How to Choose Coffee Machine for Cafe
It doesn’t matter if you’re planning to open your own coffee shop or looking for an upgrade to your current espresso machine. Actually, the espresso machine is the most critical item or investment for you. Therefore, it’s crucial to get a coffee machine that’s good enough to match your business needs. I realize your dilemma here since there are countless choices on the market, and the more options, the more difficult for you to decide. What much money you should give, what is the best brand for espresso machines, the number of group-heads required, and many other questions arise. So, let me present here at this post what’s important before you go for the best commercial espresso machine.
The Size of the Coffee Machine
The dimensions and size depend on 3 points:
- What is your budget?
- How much space you have available? And
- How busy you plan to be? Most of the coffee makers for coffee shops, come with 2, 3, or 4 group-heads.
This characteristic will allow making 4, 6, or 8 beverages at the same time. It’s quite apparent that espresso machines with more group-head will require more space to place and to work, and will increase the investment cost for you.
Commercial coffee machines with more group-heads will allow you to extract much more coffees within the business day, but you’ll need more staff and space to utilize them. The majority of espresso makers fall into specific ranges of daily cup volumes. An entry-level machine could start from 150 cups per day and as you upgrade can go beyond 250 cups. My friend’s Cafe is equipped with a La Pavoni BAR-T 2V-B Commercial 2 Group, which is perfect for busy shops since it can produce many cups daily and has 2 groups. This La Pavoni has a larger size and boiler compared to more compact coffee makers, which is excellent for peak times such as the after-lunch rush hour.
I must say that a bigger espresso machine isn’t a “must-have” for all establishments that offer coffee. In case you own a restaurant and coffee isn’t your pillar offer, you can go for cheaper solutions. It would be more useful since you don’t require to make large quantities of coffee. If that’s the case, then Gaggia Brera Super Automatic would be more suitable for your business needs.
It’s not difficult to desire an espresso coffee maker at first glance. But, I am here to remind you not to rush and buy the first one you see or the most expensive one that features many group-heads that finally won’t be used. If your business plan includes one experienced barista, then you’re going to need an espresso machine with 1 or 2 group-heads. If that’s the case, then investing more money for 4 group-heads isn’t cost-effective. Don’t get emotional here and decide based on design and how this espresso machine would look behind your coffee shop counter.
The best you can do it to calculate the average of coffee cups you’re going to sell daily and go for the number of group-heads required. Again, don’t go for group-heads you’re not going to use. Then you should consider the quality of the machine, and you wish to buy a coffee maker that will endure in time and produce delicious and hot coffee consistently. Of course, you should take into consideration your budget. But don’t go for something cheaper, which is less equipped. The most possible is that you’ll need this additional equipment and you’ll have to buy it soon.
Aftersales is important
Even on the most prized commercial espresso machines, you can’t avoid the possibility that may eventually break down. Since it’s an investment for you, make sure that spare parts are available and you have excellent customer support after your purchase. It wouldn’t help your business thrive if you had to drive to the other side of the country to get your coffee machine fixed.
Learning Curve and Cleaning
If you already hired experienced baristas, then you shouldn’t have any problem with functioning the coffee machine. But, if you’re pretty new to the game, you need to expect that you’ll have to gain some experience before you extract the best quality coffee from it. In case you can go with a brand that provides training on the kick-off period, it would be fine.
Additionally, the cleaning procedure and daily maintenance should be easy since you or your staff are going to be doing it… daily! And cleaning and maintenance are essential to ensure your coffee machine’s long last.
To Conclude on How to Choose Coffee Machine for Cafe
I’ll remind you that you need to see the details and features of each coffee machine that’ll suit best your Cafe. Don’t make discounts on materials quality since you’re going to regret and pay in the short-term. You need to be careful since the wrong choice may result in non-returning customers to your Cafe.
Additionally, the cleaning procedure and daily maintenance should be easy since you or your staff are going to be doing it… daily! And cleaning and maintenance are essential to ensure your coffee machine’s long last.
What machines are needed for a coffee shop?
Starting a cafe is not as simple as it may appear at first. On the other hand, a complete coffee shop machine list can help you begin.
Base on the latest survey from the Coffee Association, it’s still a good idea to start a coffee and gain a slight share of this industry. The coffee trend is still growing, and the marketplace doesn’t seem saturated at all. You need to focus on quality and consistency in your offer to succeed.
To reduce costs you may need to search for an excellent roaster for your coffee, that will offer high quality at a relatively lower price. You’ll also need to have the willingness to research a lot for all aspects of coffee, suppliers, trends, consumption, brewing tips, even for coffee art such as latte art. These are fancy, and people love them!
But all of these are required on a later stage. Here below you may find the list of equipment for your brand new Cafe:
- High-quality materials Espresso coffee maker
- Automatic drip coffee maker
- A commercial coffee grinder
- Refrigerators
- Filtered water and quality milk
- Containers
- Toaster, oven, and any other device useful for you for cooking
- Security system for your business
- Shelves (important)
- Freezers
- Industrial blenders
- POS (payment) and respective software
You see that the number 1 on my list is a quality and durable espresso machine, that’ll be your business asset, and you should treat it that way if you’re serious about your new Cafe.
What are the best commercial espresso machines?
I don’t plan you to get bored reading a massive list of the 45 Best Commercial Espresso machines for your money! So, I am going to present you here below my top commercial espresso machine out there, and if you’re not satisfied with this selection, you may check the best commercial espresso machines.
1. Nuova Simonelli Aurelia II Volumetric 2 Group Espresso Machine
This commercial coffee maker is a real powerhouse, and you can realize it from the sleek design with silver finish and from LED technology for indicating the safe function in a dim environment.
The brand is a legend among professional baristas, they all respect Nuova Simonelli, and it’s not accidentally the official espresso machine at the World Championship of Barista for three years in the row.
Well, if you plan or already own a high-volume Cafe and you want to prepare hundreds of espresso shots daily, the Aurelia II is possibly the brightest machine you could get for your coffee shop even though it’s quite pricey.
How much does it cost to start a cafe?
The first move to establishing any type of a smaller business is setting goals, budget, and objectives working on a complete business proposal. This business proposal will help you in estimating and finding the required resources. It’s a method to help you create a list of the required steps that you’ll need to know to start your Cafe. It’s also an excellent opportunity to reconsider whether starting a coffee business is genuinely suitable for your goals.
You may be questioning how much profit a Cafe can generate for the owner. Actually, to this question, there’s not a clear answer. This will vary and depend on how quickly you can address and attract regular customers to your coffee shop. How cost effective your new business is and in what ways you can affect your costs. Then you’ll need to have in mind to allocate a proportion of your budget for social media marketing and networking to help your business thrive.
So, how much will it cost to start your Cafe? One easy answer, according to successful entrepreneurs of the industry, the estimated cost is between $85,000 and $260,000. This cost is highly dependable on the machinery you’ll decide to purchase, the size of your establishment, the personnel that you plan to hire, and on many other different things.
Do coffee shops make money?
The average Cafe has an average of 250 cups per day in sales. This volume results in average revenue of around $230,000 or more annually. This varies according to your selling price per unit and the location of your business.
Using the figures of the industry: on average, a smaller or medium-sized Cafe can generate between $65,000 to $170,000 in profits annually. But all these figures are only rough estimates, and you should be very careful in planning your new Cafe business. I would suggest you go out there and find a coffee shop owner located far away from yours, to get some valuable advice before you make your first step.
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