The daily grind

Making a cup of coffee for a customer today is not quite as straightforward as it was a few years ago. For a start, it's no longer just a cup of coffee but an espresso, cappuccino, latte, mocha, filter, or some other of a seemingly endless variety.

And while training may once have meant instructing staff not to pour boiling water on the coffee and not to let it stand all day in the pot, now operating a manual espresso machine takes a certain degree of skill, and even the semiautomatic and automatic machines need a reasonable level of training, an issue taken very seriously by the machines' manufacturers.

Training courses

First Choice Coffee, the UK distributor of the Swiss Black & White automatic bean-to-cup espresso machine, has taken its training to the highest level with the launch of its barista training courses. These are run at the company's Luton premises or at the customer's business, and are offered in addition to the more basic on-site training given at the time of installation.

"It is important to the customer's success that we support them at every stage to ensure that they get the best from their machine, which in turn enhances their profits," says First Choice managing director George Miller. "Crucially, that includes comprehensive training and technical support."

Sessions, for as many as six people at a total cost of £120, are tailored to suit individual needs and cover such areas as speciality coffee preparation, the language of coffee, creating a perfect espresso, the importance of milk foaming and steaming, and the correct use of the Black & White CTS machine, including hygiene and cleanliness.

Melitta's Cafina C5 espresso/cappuccino coffee machine, however, includes features designed to make operation straightforward for any user. These include a guide rail to make sure that cups and jugs are located in the correct place for filling (which is particularly important in self-service outlets), accurate control of steam output for safety and to reduce wastage, buttons larger than on most machines and with a distinct pressure point, and milk that is stored in an integrated refrigerated container so that it is heated and foamed as required. Even so, Melitta System Service in the UK takes steps to ensure that customers are fully trained in the use of the machine.

"Potential customers can come to our showrooms and bring their own coffee to put into our machines and see them at work," says Paul Hopkins, managing director of Melitta System Service. While customers can opt to send as many staff as they like for training at Melitta's premises, the company prefers to train managers, who in turn can train their own staff. "And at busy sites we are there on opening day to make sure everything runs smoothly," says Hopkins, "usually to do things like adjusting the throw to get the right strength coffee."

All of the Melitta machines froth automatically and have a steam wand to perform the function manually. (For assisted-service operations, staff are trained in how to froth milk.) The machines set the grinders automatically, so that operators do not need to learn about settings and the cleaning operation, the time of which is automatically logged and which merely requires the insertion of a tablet, so the only cleaning training required is in wiping down the machine after use.

Hobart has a fully automatic machine in its Viva model and, while training is not required in such techniques as frothing milk, the depth of training given means that operators know exactly what is happening inside the machine at each stage of the process, from grinding and the filling of the brew chamber to the milk frothing. "We set up the machine to customer requirements at installation and teach the operators what each part does, how the drink is made, and cleaning and maintenance," says Steve Cosh, sales development manager for beverage products. "The training is ongoing and we will go back and retrain staff or offer training for different shifts."

Cleaning is straightforward in that pressing a button tells the operator what to do next, and the complete cycle takes just 10 minutes. "Some machine faults are often cleaning issues," says Cosh, "so the operators are trained to check for certain signs before calling in the engineer."

Frothing the milk is where the skill lies in using an espresso machine, according to David Latchem, managing director of Café du Monde, which is the UK distributor for Gaggia machines. "We spend a lot of time on theory and on giving tips as well as the hands-on training we give on-site," he says. "The lower the fat content of the milk, the easier it is to froth, but skimmed milk has no flavour so espresso operators train using semi-skimmed. Also, you can't froth boiling milk, so the real skill is to add a spot of cold milk to drop the temperature and then refroth."

Latchem also stresses the importance of employing the correct cleaning procedures. "All of our equipment is protected by warranty which includes service," he says, "so we don't train in that aspect, but we do provide training in cleaning-down procedures, particularly back-flushing. That's important because coffee is an oil-based product and will go rancid when it goes off. It's not like tea in a teapot, which builds up a nice tannin effect, but rather it gives a bad taste. You should only use water for back-flushing, and it is important to do it regularly to prevent the build-up."

Café du Monde offers its training on-site, usually with the owner or manager and a small group of a maximum of six key staff. "Most of our business is with privately owned hotels and restaurants, so once we have given the initial training the management take over," Latchem says. "We will go back to give further help if needed but we are seldom required to."

More skilful

Purchasers of Douwe Egberts Coffee Systems' table-top instant coffee dispensers, Revive and Vision 400, are trained by a combination of service engineers and sales teams. "Our technicians give the first-stage training, either on-site or at our premises in Borehamwood, whatever best suits customer needs," says customer care manager Jackie Driscoll. "The sales teams then follow up after the first few days of installation to repeat the instruction and offer any further advice. Customers who require more in-depth, barista-type training come to us. It's a far more skilful process, so it's important to have less distraction."

Customers are also fully trained in cleaning and maintaining the machines, to avoid unnecessary service calls. "Most of our machines require little maintenance as they are designed to eliminate it," Driscoll says. "And we have a call centre where our customers are given support in putting things right."

Training forms part of the Total Solution package offered by Azkoyen for its Bravocompact. Operators get hands-on experience in using the machines, including being taught how to clean and maintain them. "By the end of the course, they should be able to produce coffees based around their own menus as professionally as a barista," says PR consultant Amanda Wilkins. "The maintenance aspect is really just to cover troubleshooting. Beyond that, it needs an engineer."

The training Balmoral gives for users of its CafeCino Pro 4 model is dependent on where the machine is going to be used. "We have several installations in hospitals and that means high usage by lots of people working a range of shifts," says marketing consultant Chris Sefton. "The trolleys go out seven times a day in hospital, so we put together an exclusive training programme for each client to cover all the shifts. It may mean having a team on-site for two to three weeks to make sure all the staff using the machine are covered. And we are in the process of producing a video which we can leave for new staff."

No service or maintenance training is given by Balmoral, as most customers have service contracts with the manufacturer, and some 20% of problems can usually be dealt with over the telephone helpline.

Since Bravilor machines are sold primarily through distributors, training of distributors is done at the company's Maidenhead office, where all models are available, although on-site end-user training is offered in some instances. The company regularly produces an updated CD-Rom covering service, technical and sales information, and it is currently developing training information for access over the Internet.

Instanta also runs regular sales and servicing training for its distributors and will usually try to solve problems over the phone rather than send out an engineer to every call. Full on-site training is given by Aberna, as well as in-house training at its test facility in Hampshire. One hour per appliance for groups of as many as three people is the standard time given, which includes a run-through in maintenance.