manufactured in India, has recently emerged in some European countries and South Africa but is yet to take off and become a real competitor to the industry incumbents. We have tested a Godrej vending machine for almost 1 year now, and we have mixed views on the unit. The unit we tested is featureful and can do pretty much the same as the other brands but where we feel it doesn’t quite compete is on the product build quality level (when compared to Bravilor or Rhea Vendor) and on the R&D side which is essentially the other vending companies bread and butter. Our other gripe was in the looks department, where we feel the machines resemble an old computer console more than a vending machine. Godrej however is a company with a longstanding history of domination a number of global markets, and Godrej Vending is therefore definitely a brand to watch out for in the future.
Conclusion:
When choosing a coffee vending machine for your office try get to the heart of which machine it is that you are actually buying or renting. Almost all coffee vending machines are made by one of the big six brands listed above. For help in comparing models or to try a coffee vending machine for a month, please complete your details below!
