How do companies and organizations choose the right coffee machine?
- Daniël van Meerendonk
- Jan 2
- 6 min read
Author: Daniël van Meerendonk - updated on: 2-1-2026
You're looking for a coffee solution for your business and want to quickly understand what makes sense. Just like when buying a new laptop, a faster chip isn't always a good idea. With coffee, it's all about three things: daily volume. How people use it. And what the customer experiences. Understanding this distinction allows you to see that coffee solutions fall into clear categories and make informed choices.
We look together at:
1. The purpose of the coffee solution
The key question is simple: What role should coffee play in your business? When selling, coffee is the product, and taste is your marketing. When experiencing coffee, it's part of the whole. Concepts like Blank Street Coffee prove that extensive automation can deliver scale, speed, and consistency without damaging the brand.
On the other hand, formulas like La Barbe de Papa demonstrate how coffee adds value as an extension of a broader experience. Once this goal is clear, choices become logical rather than debatable.
The most common goals in practice:
Selling coffee: Taste and consistency are crucial. Every cup is a judgment call. Mistakes directly cost revenue.
Offering coffee as a service: Coffee supports work or leisure. Reliability and low error margins are more important than complexity.
Experience and brand reinforcement: Coffee contributes to the atmosphere and identity. A barista or visible preparation can add value here.
Efficiency and throughput. High volumes, few actions. Automation prevents waiting time and frustration.
Hybrid use: A mix of automated and manual operation. For example, fast for employees, attentive for guests.
Anyone who formulates this goal clearly automatically eliminates a large portion of the options. And that's precisely the point.
2. When to choose small and simple
Small coffee solutions are all about speed, convenience, and predictability. Not about technology, not about craftsmanship. You choose these in places where coffee needs to be readily available, without any steps or errors. The experience lies in the fact that it works. Always.
Situations where small and simple is the right choice:
Hotel rooms and suites: Guests shouldn't have to configure or understand anything. Cups offer predictability and peace of mind. The machine feels more luxurious than what you have at home, but requires no additional steps.
Salesrooms and meeting rooms: During a meeting, you want to make an impression without interruption. No manual preparation, no waiting. Coffee is where good conversations begin, leading to more.
Holiday homes and short-stay accommodations appreciate comfort and simplicity. Capsules offer choice and convenience, provided the machine doesn't feel like a standard consumer appliance.
Small offices or remote locations. Low volumes, varying users. A compact solution prevents errors, maintenance issues, and configuration discussions.
3. When to choose medium size
A mid-sized coffee solution is the perfect choice when coffee is more than just a service, but doesn't need to be a full-fledged hospitality operation. It's all about balance. Enough quality and appearance to impress, with enough convenience to keep things manageable for staff.
This category is often found in places where coffee is part of the interaction. In sales conversations, during consultations, or as an extension of the brand experience. Staff should be able to incorporate coffee into the process without it being a distraction or slowing them down. Therefore, a semi-automatic setup or a compact espresso setup that's quick to operate often works well here.
Situations where medium makes sense:
Boutiques and specialty stores: Coffee enhances the experience and fosters conversation. While the preparation process may be visible, it shouldn't interrupt the sales process.
Jewelers and high-end retail Experience counts, but tranquility and control are more important than speed or volume.
Offices with small to medium-sized teams. Daily use, but no peak demand. A solution that offers quality without complex maintenance.
Barbershops and hair salons: Coffee is part of the ritual. A barista-style experience can add value here, provided it fits the pace of the business.
As an addition within a larger coffee solution For example when a barista bar is present, but you want to offer specialty coffee to a team in multiple departments.
In this category, it's all about the right match between operation and context. A 1 GR or 2 GR piston machine can work perfectly here, but only if the barista's experience is appropriate for the occasion and the staff is comfortable using it.
If not, it adds nothing, and simplicity once again becomes the better choice. You won't win points with technology here; it's important to work with a coffee partner who understands your business and can offer appropriate advice.
4. When hospitality solutions are really needed
A hospitality solution is the perfect choice when volume is consistently high and you're consciously aiming for a barista-class coffee concept. These machines are built to process hundreds of cups per day without loss of quality, provided they are properly maintained. They are designed for continuous use, peak demand, and resilience during high-volume situations.
This also requires a different infrastructure. Catering machines almost always work with fixed connections, such as:
Fixed water connection, for constant supply and stable extraction.
Drain, so that continuous use is possible without interruption.
Heavier electrical connection, to carry boilers, groups and steam power simultaneously.
Without this foundation, even the best machine loses its value.
Situations where a catering solution is logical and necessary:
Hospitality companies
Cafes, restaurants, hotels and lunchrooms where coffee is part of the core activity.
Barista bars in office buildings
Whether it's for welcoming guests, hosting internal events, or as a central meeting place, quality is visible and part of the experience. A good coffee solution also helps hybrid employees feel more like digital nomads at the office.
Co-working buildings
Coffee is part of the daily routine for teams here. A proper espresso setup prevents users from drifting or becoming dissatisfied.
Company canteens and company restaurants
High volumes at fixed times require capacity and stability, without compromising on quality.
Concepts where coffee is part of the brand
As soon as you consciously choose craftsmanship, visible preparation and taste experience, catering technology is part of that.
5. Automate versus barista setup versus vending
This choice isn't about preference, but about expectations. Anyone who makes the wrong choice won't notice it in the machine, but in the people drinking coffee who don't feel taken seriously.
Choose a barista setup when:
Coffee is part of hospitality or brand experience.
People remain standing, talking or waiting.
The preparation visibly adds value.
There is time and responsibility for quality.
This is perfect for places where coffee is a moment, not an action. Think of restaurants, barista bars in office buildings, corporate offices with guest reception, co-working spaces, and concepts where espresso is part of the brand.
Choose a fully automatic espresso solution when:
Coffee is part of the work rhythm.
Several people quickly grab coffee.
Consistency is more important than craft.
Staff does not have a barista role.
This is suitable for environments where coffee needs to function without attention. Think of offices with teams, meeting rooms, sales floors, and hospitality environments where speed and flawless operation are paramount.
Choose vending when:
The volume is high and spread out.
Throughput speed is more important than experience.
There is little supervision or attention possible.
Coffee should be functional.
This is suitable for locations where reach and continuity are more important than experience. Think of company cafeterias, educational buildings, logistics environments, gyms, and large public or semi-public locations.
People intuitively expect something like coffee in a certain place. If the solution doesn't align with that, friction arises. And friction around coffee immediately feels like a lack of attention.
6. Coffee experience
The coffee experience revolves around what coffee communicates. Taste, speed, and presentation determine how seriously people take you. If coffee plays no role in branding, sales, or hospitality, a solution from your local appliance or electronics store is often perfectly fine. It doesn't need to be anything more than that.
GoNappuccino was founded by a small team with backgrounds in consultancy, development, and marketing strategy, with a clear vision for coffee in business environments. Focused on making the right choices within context and use. And as a reliable partner for Dutch companies worldwide.
7. The GoNappuccino method
Anyone who's arrived here is looking for the right choice. That's why we operate simply and transparently, for organizations of all sizes. Whether it's an SME with a single location or an international organization, we consider the scale and context.
You start by completing our online form. You can request a free quote or create a free mood board by sharing photos of your space. This way, we focus on usage and surroundings first, not size or budget.
Because we don't maintain expensive showrooms, we work directly with exclusive partners who supply Italian craftsmanship in coffee machines. This keeps lines short and prices competitive, without compromising on quality.
GoNappuccino guides the entire process as a partner. Our consultants are driven by a down-to-earth Dutch mindset, while also connecting with suppliers in Arabic, Spanish, English, and French. Practical for local SMEs, but equally suitable for organizations with branches or plans in Dubai, Spain, the United States, or Canada, among other places.
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