Equipment News

Denmark: Coffee Queen Serving Concept

This summer Coffee Queen introduced its Serving Concept at the SCAE's Wonderful Coffee show in Copenhagen. It was so well received that later the same fall it was also widely introduced throughout Asia and the Pacific region.

The key to the Serving Concept is its award winning "Serving Station". It was initially the result of global consumer demands of higher quality and variation of their coffee. Eventually it also turned out be warmly welcomed by demanding tea-serving outlets and consumers.

The Serving Concept provides solutions for every possible outlet, from a small neighborhood coffee shop to any large conference hall.

The Serving Station's display cover provides excellent opportunity to give consumers attractive information of its content, but it also serves as an attractive advertisement space for the serving outlet or company.

As we all know, it's the sum of the minor details that creates the whole impression.

Please visit www.creminternational.com for more information.

Singapore: Coffee academy opens

Boncafe International, 46-year old pioneer European-style Gourmet Coffee Roaster, announces the opening of a new coffee gallery and academy in Singapore. The new learning and training facility will showcase and teach all things coffee. It officially opened its doors on February 11.

Located in the main Boncaf?roasting house at Pandan Loop, Coffee Gallery & Academy took seed as a place for one to learn about the end-to-end Coffee Journey or crop-to-cup story, as well as a facility where Boncaf?s institutional customers can come to be trained on their coffee making or barista skills. This new facility will also make available coffee appreciation and barista courses to the public to sign up for.

Being the pioneer in the coffee roasting business since 1962, Boncaf?s vision with the coffee gallery and academy was to promote the coffee story to all who love and partake of this brew everyday of their lives!

"We are launching this learning and training facility because we have always had the passion in the company to be good at what we do", says Christian W. Huber, managing director of Boncaf? "We would like for this new gallery and academy to hold aspirational and hopefully inspirational meaning for those who come through it, a place where they can learn and train to be good at making coffee! Just as we aim to always produce good coffee for the connoisseur, so also those who would want to learn to make a good cup!" continued Huber.

"Many coffee drinkers are clearly familiar and attached to the brew they drink every morning, or in the afternoon, but we thought it'd be interesting for coffee lovers to understand the many processes that go into the whole crop-to-cup journey before they even have that shot of espresso in the cup. After all, coffee is the second largest traded commodity in the world after oil!" said Huber.

The Coffee Gallery has a green coffee section which showcases premium coffee beans that come from some of the best coffee-producing countries in the world - Latin America, Africa and Asia.

The Gallery also has a shop-floor roaster installed to demonstrate live roasting - ask any coffee aficionado and he'll tell you it's all in the freshness of the roast! - and cupping which is the process of sampling and tasting for the experts, and taste profiling.

UK: Buyer for Whittard

Whittard of Chelsea, which faced bankruptcy late last year, was bought from administrators, Ernst & Young, by funds advised by EPIC Private Equity last December 23. 2009.

The new owners said they plan to close loss making stores and concentrate of the core business and profitability by improving product, service and environment.

However, sources say that Sapat International, a Mumbai-based tea company, may be discussing a possible buyout of the company with EPIC.

"We are looking at a couple of premium tea companies in UK and other markets," Nikhil Joshi, Sapat managing director confirmed, without naming names. "Acquisitions are essentially part of our strategy to establish a presence in the premium-end of the international tea market."

Sapat is also discussing a joint venture project with another UK company, Taylors of Harrogate, which is looking to penetrate the Indian market.

Whittard's former owners Baugur bought the 122-year-old, 130-store tea and coffee specialist retail chain in Dec. 2005 for US$$31.8 million.

Ireland: Astoria Plus 4 for Barista 2009

CMA Astoria is proud to sponsor the Irish Barista Championship with its revolutionary machine Plus 4 You! The Plus 4 You has a multi boiler system which ensures excellent quality in the cup and perfect temperature stability. It is also the first eco-friendly machine which helps to reduce energy costs by up to 47.6% and has a low impact on the environment compared to traditional espresso machines.

Thanks to dedicated innovative software which manages the automatic stand-by mode during non peak periods and at night, as well as the intelligent management of temperature settings Plus 4 You only carries power when and where it is specifically required.

Quality is ensured by an innovative control system that manages the single groups in all phases of coffee extraction, from pre-infusion to dispensing. A thermal control device allows Plus 4 You to combine maximum performance with the most suitable temperature. Simultaneously, the system compares the parameters of the single servings with pre-set optimal values and, on the basis of the characteristics of the coffee blend used, provides real-time information on the product in the cup.

If coffee extraction is not perfect, Plus 4 You suggests on the display the appropriate corrective actions.

Plus 4 You fully satisfies the needs of the roaster and of the barista. Both of them will thus guarantee the customer an excellent product in the cup thanks to a machine that can be set up based on the characteristics of every blend or coffee.

Modularity is one of the key concepts that identifies Plus 4 You: the steam boiler, the water tanks and the electronic control system allow independent operation of each group.

The Plus 4 You system distributes the power among the groups based on actual working needs. This optimizes energy use and results in substantial savings. By means of the display, the barista can at any time decide how to manage and regulate the temperature of each group. All this provides economic benefits and protects the environment.

Plus 4 You grants, with an average weekly consumption of 7 Kg of coffee, an energy saving of 30% if compared with a traditional machine (data certified by Intertek - ETL SEMKO, an independent organization involved in safety testing and product certification).

Astoria has decided to give additional value to the Plus 4 You by supporting the children of South America in collaboration with a non-profit organization such as Coffee Kids. After an initial donation towards this fund; it will continue to contribute 2% of the profits made on the sale of this line of equipment in the first three years of its launch.

The aim of Coffee Kids is to improve the quality of life of the families living on the coffee plantations. To reach this important objective it collaborates with various associations of Latin America who follow their education, health schemes, micro-credit operations and business development activities so that their families - who contribute so much towards the coffee market - may live in dignified and free conditions and are not be subject to labor or social exploitation.