Eversys : Need For Speed

DEPUIS la création en 2009 du fournisseur suisse de machines à ESPRESSO Eversys, son empreinte à travers le monde s'est étendue pour donner à davantage de pays l'accès à des machines à café super traditionnelles haut de gamme qui peuvent aider les torréfacteurs à progresser dans un environnement concurrentiel. L'entreprise s'est implantée pour la première fois en Amérique du Nord en 2017. Harrison Piperato, qui occupe actuellement le poste de directeur commercial d'Eversys North America, a été le quatrième employé à rejoindre l'équipe américaine à New York.

 "La possibilité d'ouvrir en Amérique du Nord était très importante pour nous", explique-t-il. "La force motrice qui nous a poussés à nous lancer sur ce marché était de reconnaître que nous faisions quelque chose de différent tout en réalisant que nous avions besoin d'une présence physique pour que les clients comprennent ce qu'était l'expérience Eversys.

Selon M. Piperato, les débuts d'Eversys ont été marqués par la redéfinition de l'idée préconçue que le public américain, en particulier les torréfacteurs, se faisait des machines à café super automatiques.

"À l'époque, nous allions voir les torréfacteurs dans tout le pays et leur faisions essayer notre équipement", explique-t-il. "Une fois que les gens ont goûté ce que nous leur proposions, ils sont devenus des adeptes.

Pour Piperato et l'équipe d'Eversys, cette période a permis de diffuser les objectifs de la marque, à savoir fusionner l'accessibilité des super-automates avec la qualité de l'espresso que l'on obtient habituellement avec la touche d'un barista. "Depuis ces premiers jours, nous nous sommes engagés auprès de la communauté des cafés de spécialité pour souligner la façon dont nous pouvons apporter du café de haute qualité dans des espaces qui ne pouvaient pas auparavant supporter un programme traditionnel de barista", dit-il.

La première étape dans l'établissement de cette relation consiste à découvrir le type de café et d'arôme que chaque client torréfacteur souhaite obtenir. M. Piperato explique qu'Eversys ne cherche pas à modifier la saveur souhaitée, mais plutôt à trouver les bonnes solutions de machines pour la reproduire autant de fois que possible. "

Nous examinons le travail que nous avons effectué avec la communauté des torréfacteurs et les détaillants pour déterminer comment nous pouvons améliorer l'expérience totale du café", dit-il.

“A lot of the language traditionally around super automatics has been about replacement of staff, which is something we fully disagree with. Instead, what we’re doing is making baristas think about what they would do with an extra 15 seconds to talk with each customer.”

Piperato says the ease and speed in which baristas can pump out drinks while chatting is exactly what he encourages clients to focus on.

“It’s about giving someone a boost of positive energy for them to carry out for the rest of the day,” he says.

“Not many people can afford to wait the 20 minutes in line that it can sometimes take for a high-quality coffee. Those in a hurry shouldn’t be excluded from being able to enjoy their drink.”

When it comes to coffee experiences, Eversys North American VP of Business Development Karalynn McDermott says the American public are looking for more convenience.

“I’ve had a lot of conversations in recent years about increasing speed because of drive-thru businesses, mobile ordering, and iced lattes,” McDermott says. “It’s all about how we can improve the ergonomics for the barista.”

McDermott notes that the US is leading the world in drive-thru innovation, with more and more businesses every year expanding their services to ensure customers can pick up their coffees without leaving their car.

“There’s so much innovation happening in the drive-thru lanes, and these businesses are looking at technology that can help them ” she says.

With some stores going as far as adding a second lane to drive-thru operations, McDermott says speed has never been more important in the coffee-making process. This extends to other highdemand areas where coffee is served, such as airports.

“US airports can feel like concerts in the way packs of people are moving around,” says McDermott. “Our clients are always looking at the wait time and how they can trim those five or 10 seconds off.”

McDermott adds that, with mobile ordering, baristas are being made to produce coffees at a faster pace than ever before. What initially took off in popularity during the pandemic has become a common way to place an order.

She says Eversys’ Enigma E’4 (E’4 Barista in the US) is one of the more popular choices among American clients. The machine can produce up to 350 espresso shots per hour, allowing baristas to work on four coffees at the same time.

“The US team named it after the barista, because it’s the perfect helper with the ability to work two steam wands and two espresso group heads all simultaneously,” she says.

One such business that has seen the benefits of an Eversys partnership is Woods Coffee, a coffee roaster based in the US Pacific Northwest.

“We were looking for something to improve efficiencies, reduce stress on baristas, and improve consistency,” says Woods Coffee COO Kelly Spiker.

Spiker says there were a number of market trends that convinced Woods Coffee to use Eversys machines, most notably the need for faster service.

As such, Woods Coffee has begun using the Eversys E’4s x-wide/ST machine. This model offers the possibility to place two steam wands in between the two group heads, which helps improve workflow by giving baristas more space to work, move, and prepare beverages.

“Eversys has helped us with consistency in our multi-store operations,” says Spiker. “They have also helped with effective training, which has reduced stress on baristas from repetitive motion.”

Coffee retailer Kaldi’s Coffee has seen the benefits Eversys’ machines can have. Head of Sales Lyndsey Patel says Kaldi’s was looking for a consistent and quality solution when it expanded its drivethru locations.

“We had team members transferring from existing locations that had operations expectations at such a high level, so we knew the equipment selection would be crucial,” she says. “Expectations are higher than ever for product and experience."

To meet these standards, Kaldi’s looked towards the Eversys Shotmaster s-pro/ST, Eversys’ first machine that can produce up to eight products simultaneously.

“With Eversys Shotmasters, our drivethrus are 27 per cent faster than our brick-and-mortar locations on drink-only tickets,” says Patel.

“[Eversys] has allowed our retail cafés and wholesale partners to maintain quality standards, train teams quickly and efficiently, and have consistent ticket times which, in turn, increases sales.”

It’s not just drive-thrus that have seen the benefits of Eversys machines. Novo Coffee, situated at Denver International Airport, faces a range of challenges every day at one of America’s busiest travel stations.

“This location has a reputation of high turnover with an audience who is entering our space stressed, and in a hurry, and who often don’t understand the time it takes to create consistent high-quality espresso,” says Novo Coffee Director of Operations Heather McCullough.

She adds that Eversys have helped overcome all these challenges, bringing the Enigma and Shotmaster machines into each location across the airport.

“The condensed Shotmaster layout allows for one person to operate on a machine that mimics the output of two machines,” she says. “The volume of output that one person can get on this machine is incredibly efficient.”

With airports being vastly different environments to a standard café, McCullough says Eversys has helped give Novo Coffee peace of mind that it can keep up with high demand.

“Knowing that the machines adjust to the grinder automatically while checking the dose and extraction times of every shot has given me assurance that we are being represented faithfully,” she says. “I’m confident that someone can get the same espresso taste profile at our airport locations as they would get in our retail cafés.”

For Karalynn McDermott and Eversys, the core of the company’s operations comes down to supporting roasters from across the country in finding the right solutions. “Specialty coffee roasters are near and dear to our hearts,” she says. “Those are our core customers.”