In recent times, the number of people buying professional, and semi-professional coffee machines has risen significantly. But what exactly is a professional coffee machine and how does it differ from from a home coffee machine?
It has been estimated that every single day, Professional Coffee Machines – 8 ways they differ from home coffee machines Articles 98 million cups of coffee are drunk in the UK. That is an impressive statistic for a country that is traditionally considered a tea drinking nation. As a result of this gradual switch from tea to coffee, high-quality coffee machines are in increasing demand. During the lockdown, home coffee machines became very popular as many working from home missed the coffee culture they had enjoyed in the workplace nootropic tea.
COFFEE STATISTIC: Surprisingly, 60% of coffee in the UK is drank at home.
Professional Coffee Machines – What’s the Difference?
Professional coffee machines are also becoming increasingly popular, as the value of being able to provide users with great quality hot coffee-based drinks on-site is being recognised by more and more workplaces. While it may be tempting, especially for smaller businesses, to opt for a home coffee machine, commercial coffee machines offer many different features that can make them the better choice for workplaces and the often heavy demand this ensues.
Size and Capacity
The first thing one notices about a commercial coffee machines compared with a home coffee machine is its larger size. Home coffee machines are meant to accommodate the needs of a single household and a small number of coffees a day. Due to their lower output, they simply are not designed to churn out coffee after coffee. The much bigger commercial coffee machine, however, store water in large boilers. This equips it with the ability to meet the needs of a busy commercial space and produce high quality coffee at an impressive rate.
COFFEE STATISTIC: 67% of workers believe they are more productive after a coffee break.
Professional Coffee Machines Have Large Water Boilers
Home coffee machines are fitted with a relatively smaller boiler, which means its capacity and drinks output is lower. As it has to meet a much lower demand than commercial coffee machines, its smaller boiler reflects this. On the other hand, commercial coffee machines have to generate a much larger drinks output, and this is reflected in its larger water boiler. Most of the time, in order to supply the heavy use, commercial coffee machines are plumbed in from the building’s water supply.
Latte Macchiato or Mocha!? – Drinks Choice
The drink choice that a home coffee machine offers is very limited, and even the top range ones can only provide variety in the form of a hot or frothed milk option. On the other hand, commercial coffee machines, being much larger, can offer a wide variety of hot beverages. Traditional espresso machines can create a huge number of different drinks by using a shot of espresso as a base and a steam wand for creating milk foam. Less manual input is required for Commercial bean to cup coffee machines, which can produce a dazzling array of coffee and chocolate-based beverages and also feature a preset option that can be tailored to the user’s customised preferences.
COFFEE FACTS: The most popular coffee choices in the UK are latte, cappuccino and flat white.
Professional Coffee Machine Price
The difference in price between home coffee machines and professional coffee machines is huge. While a home coffee machine can range between £70 to £700 (and frequently a lot more!), commercial coffee machines can range anywhere between £1000 to many thousands of pounds. There are some in the very top range than cost tens of thousands of pounds! However, the fact that they are built to last, can operate at a high capacity and can operate at this level on a daily basis can mean that in the long run, it represents better value for money for commercial space.
COFFEE FACT: The million-dollar “Javabot,” an exclusive commercial machine owned by a group of US and UK-based cafés is one of the most expensive coffee machines in the world.
Milk source
To create the high-quality coffee that a bean to cup coffee machine provides, milk, just like water, has to be fed into the machine. When it comes to home models, milk must be fed manually into the drink, including machines that use pods. Commercial bean to cup coffee machines, however, usually contain large reservoirs which can store a large amount of milk. This adds to the ease and convenience of making your favourite kind of hot beverage. Another feature is an indicator which tells you when the you’re running out of milk.
COFFEE STATISTIC: While 83% of people choose to have milk in their coffee, 24% opt for a dairy alternative.
Professional Coffee Machine Quality
Even if you opt for a top of the line home coffee machine, the quality of the coffee will be much lower than the coffee created by a commercial, or office coffee machine. Because commercial coffee machines are meant for use in places like coffee shops and cafes, the machines are much larger, and this means that the coffee-making processes can be fine-tuned, resulting in a superior product.
COFFEE STATISTIC: 81% of people who drink good quality coffee at work intend remain in the same job in two years’ time.
Integrated cleaning
Home coffee machines often feature alerts that tell the user when the machine needs to be descaled, or that the pod draw needs to be emptied. Unfortunately, these processes need to be carried out manually. However, professional coffee machines usually have internal cleaning functions which operate automatically. This takes a lot of the effort out of maintaining the machine and can be done to fit around the user’s schedule.
Coffee Machine Lease vs Purchase
As home coffee machines cost less, purchasing them outright is a lot easier. But this also means that if something goes wrong, the owner is fully responsible for its maintenance. This can present serious problems because not all faults are simple to fix, and can often mean buying a new machine, something that can be very expensive. Due to the higher price of a professional coffee machine, customers often choose to lease one for their business. This option has many advantages. Firstly, the machine can be leased for a short trial run in order to determine how beneficial the machine is to their workplace. After this period, the customer can decide whether to continue the lease. This is much more advantageous than buying an expensive machine outright, especially if the machine is then rarely used.
If something does go wrong with a leased commercial coffee machine, there is one major difference to one bought outright. A managed lease agreement includes the responsibility of the leasing company to come out and repair the machine if it suffers a fault. If repairing the machine is not possible then a new machine will be provided as part of the lease agreement, so you can continue enjoying high quality coffee with minimum fuss.
When all the benefits are considered, it’s unsurprising that businesses tend to choose a commercial coffee machine over a simple home coffee machine. Also, with the wide variety of options available, businesses can be confident that they will find a coffee machine that best suits their needs and budget and will be able to provide their employees with high quality coffee with all the benefits that come with it.