Page 13 - APPD - Something's_Brewing_Jan_Feb23

www.beveragestandardsassociation.co.uk
Vol.28 | January/February. 2023

Building smarter machines for a leaner and greener

UK foodservice sector

Energy Efficiency
Fracino designed and built the heart of their espresso machines, the boiler, with thick copper. This supports strong
heat retention that has been proven to reduce considerably the daily costs of reheating the water in the boiler as it
is drawn during the day. There is a further choice on most models of the element used inside the boiler, ranging
from a 2.8Kw right up to a 7.5Kw element.

Peter reiterates, “We work with our group customers to understand their demand curves and will always
recommend an element choice that copes both with peak trade and potential growth over a multi-year window. By
modelling this need, we can specify an element that allows the machines to keep up with demand, without drawing
any more power than is absolutely necessary. These steps assure our customers that the energy efficiency is

designed in from the start, saving them the daily kilowatts that over a year can equate to hundreds of pounds.”
Ease of Opportunity

Peter shares that perhaps the biggest challenge to their customers is recruiting new staff. “The people pool of
experienced caterers has diminished. Our once large barista workforce is a fraction of its size. Clients are
recruiting people into hospitality, the wonderful sector it is, often with little or no experience, but great attitude and
aptitude to learn. Our equipment needs to make it simple for a novice to get hands on and master great espresso
and the whole coffee shop style menu preparation of drinks without any barriers. We’re seeing resistance from
some of the very complex coffee machines available which can seem, to new staff, like learning to fly a fighter jet! In
contrast, we can show people how to make great drinks simply and consistently to a high standard in very little

time indeed."
Peter continues, "This helps new staff to learn effectively and plays a small role in reducing the overall training time
and thus cost of onboarding new staff. We include useful technology that supports baristas in a covert way-like
having cool touch steam wands and shot timers built into our grinders. For baristas in really high end coffee shops
, our new Romano R and the PID variant, gives new touch screen options to change the brewing parameters
instantly for those in the know. Mostly our equipment serves environments who want either a sixteen- or sixty-
year-old to make a top-class latte within their first few days. It’s an adage but also with less electronics on board,
we also mitigate the potential for failure and breakdowns- it’s a win-win for both manufacturer and end user.”

This article will be continued in the March/April 2023
edition of Something's Brewing