If you find yourself in charge of coming up with a budget for the office coffee system, particularly once you realize that the cost of office coffee equipment includes a great deal more than the simple dollars-and-cents tag on that shiny chrome espresso maker you have your eye on for the office.
It is utterly reasonable to feel more than a little lost. Luckily, the team at Corporate Essentials has specified more than a few office coffee systems over the last two decades – and the odds are solid we have worked with a company whose requirements are similar to yours.
So settle in and breathe a sigh of relief while we lay out the four main areas that will have an impact on the cost of your new office coffee machines.
Size and Capacity
The first thing you have to consider is just how much coffee your office needs. Can you get by with a single Keurig® on the counter in the back room – before you think that would do, consider the size of the line first thing in the morning when everyone is rushing to get to their desk and start the day.
Suddenly, all of the convenience of slapping in a pod and hitting brew loses its luster because there are forty-odd people standing behind you, grunting and groaning while you choose your ideal brew.
However, the mighty Keurig® has pride of place in many offices for good reason – what you really need to consider here is how much coffee is going to be consumed by how many different people in how short of a timeline. In many offices, rather than one all-purpose unit, a collection of different coffee makers come together to form the ultimate office coffee system.
When considering the sizing for your office coffee system, think about:
- Size of staff: because the amount of coffee you get through on a daily basis really does matter.
- Available space: office coffee systems are not small, some are compact and many are scalable, but knowing the confines of the space you are working in is important to making a good choice.
- Accessible resources: it is vital to consider power and water in your calculations because they are resources that cost money, but also because their availability can impact the cost of your office coffee machines.
- Frequency of visitors: in addition to your on-site staff, consider the number of visitors, meetings and other functions. Do you tend to send out for coffee and other treats on days when the office is fuller than usual? Can your office coffee distributor provide equipment that would help you cut down on those outsourced catering orders?
Technology
When you consider the fact that people have been drinking coffee for centuries, using a word like “technology” in conjunction with office coffee systems might seem crazy – but it is not. The technology of office coffee equipment moves at a fast pace, and in order to make the most of the coffee budget in your office, you will want to be sure the equipment you are considering is at an appropriate place in the technology continuum.
For some offices, this means having the most up-to-date coffee equipment possible, while, in other places, the stability of a tried-and-true office coffee maker is more important.
Whichever camp your company finds itself belonging to, the most important thing is learning the specifics of the office coffee systems you are considering for installation. Can these machines be upgraded? Are they covered by a warranty? Are they cheap because they were previously recalled? Is last year’s model in a different color or does it have fewer functions than the state-of-the-art coffee maker you saw yesterday on a popular lifestyle website?
The key here is finding balance between the demands of your staff, your budget and all those different features, functions and advances in office coffee technology that are available.
Maintenance
Unexpected maintenance and upkeep can eat up a huge portion of your office coffee budget – or not. There are a few salient points to consider when you are looking at different office coffee systems from vendors in New York, these are:
- Is the maintenance included: we mean the routine flushing and deep cleaning that many heavy-duty office coffee makers require.
- Are repairs included: if your office coffee systems break down, it is vital to get them back online as soon as possible.
- Will someone train our staff: both for light maintenance tasks and general use, it is useful to have someone with a raft of experience introduce key staff to the new equipment and show them the ropes.
- What kind of waste is involved: ultimately all office coffee equipment generates some level of waste, knowing what you will have to handle and dispose of ahead of time is a huge help in planning.
- What requirements are there for water and power: trust us when we tell you that your facilities people will thank you for finding out in advance what water hookups and power points need to be available for your new office coffee gear.
Think about who is going to undertake the maintenance and upkeep on the machines in your office, which staff are likely to be the early adopters for the new office coffee machines and consider setting up a demo event for them.
This will ease the burden on you to provide all the maintenance and training information yourself, and encourage interest in the new office coffee systems early in the process.
Product Refills
The final variable that contributes to the cost of installing or upgrading your office coffee systems is the coffee itself. All coffee lovers will tell you that the best quality coffee is worth the price, but few understand the minutiae of pricing coffee for an entire office.
Particularly if your firm is likely to have a variety of machines on the go, it is important to look at the different types of coffee and figure out your overall expenditure. Fresh beans sold by the pound from local coffee roasters are undeniably delectable, but perhaps less efficient than going with top-quality coffee from a favorite nationally known coffee brand like Starbucks.
The flexibility of a single-use coffee system like Flavia has definite perks, but being able to throw in a fraction pack and brew a whole pot of coffee everyone can enjoy in seconds also has its advantages. We highly recommend engaging your coffee-loving staff in a survey to narrow down the most popular office coffee options. This not only gives you a real flavor for what your staff will drink the most, but can reveal potential savings as well.
The variables that contribute to the cost of your office coffee system are different from site to site, company to company and even department to department. It is totally normal to need help figuring out the best approach to getting a great office coffee system in place for your break room. If you are ready to take the first step down the road to a more productive office, reach out to one of the office coffee system experts here at Corporate Essentials, we are always happy to help.
