ESPRESSO
Temperature and pump pressure controls enhance today’s new breed of espresso equipment
BY MAURA KELLER
L
ike a brush to an artist or a hammer to a carpenter, espresso equipment is a tool that plays an important role for specialty
coffee retailers. Making a perfect cup of espresso depends on a talented barista and equipment that truly shines. Learning and practicing that art can create more than
outstanding java; it can color your bottom line with increased profits, too. Te average espresso drive-thru business, for example,
sells 200 to 300 cups of espresso and coffee-based drinks per day, according to E-Imports, a Vancouver, Wash.-based provider of coffee and espresso business solutions to the specialty coffee industry. Fiſty percent of the U.S. population—equivalent to 150
million Americans—drinks espresso, cappuccino, latte, or iced/cold coffees, much of those purchased at independent coffee shops, which manage to sell 31 percent of espresso-based drinks (the rest is brewed coffee), E-Imports reports.
With the average price for an espresso-based drink at $2.45
vs. $1.38 for a cup of brewed coffee, it is easy to see why pumping up espresso offerings makes sense for specialty coffee retailers— especially since sales of specialty coffee including espresso are increasing by 20 percent per year and account for nearly 8 percent of the 18 billion dollar U.S. coffee market, E-Imports says. It simply becomes a matter of investigating and then
investing in the kind of espresso equipment that will help you capitalize on the evolving espresso market.
THE TECHNOLOGY TRACK Te technology of espresso machines has constantly
evolved since the inception of the machine in Italy in the 19th century. “Te last decade has seen some monumental changes in both traditional and super automatic machines,” says David Langer, sales manager at Laranzato Espresso Machines in Albuquerque, N.M.
April 2011 • www.specialty-coffee.com | 27
