The Office Coffee Vending Machine: Pros and Cons

Instead of your employees brewing their own coffee, or offering coffee from a coffee cart, you can install an office coffee vending machine to provide coffee or even sell coffee. The coffee vending machine can provide a range of coffee with optional additions such as milk and sugar, together with alternative drinks like hot chocolate.

Productivity

The first and most obvious benefit of installing an office coffee vending machine is the time-saving aspect. Employees don’t have to spend time to brew their own coffee. If an employee makes coffee at the office, they are taking time away from work time – unless they are on a tea/coffee break or doing it early in the morning. The vending machine makes this process seamless, quick and easy.

Employee Cost

However, the office coffee vending machine, if provided with a payment option, will mean that your employees have to remember to bring coins or notes to operate the machine. Of course, in this case the office is adding a cost to employees. When an office sets up a coffee vending machines that is free, it becomes a work benefit.

Cleanup and Storage

Another benefit of the office coffee vending machine is that there is little or no cleanup or  storage costs. Normally when using filter machines, the company has to store the filters, the coffee granule bags and also the cups. In the case of the office coffee vending machines, the machine itself stores these items inside the unit, conserving space. The coffee cup receptacle also allows spilling into the machine itself, removing the need for any office cleanup.

Blends

With a normal office filter coffee maker, the selection of coffee blends is limited, or only one, so an employee may not like the taste of the blends provided. The office coffee vending machine, can easily select their blend or strength to brew a custom coffee tailored to their taste.

Variety

When the office only provides an office coffee filter machine, then only coffee is available.  As soon as you install an office coffee vending machine, it’s possible to add more types of drinks like hot chocolate, increasing the coverage of employees that will use the machine.

Electricity

Some filter coffee machines have either permanent or auto-switch thermal sensors to keep the coffee warm all day, burning through the electricity, even if no-one is drinking the coffee. A coffee vending machine heats water per cup and only when required, allowing for at least some saving in overall electricity usage.

Conflict Situations

Another subtle benefit that employees often encounter with coffee filter machines, is that when one employee drinks all of the coffee but does not setup the brew for another flask, then his/her coworkers may be angry with her. However, office coffee vending machines normally don’t run out of supplies, as the providing vending (or the facilities manager) is tasked to maintain the vending machine operation.