Office Coffee Machine Selection Advice and Help
Choosing a coffee machine for your office can be quite a daunting task. There are so many choices and options and let’s face it, office coffee machines are not cheap! In this short guide we will try to address the most common questions we receive on a daily basis and try to make your job of choosing as easy and as much fun as possible. We don’t stock all the options, so some of the coffee machine options we suggest will have to be sourced elsewhere but we will try to help you with that as well.
1. Purpose: Why do you want a coffee machine?
The first thing to do is to decide what is it that you want to achieve? Do you want to save costs, improve quality, prevent theft or make an impression? We suggest the following types of coffee machines for the following goals.
Save Costs
Saving costs can really be done in one of 2 ways:
- Buy a cheaper brand. If you are currently buying Creamer and Ricoffy then it’s pretty unlikely that you find something cheaper, but if you are using Nescafé or Jacobs then there are a number of cheaper options.
- Portion Control and Theft Prevention. Portion control implies dispensing a set product amount and removes the user’s choice in the amount of coffee, sugar or milk – commonly found in vending machines. Theft prevention means locking away all the coffee, milk and sugar (or other products) inside the vending machine, safe from klepto hands.
Make a Great Impression
Impress your clients with amazing coffee that is better than commonly expected. You don’t have to get a Starbucks Café in your reception, just a simple filter coffee machine or a small automatic machine capable of making a nice café latte or cappuccino. Both options can be obtained quite cost effectively, even to a smaller company.
Improving Quality and Improving Staff Morale
Give your staff a pick me up. Having a great cup of the coffee can really motivate some tired employees. There are a lot of ways you can do this. One option is to go with a capsule machine where staff can choose their own coffee flavour/blend (we don’t supply this option but are happy to suggest some options). Then, you can go with the popular bean-to-cup machine which is more cost effective than a capsule solution and the freshly ground coffee flavour is sure to be quite effective.
2. Coffee Machine Price
Not everyone has bottomless budgets. However, a great coffee machine doesn’t have to break the bank. There are 2 important things to consider here – price of the machine and price of the coffee. Capsule machines are as cheap as you can get (you can buy a capsule machine for R1 000 but capsules can cost anywhere from R4 to R7.2 per cup which could land you with quite a big bill at the end of the month. Bean-to-cup machines can cost R20 000 but the cost per cup can often be 1/5 of capsule machines. As a general rule of thumb – the more expensive the machine, the cheaper the cost per coffee cup. One solution which we don’t provide is coffee machines which use creamer. If you are looking for a creamer based option we will be sure to direct you to a few companies that do provide this.
3. Quality and Brand
It’s well known that quality and brand is hugely important and therefore most established brands do come with higher prices, due to their higher levels of engineering. Each day there is a new coffee machine brand which pops up in South Africa and we are pretty well versed with them all, so please drop us a line to ask our opinion.
4. Service
Service is a crucial component when purchasing any consumer electronics product. Good news is that most service providers give “we’ll come to you service” which is quite different to that what you would get from a mass retailer. Be sure to find out if servicing and maintenance is included in your package. Also check the price of callout fees before you start your service contract. Also, if possible, choose a provider that operates in your area. There are many coffee machine companies that operate in all the major metropolitan centres like Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban. The choice is of course slimmer in rural areas, but we will be happy to provide you with a list of well-known service agents.
5. Rent vs. Purchase
Is it better to rent or buy your coffee machine? Like a lot of questions, the answer depends on many factors.
Advantages of Renting
Free Maintenance, reduced (subsidised) rentals if coffee is purchased as well (sometimes free rentals), peace of mind.
Advantages of Buying
The machine is yours, with no more monthly payments.
Try Before you Buy
If possible, try to find a service company that will let you try an option before you rent or buy. This minimises your overall risk to ensure you are happy with both the operation of the machine and the quality of the coffee. Also, try not to get locked into a long term rental contract. Anything over a 1 year rental term can be very restrictive. For more help and advice in choosing a coffee machine, pop us a mail or send us a website message (both with instant response) or give us a call today. Yours in coffee, The Aquaspresso Team
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