Even Starbucks can not reconcile the "embarrassment", can this coffee machine do it?

Every cafe owner has to face such a choice--

For a cup of coffee, do you want to make it better or more efficient?

But can the two be realized at the same time?

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What's going on with this coffee machine?

In June, a coffee machine was unveiled at World of Coffee in Budapest, claiming to break the antagonism between automatic and boutique coffee industry.

What kind of coffee machine is this?

It can produce 350 cups of Italian concentrate in an hour and has its own function of heating and milking milk. And like all automatic coffee machines, if you are an ordinary person without professional training, as long as you can add beans and milk, you can make coffee with one click.

Not only that, it can also take into account the quality of coffee.

How does it do that? Its developers said in an interview that although it is impossible to replicate 100% of a person's action, some important links, such as grinding, brewing and measuring powder weight, are strictly controlled.

There seems to be nothing special about ▲

The grand launch of this coffee machine is none other than the Matt Perger who won the World Coffee Brewing Competition in 2012 and the second runner-up in the World Barista Competition in 2010 and 2013 respectively.

This Melbourne man is not only a senior in the boutique coffee industry, but also a star barista, enjoying considerable fame and voice.

After the life of frequently participating in coffee competitions came to an end a few years ago, Perger turned to coffee teaching and set up a platform for teaching and consulting baristas.

As a combination of theory and practice, Perger also participated in the development of a new product under the Swiss fully automatic coffee brand.

▲ Perger and this coffee machine.

In Perger's view, it is possible for this coffee maker to strike a balance between automated simplicity, efficiency and boutique coffee quality.

It is not known whether the coffee machine has broken this traditional antagonism, but dare to speak up, and guaranteed by Matt Perger, marketing is certain. Moreover, the target group of this machine is not boutique cafes, but spaces such as offices and hotel chains.

"in terms of marketing, we want to break with the traditional concept, connect the automated coffee machine with the boutique coffee machine, and let consumers experience the magic of it."

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It's not just Starbucks' embarrassment.

The balance between automation and boutique should be something the whole industry has been exploring, and Starbucks is no exception.

When Starbucks was doing well and indomitable, New York Times columnist Jono Serra was one of the few people to question it.

In his view, Schultz asked for the quality of coffee while opening a shop quickly, and the contradiction between speed and quality was always irreconcilable.

Of course, Starbucks knows these problems, and its mindset is quietly hidden in several changes in the coffee maker.

In 2004, before the large-scale use of Thermoplan fully automated machines (the machines that can now be seen in Starbucks stores), Starbucks also used La Marzocco's classic LINEA coffee machine, which is a classic coffee machine, but because of its heavy reliance on manual operation, the level of baristas has a big impact on coffee production.

Later, with the development of Starbucks chain, the machines that require high threshold of manpower and high time cost were replaced by fully automatic machines.

▲ Starbucks fully automatic coffee maker

Behind this change, it seems to reveal the irreconcilability of automation and boutique.

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How to reconcile automation and boutique?

In any industry, there is an opposition between automation and quality, and the two have different emphasis on efficiency and quality, which reveals the irreconcilability of the two sides.

This coffee machine, which is known as "breaking the opposition", also seems to have more marketing elements.

With the popularity of boutique coffee, in shops that can provide boutique coffee, semi-automatic coffee machines are placed in a conspicuous position. Baristas with strict training and professional gestures operate like a model, and the waiting time may be longer. But what is often brewed is a cup of coffee with craftsmanship.

However, it is worth thinking about ▲ to strike a balance between speed and quality.

But for most consumers who don't pay much attention to the quality of coffee, the manual operation of automated machines is so simple that even a cup of coffee can be made at the press of a button, which obviously saves a lot of time and cost. more suitable for the faster and faster pace of life. But correspondingly, because of the excessive pursuit of efficiency, it may have to give up a lot in taste.

Therefore, for quite a long time, the opposition between automation and boutique will be difficult to resolve, either the former or the latter. Perhaps there will be some overlap between the two, but how to get to this zone will be a question for coffee operators to consider.