AI is transforming just about every aspect of our lives today and telemetry seems to be the big buzz word in the Industry right now. At the last few International coffee shows we’ve visited, it seems like there’s a crazy race on to integrate technology and measurable data into every aspect of cafe life…and it makes sense, especially if the people, the products and the parameters are all singing off the same proverbial song sheet!
A little known start up out of New Zealand named Flow, were the first to crack the code, setting in motion the digital age in the coffee industry. Major espresso machine and grinder manufactures are now devoting entire divisions dedicated to integrating telemetry systems, like Flow, into their equipment. Flow is now available in SA, with well know brands like Bootlegger and Plato adopting the technology to streamline their business. We took a dive in and explored what this exciting movement is all about.
Flow is currently being rolled out by well known Industry expert, Dave Coleman and his team at Databev.
So what is it?
FLOW is a telemetry system that provides real time data directly from your coffee machine providing valuable data-driven insights about your coffee service. This information allows a Cafe Owner, Franshisee or Manager to track exactly what’s going on cup by cup so they can ensure the café or series of cafés are always operating at peak performance.
“With coffee telemetry systems like Flow, you can finally know if your investment in sourcing, roasting, machinery and barista training are really delivering the goods cup by cup.” Says Dave. “Data driven insights remove the blind fold equipping baristas and operators to accurately identify opportunities to improve quality, consistency and efficiency."
The business is backed up pretty powerfully Internationally, and has some pretty significant research behind the problems they aim to solve for the market. These are a few that I found interesting…
Loss Control & Waste Management
• The Coffee Industry loses up 15% raw coffee due to spillage, mis-calibrated equipment and inconsistency in brewing.
• For every 1,000 cups of coffee served up to 50-70 cups are wasted due to incorrect dosing and training gaps. (SCA Market Report, Global Coffee Trends Report 2024)
Quality & Consistency
• The biggest reason customers switch coffee brands is inconsistent taste. (Global Coffee Trends Report 2024)
• A 1% drop in customer satisfaction due to inconsistency can lead to a 5% decrease in repeat business.(Harvard Business Review, 2023)
• A leading global coffee chain reported a 4% revenue increase after improving beverage consistency. (FLOW client) (McKinsey Operations Report, 2023)
No wonder two of the fastest growing chains in SA, Bootlegger and Plato, see Flow as a critical weapon in their arsenal. Here’s what they had to say:
“Flow within Plato was a major contribution toward our decision to franchise our coffee business. With the ability to see data at any of our locations in real time, it allows us to be proactive in ensuring we are consistent in our quality, reactionary in quick fault finding and incentivise our partners through data driven performance.” – John Evans, Plato Head of Franchise.
“Flow has provided us with the tool to measure and remotely support our baristas to ensure the best product possible is served to our customers. The improvement of consistency and waste reduction is key in our business and Flow has supported us with the continued drive to improve.” Tyron Bester, Bootlegger Franchise Ops Manager
So how does it work?
The Flow unit is like plugging in Apple TV to your old TV. It’s a little black box that plugs into your traditional espresso machine. Connect it to wifi and boom - your now have a SMART espresso machine! A simple digital dashboard reflects key performance indicators such as volumes, consistency, barista performance, coffee usage and machine maintenance.
You can reflect every shot, in real-time alerting baristas to immediately spot variances to make grinder adjustments. Operators and quality managers can report on performance across the entire operation, efficiently and accurately from a simple dashboard.
The monitoring app is provides visual graphs making it dead easy for staff and managers to see their performances and informed and accurate decisions. This technology is a real game changer and will most certainly become the norm in the coffee industry going forward.
