The world of coffee can be about great crus and providing an emotional experience, but achieving high levels of excellence is just one side of this huge industry. There are countless situations in which there is no specialised barista, but just an ordinary worker, perhaps one who is just working temporarily, so knows little about the finer points of pressure and temperature. That is the situation in many fast food or other retail outlets, and even in restaurants (including the higher end ones). But there are super-automatic solutions with portioned coffee out there that ensure a good, constant quality.
“The super-automatic market meets these needs,” says Maurizio Chiecchi, who is head of HORECA Europe sales at Evoca, a group that produces professional coffee-making machines, “and they are in fact ideal, because they can even operate as self-service unit in the absence of a staff member. When it comes to hotel breakfasts, for example, they can reduce staff costs and optimise times, offering coffee- and milk-based drinks of the same excellent quality as those served in bars by professional baristas, but more quickly and efficiently. The innovative element is the fact that fresh milk is there in the refrigerator alongside the machine, taking the place of powdered milk, a trend that is rapidly gathering pace on all markets. Fresh milk has become a must and is a key indicator of quality. Technological innovation, meanwhile, has made it possible to further improve the quality of the milk dispensed by the super-automatic machines. By using air to froth the milk rather than just steam, you can get both a hot and a cold creamy milk topping, thus enriching the range of cold milk-based drinks flavoured with syrups. All this ensures a constant increase in the quality of the beverages on offer.”
In addition to this, the planned opening of Starbucks in Milan, to be followed by one in Rome, has broken the ice. “Many foreign concerns have until now been rather intimidated by the Italian market, with its strong espresso coffee drinking traditions, but are now starting to offer new products, aimed at a younger public. One hitherto unexplored area is the so-called Coffee to Go, coffee served in big beakers with a lid and a straw that you take away with you. But it will come. There is a market for it among young people.”
What about portioned coffee? “This has revolutionised the market in recent years and it is being followed by all large and medium-sized roasting concerns, with the smaller ones soon to follow suit,” explains Roberto Francia, head of coffee sales with IMA Group, a firm that makes machinery for encapsulation and packaging and also for roasting. “It has grown exponentially in the last two years and will continue to grow, especially in Italy, where it has brought ebullience to a previously stagnating market, although percentages are now lower than they were over the last two years. The method increases roasters’ profits and satisfies a market demand, so it is the ideal solution.”
Where do things go from here? “Everyone is working on environmental sustainability: after years of plastic and aluminium capsules that are difficult or impossible to recycle, the search is on for compostable or biodegradable solutions, not just for the capsules but for packaging in general,” Francia says.
