There are a wide variety of drinks vending
machines available these days, so much so that the choice can seem
a bit overwhelming. In this article we take a closer look and one
particular type of drinks machine – the in-cup drinks machine.
In cup drinks machines are different from all other types of
drinks machine in as much as the ingredients are already prefilled
in the plastic cup prior to loading into the machine. The
ingredients are purchased from the supplier in this format, so that
all that is required is for the stack of prefilled plastic cups to
be loaded into the machine.
Therein lies one of the major benefits of this type of system – it
is very easy to load and maintain the machine. More traditional
types of machine use hoppers or canisters to hold the loose
ingredients which can cause some cross contamination of products
when the canisters are topped up and are more prone to spillage and
general untidiness. This problem is totally alleviated with in-cup
ingredients and all the operator needs to do is put the appropriate
stack of in-cup drinks in the right section of the machine.
For a small office or workshop the typical machine may offer 5 or 6
drink selections. The drink choices may typically be set up as
white coffee, black coffee, white tea, chocolate and a soup.
However changing drink choice in an in cup machine is incredibly
easy and all that is required is to change the stack of prefilled
cups in the machine and amend the selection label on the front of
the machine. Staff or visitors simply make a drink selection,
add sugar if required and then add hot water by pushing a
button.
Although primarily considered an instant drinks machine many
companies choose the fresh leaf tea option. In this case the
plastic cups are pre-filled with tea bag and whitener enabling
fresh tea to be served from the machine. Some companies may even be
able to offer a fresh coffee option too.
It should be noted that since the ingredients are prefilled at the
factory it is required to purchase both black coffee and white
coffee as separate products as the only thing that can be added by
the machine is sugar and water.
In-cup machines are generally extremely reliable as they have very
few moving parts and can usually be set up as coin controlled or
free vend. This allows the company to cover the cost of the drinks
and the machine rental should they wish and even make a profit in
some circumstances.
Generally speaking in-cup machines are an excellent choice for the
smaller office, work shop or trade counter. They offer excellent
value for money, are extremely flexible and are easy to run and
maintain.
Click here for more information about in-cup
drinks machines.
Written by Fenton Wayne - (Fenton Wayne is an independent advisor
in the coffee and vending trade where he has over 25 years
experience. This article has been submitted to and distributed
by www.submityourarticle.com)