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but something that creates the atmo- sphere of where you work, it won't be long before every workplace will be considering adding a coffee lounge, De Jong believes. "The cof- fee machine has become a piece of furniture and has to be aesthetically pleasing," said De Jong. "In the U.S. we have seen much more apprecia- tion for design of equipment in the past few years, which is good for business. It increases the image of OCS as a whole, and allows for bet- ter pricing." Coffee equipment in the spotlight isn't isolated to a single type of brewer or manufacturer. "We see a new trend in which operators are developing their own stands for workplace coffee brewers," shared Karalynn McDer- mott, senior vice president, market development at BUNN. "We hear it from operators, that their custom- ers really value coffee and want it to stand out." That is literally trans- lating to operators coming up with cabinets and stands to showcase the coffee equipment. "Operators cus- tomize the piece to fit into the décor at the location," McDermott added. It's yet another enhancement that speaks to the movement toward customiza- tion and OCS providers truly offering personalized service. Smarter coffee machines The future holds even greater enhancements with expanding devel- opment of digital technology in cof- fee brewers. From touchscreens to the invisible, yet powerful world of the Internet of Things (IoT), connectivity of equipment is the next big trend in the corporate breakroom. "In our innovation series opera- tors can upload media from a dis- tance via a private cellular network," explained Cafection's Cochrane. The media can tell the story of the coffee being brewed or it can be an adver- tisement, bringing a new revenue stream to the operator. A coffee machine using the IoT or network connectivity to send and receive data, has many advantages other than advertising as well. Con- nected coffee brewers can email the operator if there is an issue, such as the hopper is "out of coffee" or "There's been an overflow", reducing operational expenses by 4 to 5 per- cent, reports Cochrane. That savings is mostly recognized by efficiently managing service trips. With an alert, a technician can ensure he or she has the correct part before traveling to the location. If the problem is a simple task that needs to be performed by someone at the location, the operator can call the facility manager instead of sending out a service technician. One of the features BUNN is particularly proud of is its picture prompted cleaning feature. "Photos come up and walk the person at the location through cleaning the equip- ment," said McDermott. If there is a more serious service event, connected brewers send an alert via BUNN Link. Operators can also use it to run reports and check a machine's status. "Operators call the bean-to-cup report with BUNN Link a huge time saver," said McDermott. In one case, an OCS provider was asked to provide the location with a usage report — number of drinks per machine and pounds of coffee through the hopper. "Previously, this would have had to be done manually, but with BUNN Link, the informa- tion was sent to his office remotely," finished McDermott. The digital aspect of coffee, includ- ing the programming and usability of the touchscreen will continue to impact usage as it better engages the end user and drives a more personal- ized and better experience. "It allows the operator to present a very user friendly interface to customers of the latest in specialty beverage offerings, unique taste profiles and electronic media messaging," added Debora Mehlert, office manager and marketing of Bravilor Bonamat North America. Coffee's importance grows Not only is coffee in the workplace changing, but it is changing the workplace. It is becoming a main feature in collaborative spaces where employees go for refreshment and innovative ideas. Coffee is the cen- tral point of these new at-work cafes, with modern coffee brewers that can produce high quality coffee by the pot or espresso based beverages by the cup. The more customizable the beverage, the more desirable, with Millennials truly wanting the coffee shop experience at their workplace. Part of what the new coffee machines will bring is connectivity, being part of the IoT. Operators will be able to sell advertising, share increasingly popular stories behind the coffee as well as receive information from the equipment about its status and ser- vice issues. All combined, this isn't yesterday's office coffee service, this is OCS 2.0. Not all locations will warrant single-cup "More and more companies are scaling employees and with these smaller locations, operators have to look at their business day to day to see what OCS option makes sense," said Randy Vickery, strategic account manager at BUNN. "Maybe that is a bean-to-cup or a traditional airpot." Vickery believes that monetary considerations will keep single- cup from ever completely replac- ing brew-by-the-pot machines. "What you will see is more high end equipment," he said. 22 Automatic Merchandiser VendingMarketWatch.com October/November 2016 O F F I C E C O F F E E S E R V I C E T R E N D S O F F I C E C O F F E E S E R V I C E T R E N D S