Eversys explains why it’s the brand of choice when it comes to robotic coffee solutions and how it embraces innovation and perfection in the cup.
When Eversys Regional Business Development Director Claudio Maschietto moved to Hong Kong in 2018 to help grow the presence of Eversys coffee machines, he quickly identified the different needs and wants of the Asian market.
“Asia is where coffee consumption is growing the most around the world. I consider it to have two types of coffee markets. Korea is a very mature market with lots of coffee chains, and many companies using Eversys products,” Maschietto says.
“We have developed lots of key accounts in Korea and are trying to do the same in China – adding credibility to the brand and positioning Eversys as an alternative automatic solution that can attack the specialty market, and I think it’s working.”
According to market intelligence company Mordor Intelligence, in 2020 an average of one new coffee shop opened in China’s Chengdu city every day. That pushed the total number of coffee shops in the city to more than 4000 – just after Shanghai and Beijing. Data from the China Coffee Association Beijing says China’s coffee consumption is increasing at an annual rate of 15 per cent.
“China is 100 per cent the most exciting Asian market for Eversys at the moment. Pre-COVID the market was growing 30 per cent each year, and even in COVID times it’s still evolving. As a result, Eversys has been doubling growth there every year for the past five years, and it’s only going to continue,” Maschietto says.
“China celebrates innovation. It looks for solutions and that’s what we like to do at Eversys too. We don’t just sell automatic machines, we look for ways to provide our customers with support, services, and solutions that will help them grow in the market,” Maschietto says.
“Coffee is still a relatively new concept for China, considering its history as a tea-drinking country, but in my opinion, it’s a faster growing market than in Europe. What we know is that baristas in China strive for perfection. They look for details to replicate, measure, and optimise each cup – they take a very theoretical and analytical approach to their coffee making.”
One such example is FishEye Café, which became the first specialty coffee chain in China to use Eversys machines. Established in 2010 and now with more than 10 outlets across Shanghai and Beijing, the chain uses Eversys automatic machines to maintain efficiency and consistency across its stores.
Maschietto says the most popular Eversys machines for the Chinese market are the Eversys Cameo super traditional machine for specialty coffee consumers, thanks to its productivity and price point, and Enigma E’4 for large coffee chains.
With China’s economy recovering well post COVID-19, Maschietto says more companies are investing in equipment and opening new stores. Eversys is currently working with the largest food and coffee chains in the country to deliver a machine that replicates coffee consistency at high volumes as the company expands.
The Korean coffee market on the other hand, Maschietto says, is curious and more mature, with many more established Eversys clients and good brand visibility. The Eversys machine of choice for this market is the E’line or Enigma range, with most coffee chains preferring a large machine with high productivity.
“When I was in Gangham, South Korea, I remember walking around the streets and looking at the coffee shops. I spotted six Eversys coffee machines in the one block. That was a proud moment,” Maschietto says.
In terms of market trends, Maschietto says automation, Internet of Things, and use of robotics are no longer novelties but established forms of café operation that are fast gaining momentum.
“The use of robotic solutions became even stronger during COVID because of its convenience and safe practices. You can use it to order from an app when the kitchen or café prints a QR code to stick onto a cup. When the QR code is scanned, the coffee recipe is recognised by our machines and made. A notification is then sent to the customer for collection, in which they simply scan their QR code for the right match. You don’t need to touch anything. That’s a big step forward in the use of automation,” Maschietto says.
“In fact, we have a few coffee chain clients in Singapore and in Thailand where they have established a business that only allows customers to order from an app.”
To date, more than 10 customers use Eversys machines for their robotic coffee solutions, including companies in Korea, Japan, China, Singapore and Taiwan.
Know Coffee in Beijing is one coffee shop that uses the Eversys Cameo with 1.5 step milk system with its dual robot arm. Thanks to an inBot OS tracking device placed on the arm of a barista, like an iPhone tracks your daily steps, the robot arm mimics the barista’s hand movements to accurately reproduce latte art.
“For the moment, I think the Asian market is more open and curious about receiving a coffee from a robot, compared to say Europe, which still craves a personal connection with the barista. Is it sustainable long-term? It could be,” Maschietto says.
“I had initial concerns about whether the business model would work, but a robotic arm is not so expensive anymore, its operational costs are cheaper, and if you’re going to replicate or better the quality coffee you get from Starbucks with an automated barista arm, why not?”
Businesses that have proved to be successful with the use of robotics and supporting Eversys machines include Crown Coffee in Singapore, Café + and Megarobo in China, Happy Bones and Alibaba Coffee in Korea, and Spazekøf in Thailand.
“The stigma that coffee from a vending machine is average and at a very cheap price point is shifting. These businesses have proven that you don’t need to visit a barista to receive quality coffee. Robotics are helping close the gap and Eversys is aiding that shift with its high-end technology and module machines that consistently deliver quality. That’s what people care about at the end of the day,” Maschietto says.
The other advantage of using Eversys machines is its telemetry connectivity for remote control access in real-time thanks to its API and e’API solutions. This system allows users to control and change recipes or blends across multiple stores.
“If you’re a big brand with thousands of stores, can you imagine going around to each store and manually changing the recipe? That would be a full-time job for a few people for a month, not to mention the cost involved. With Eversys machines, we can simply update a recipe overnight and have the change recognised by all machines by the morning, ready to go,” Maschietto says. “It’s a big plus in terms of efficiency, consistency, and the level of support we can offer our customers.”
Across Asia, the Maschietto says the most demanding challenging is keeping up with different coffee preferences from the North to the South. He says American culture heavily influences Japan, creating a penchant for black coffee, Korea favours milk-based products, China is diverse and open to new coffee methods in addition to its Booboo tea craze, while Indonesia, Thailand and Singapore are largely driven by cold coffee beverages thanks to their hot climate.
“Eversys has a solution and machine to suit every market need. At the end of the day, everyone wants to gain efficiency and produce a better quality coffee at a fast pace, and that’s what Eversys does best,” he says. GCR
For more information, visit www.eversys.com/en/
