Barista Equip goes with the Flo

Barista Equip reveals how its integrated milk and liquid dispensing solution can make the process of crafting chilled drinks up to 500 per cent faster.

When there’s a growing queue of customers waiting for their takeaway iced lattes, chilled cold brews, and espresso tonics, every second of the barista’s time counts.

Each micro step in their workflow adds precious moments to the wait – the time spent having to dispose of an empty alternative milk carton, reaching for a new one from the fridge, unscrewing the lid, and putting it in the bin could be the straw that broke the camel’s back for time-poor customers, turning a happy regular into a rattled one.

The team at Barista Equip in Queensland are always looking for solutions to make cafés more efficient. Witnessing the rising popularity of chilled drinks and observing the sticking points in a barista’s workflow, Founder Brett Bolwell partnered with Australian brand FloSmart to bring a new dispensing solution to market.

“FloSmart is an integrated milk, cold brew, and liquid dispensing system that makes preparing chilled drinks much more efficient while also reducing waste,” says Brett.

“We can officially now say we have the fastest cold coffee dispensing unit in the world, reducing the current average time of around 1 minute 10 seconds per serve to just under six seconds to prepare two. That’s more than 500 per cent quicker.”

This huge time saving is a result of the four-tap system, which can dispatch both milk (or milk alternative) and cold brew coffee into the same cup simultaneously. Cafés can choose to have cold brew alongside dairy milk and their customers’ two most popular alternatives.

What’s more, the FloSmart can recognise the jug or cup placed under the taps, automatically dispensing a preset, precise volume of liquid. This means the barista will only need to press a few buttons on the touch-screen interface when changing the drink to be dispensed.

“It’s been developed to reduce the time the barista spends opening bottles and disposing of old ones. It also removes the guesswork of free pouring milks and cold brew, which simultaneously reduces waste,” says Brett.

“The machine will remember the last drink the user dispensed and do the same automatically until it’s told to prepare something else through the interface. All the drinks are preprogrammed in, so the barista just has to place the jug in the correct position and press a button.”

It’s not just iced lattes the FloSmart can deliver, the machine can dispense almost any liquid – from syrups, sparkling water, and iced teas to wine and premixed cocktails. Each liquid is stored in a bladder in a refrigerated unit under the counter and fed to the nozzles in isolated, refrigerated tubes, minimising the risk of cross contamination and keeping the liquids at the desired temperature at all times.

“Having the milk, cold brew, and other liquids stored in bladders under the bench reduces clutter and creates a clear workspace for the barista. It also reduces the number of cartons and milk bottles that need to be disposed of, so it is a much more sustainable solution,” he says.

“In fact, the bladders are often much cheaper than buying multiple bottles, especially when sourcing milk and milk alternatives.”

For an even more sustainable solution, milk can be stored in The Udder Way reusable kegs, which have a capacity of up to 18 litres and are compatible with the FloSmart system. With a lifespan of eight to 10 years, the kegs can be used up to 800 times, equating to 302.4 kilograms of single-use plastic waste reduction.

Brett says it’s extremely straightforward to change the bladder or keg and the drinks programmed into the system, therefore as the seasons change café owners and managers can easily shake up their menus. What’s more, FloSmart’s in-built telemetry system means managers with multiple venues can program in new drinks across a fleet from one location.

“Users can change recipes remotely and across the fleet, which is essential for consistency at coffee shop chains. Pouring by hand, there could be a huge difference in the coffee to milk ratio of an iced latte, whereas with the FloSmart the owner can be confident their product is going to be of the same proportions and quality across the board,” says Brett.

“The telemetry systems also enables users to track a whole range of metrics, from how many drinks have been dispensed from each nozzle to monitor sales, to the venue’s waste reduction from switching to bladders.”

Keeping the machine clean is essential, yet the system’s in-built weekly reminders ensure it continues to work safely and efficiently.

“It has an in-built cleaning verification system that will deliver a reminder when a cleaning cycle is due. If that’s ignored, after a short time it will prevent the system from working to ensure it is clean and safe to use,” says Brett.

“The process of cleaning the machine is very simple. It’s also Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) certified.”

In 2022, Brett and the Barista Equip team installed a FloSmart system into Pinnacle Brewing’s new café concept, Cubby House. General Manager Glen Carseldine says one of the biggest benefits of the solution is its reduction in waste.

“We take our impact on the environment seriously and using 10-litre bladders instead of two-litre plastic milk bottles saves a huge amount of waste,” he says.

“The fact that the system dispenses the exact amount of milk needed also means we’re saving a huge amount of milk waste, which in turn dramatically cuts our costs down. I would imagine we’re saving around four litres of milk a day that would have gone down the drain.”

At Cubby House, the team primarily use the FloSmart system to make chilled coffee drinks, pairing milk and alternatives with premium cold brew from sister company Pinnacle Brewing.

“As well as reducing waste, the system has also helped us to speed up service, as it automatically doses the exact amount of cold brew and milk directly into the cup,” says Glen.

“Cold brew has always been our specialty, but over the past few years we’ve seen a rising interest in chilled coffee drinks. The FloSmart makes our workflow more efficient and is very easy to use, there’s almost no training for new members of staff.” 

For more information, visit baristaequip.com.au

This article appears in the April/May 2025 edition of BeanScene. Subscribe HERE.