Commercial Coffee Machines, Office Coffee, and Restaurant Coffee

Every day, more and more restaurants and places of work are reaching the same inevitable conclusion: If you want to keep people happy, you've got to offer them good coffee.

While workplaces and dining spots may indeed be distinctively different places, their coffee brewing needs are surprisingly similar. Both require a commercial coffee machine that offers an efficient, relatively foolproof way to produce reliably good cups of coffee in large quantities at reasonable prices.

Office Coffee Service

Many businesses today provide office coffee service to companies big and small. The biggest trend in office coffee service is the fact that such coffee food service provides often make available premium coffee brands such as Starbucks Coffee and Peet's Coffee.

The type of commercial coffee machines used in offices will vary with the type and size of company. Small companies with relatively few employees may do well with home coffee makers; some have been known even to provide espresso machines for employees to operate themselves when they want a cup of espresso coffee. Pod system coffee makers also work well in such situations.

More often, however, and especially for larger companies, the commercial coffee machines most often in use are the Bunn coffee makers that have been familiar to so many employees since 1957 company founder George Bunn first developed the paper coffee filter still used to make drip coffee in so many offices and homes. Such office coffee makers generally brew one pot of drip coffee at a time, which can then be moved to a built-in warmer plate while another pot is brewed.

One key innovation favored in many offices now is the use of a thermal carafe, sometime operated by a pump-style dispenser, to keep coffee hot and in optimum condition for longer periods of time. For larger offices still, commercial coffee machines exist that brew coffee in even larger volumes and keep it hot for dispensing through a spigot at the bottom of its holding tank. But even large companies may under special circumstances opt for more traditional home-style coffee service. At the corporate headquarters of Starbucks Coffee, for example, business meetings traditionally begin with the pressing and pouring of a French press pot of coffee ceremoniously presented at the center of the conference table.

Whatever their choice of commercial coffee machines, smart employers know that providing good coffee leads to more satisfied employees and higher productivity.

Restaurant Coffee Service

Those same type of coffee-brewing options exist in restaurant situations as well. However, the growing gourmet coffee drinks trend of recent years has led more and more restaurant customers to expect coffee in restaurants as good as the coffee they brew at home or buy at their corner coffeehouse. Smart restaurateurs also recognize that, by offering gourmet coffee drinks to their customers, they can easily increase the size of their customers' checks while also improving their customers' perception of the dining experience.

To that end, more and more restaurants opt to get their coffee brewing supplies from companies that offer premium coffees. They'll buy or rent restaurant-scale espresso machines capable of quickly brewing cups of coffee expressly to their guests' orders.