Nespresso recommendation for small restaurant

Is there anyone here who is using Nespresso in a restaurant application? I have a small, 40 seat, restaurant and make about 6 a night or so. I figure a base model would be fine, but thought I would ask others opinion befoer purchasing.

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Jack_Mayer_85396

I know Sur La Table has some of the older models on a nice sale right now, If there is a store nearby check them out. Sale should be available online as well.

Brandon__67713

http://www.surlatable.com/product/PRO-1022789/Nespresso+U+with+Aeroccino+Plus+Frother+Black

This one is a smoking deal. I have heard bad things about the frother and want to see if anyone here has used it in a restaurant setting.

Chris_Young_80640

Nespresso is served at the majority of *** restaurants I have been to (or worked at).

We served Nespresso at The Fat Duck, and I know that Ducasse serves it at his restaurants. Many, many others. This will, no doubt, freak out some of the espresso geeks in this community (and I am one of you), but it's very difficult to maintain a quality espresso program when your business is not really about selling espresso. Personally, I wish restaurants such as these would simply serve excellent drip coffee, but first we would need more customers willing to enjoy a really well-prepared cup of drip coffee at the steep markup needed to keep a Michelin starred restaurant profitable (and they are barely profitable).

Johan_Edstrom_5586

Interesting, had no clue about that and yes, it makes the roaster and grinder geek in me sad

Brandon__67713

@chris

Do you think a basic machine, as I have tagged, would work in such a low volume setting? I have had the espresso and think the quality is superior to almost all small restaurant espresso's.

More of my concern is the frother for cappuccino's etc.

What do other restaurants use for frothing milk?

Chris_Young_80640

Brandon, I think it would be fine. You can purchase a strand-alone boiler and steam wand for milk foaming, or you can use things like an Aerolatte while heating a pot of milk. Nespresso and various companies make like companion milk steamers, but my experience has been that they are total crap.

Brandon__67713

@chris

do you mean a small unit like this:

http://www.amazon.com/Kuissential-Deluxe-Automatic-Frother-Cappuccino/dp/B00CBOADAA/ref=pd_sbs_k_1?ie=UTF8&refRID=12HGBGZ8HS5XJADSR97E

Tim_Sutherland_52834

@Brandon, The Staff Canteen YouTube channel has a number of videos with starred restaurants in the UK using Nespresso.

One can be seen here and another here.

brent.kidwell

Thanks everyone, this is a very interesting thread. The thing that always puts me off on "capsule" machines like this or Keurig is the cost of the pre-packaged coffee. Looking on Amazon it appears the cost per capsule for Nespresso is about $1.00, which is hugely more expensive than buying the coffee on a per pound basis. Any thoughts about this issue, or that just the "cost" of going the convenience route as opposed to investing in more expensive equipment with additional effort, etc.?

Tim_Sutherland_52834

Buying coffee per pound has other costs than just the $/lb.

If you buy whole beans you need to buy a grinder. Two if you serve decaf. Good grinders start $500+. Grinding your own beans has wastage, staff training (labour and product use), cleaning and product shelve life (short).

Espresso machines that are suitable for use in a commercial environment are not cheap and they are labour intensive.

The pods have a number of other advantages - inventory management is easy, cleaning is easier, and equipment capital layout is less.

mike.minasian

Also, ordering directly from nespresso is cheaper I believe. I imagine they do wholesale accounts too.

Manfred_18311

You also could go

by reusable pods with plain ground espresso; there is a Dutch producer selling

them online.font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";

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Might worth taking a look at it.

A set of 4 is sold at €14,00 /$19,00

http://www.coffeeduck.com/en

Brandon__67713

For most small restaurants selling espresso/cappuccino is not a profit center, more of a loss. I had a basic machine that cost me $1,200 and a grinder that cost about $500. After you pay for beans and labor it takes a hell of a lot of espresso to pay that back. I have put about $300 a year in parts and labor as well.

Lastly, the nespresso quality is far better than the espresso product in relation to the $1,200 machine made by staff who makes them only occasionally. My guess is the price per espresso will be lower once you breakout all costs per cup.

So, I have only had others nespresso at this point, but it looks like a no-brainer for me. My biggest concern is the milk foamer, but we will see.

Giovanni_Palombi_677190

Hi, about Nespresso, from first of January we will launch a crowdfunding campaign based on idea is produce Nespresso compatible capsules using real artisan italian coffee made in little factories and completely biodegradable. Here you can find pre-launch page:

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/7grams-of-pleasure-artisan-italian-coffee-capsules-lifestyle/coming_soon

This can be a solution when project will be completed....

Thank You

Giovanni