Traditional espresso machines are perfect for demonstrating the skill, craft and passion of skilled baristas and add that essential human touch to hospitality venues. With telemetry and data crucial for multi-site operator success, Raivis Vaitekuns, Global Partnerships Manager at Vendon, speaks to World Coffee Portal about the game-changing digital solution propelling traditional coffee machines into the digital age
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Raivis Vaitekuns, Global Partnerships Manager, Vendon | Photo credit: Vendon
Whether accurately taking customer orders or relaying instructions to staff, good communication is essential for any successful café business. For multi-site operators managing a range of manual espresso machines alongside digitally connected equipment, Vendon’s BaristaBox offers intuitive data integration with offline coffee machines to ensure maximum quality, longevity and beverage consistency that until now has been the preserve of super-automatic and IoT-enabled equipment.
With a simple connection to the flow meter, BaristaBox communicates with Vendon Cloud real-time cloud-based IoT analytics software, enabling access to critical manual espresso machine data, including component usage, maintenance and coffee quality. This seamless solution enables operators to optimise operations, enhance service and ensure beverage quality across multiple sites.
Having jumped from the corporate world in 2010 to launch his own coffee businesses in Latvia, Vendon’s Global Partnerships Manager and resident coffee expert Raivis Vaitekuns is acutely aware of the multiple hats coffee entrepreneurs and store managers need to wear when it comes to equipment maintenance, staff training and quality control.
“We know that maintenance is crucial for machine longevity, but it is essential that staff have clear performance data to address issues as and when they occur. With BaristaBox, we can make sure that all manual machines are reporting cleaning events,” says the certified barista.
“Telemetry is an essential tool for keeping stores optimally operational,” he adds.
“By working with data, operators can increase turnover by fine-tuning quality”
BaristaBox enables operators to monitor coffee usage, brewing recipes and adherence to company standards to guarantee consistent quality at every location. Sales analytics also provide intelligence on consumption patterns and can be cross-referenced with quality reports to identify problems with lower-selling drinks – or those proving highly popular with customers.
“When it comes to manual machines, the human factor means quality can fluctuate between staff and stores. Connecting BaristaBox enables operators to lock in standards and by working with data, operators can increase turnover by fine-tuning quality,” says Vaitekuns.
Whether you’re a roastery with multiple cafés or an operator with retail and vending channels, “BaristaBox enables coffee operators with mixed portfolios to excel,” Vaitekuns adds.
By displaying machine performance on a simple real-time interface delivered to any smartphone or tablet device, BaristaBox means multi-site operators and store managers no longer need to manually access and record crucial operational data, such as extraction times, and beverage volumes.
Traditional espresso machines can finally be integrated into any operator’s full data suite alongside super-automatic machines and vending units – a game-changing innovation in today’s hyper-connected coffee industry.
Operating in over 90 countries, Vendon’s innovative IoT solutions empower businesses to streamline operations, maximise revenue and reduce costs by delivering a modern, efficient approach to vending and coffee machine management – making sure operators never miss a sale. Find out more at vendon.net