Coffee machinecuts brewing time
RESTAURANTS wanting to offer a mix of both ground and soluble coffee from the same machine are now being catered for by Balmoral Scanomat's latest product.
The push-button control machine produces cappuccino, cafetiäre, decaffeinated and espresso coffees as well as tea and chocolate drinks.
According to Balmoral managing director Richard Butcher, the facility to mix soluble and ground coffee ingredients reduces the amount of coffee grounds to be disposed of, alleviating the problem of drain blockages and simplifying washing up.
Another feature is the powerful agitation of the coffee while dispensing, resulting in a 30% reduction in brewing time and a 25% saving in raw materials.
"You're pulling more flavour out of less coffee," Mr Butcher explained.
The machine, which costs £4,450 (or about £35 a week under a normal rental agreement), is also a response to criticism from some sections of the market.
"We have had a problem with certain people feeling soluble coffee is not upmarket enough, though popular caterers have welcomed us with open arms," said Mr Butcher.
Evidence of this is the family business's turnover last year of £5.5m, which is expected to rise to £7m in the current year.
Mr Butcher said that, including current orders, Balmoral Scanomat had supplied about 4,000 of its coffee machines to the catering market.
To help the service side of its business, Balmoral has spent £20,000 developing a computer software package called Response, which improves communication between head office and field service engineers.
The customer call logging system is now linked to a device which sends messages direct to engineers' receivers in the field. Engineers automatically get a report of a customer's previous breakdown problems before arrival.
In addition, all 11 of Balmoral's engineers have been equipped with "palm-top" computers, which use an infra-red transmission to change coffee strength in the machines from up to 64,000 different recipe permutations.
