BeanScene talks to Caffe Assist Commercial Director Christos Stoios about Caffe Assist and how it improves the delivery, quality, and above all, consistency of milk texturing.
Imagine walking into a bustling café full of noise, order dockets a mile long and hearing the scream of milk not being properly steamed. Maybe a jug of milk is balanced on the edge of a bench with the steam wand immersed, ignored by the novice barista, because they are rushed off their feet, short of experience, and lack adequate training.
According to Caffe Assist Commercial Director, Christos Stoios, it’s a problem all too familiar, but easily resolved with a second pair of hands in the form of a Caffe Assist automated milk texturing machine.
“With automatic, barista-quality milk at the touch of a button, you don’t need two baristas on your machine, even at the busiest times. Simply put the milk in the jug, press the button and go back to extracting the coffee. When the coffee’s ready, your deliciously textured milk will be sitting in the jug at the ideal temperature, ready to pour,” he says.
“Finding and keeping good staff is always a challenge in the hospitality industry. On top of that, you can’t have your best ones working all the time every day. When you’ve got a Caffe Assist though, it’s not only always producing consistent quality, but is also on duty from the minute you open your doors until the end of service.”
According to Christos, there can be a lot of pressure on young staff when they first start in hospitality, especially during busy periods and more senior team members don’t have time to explain everything.
“The last thing a roaster wants is to have their beans ruined because someone burnt the milk or wasn’t paying attention. With a Caffe Assist in place, it’s easy to give them a job they can handle without the need for lots of training or experience,” he says.
Christos says the automated milk steamer can help make cafés more efficient and staff more effective.
“The challenge we’re facing right now is providing a consistent customer experience to encourage loyalty and drive sales. Caffe Assist monitors the milk profile and temperature during the entire process of texturing milk, precisely the same way as an experienced barista,” Christos says.
“No matter who’s behind the coffee machine, you will get the same coffee, the same textured milk, perfectly done every time.”
Christos says the Caffe Assist saves owners time and money, allowing for an increased output of coffee.
“The best thing about the Caffe Assist is that it frees up hands. Cafés typically have two, maybe three sets of hands on an espresso machine at any one time, but with a Caffe Assist, it effectively frees up three sets of hands,” Christos says.
Steaming all variants of milk to the quality of an experienced barista, Caffe Assist means never having to sacrifice quality for efficiency.
“Caffe Assist’s patented steam wand technology promotes full flavour development and is designed to steam all milk variants to perfection. Low fat dairy and alternative milk products all display gloss, sweetness and complexity when prepared using Caffe Assist,” Christos says.
“Easily adjusted settings are available for every type of full cream and skim milk, whether you’re using grass-fed milk in summer or dry-feed milk in winter. Plus, with configurations for alternative milks like soy, oat and almond milks, and options for small, medium, and large jugs, it means you can be sure of consistent milk for every pour.”
The user-friendly touchscreen ensures efficient service that helps increase customer engagement.
“It’s self-sufficient and affords baristas more time to focus on the coffee itself and to interact with customers,” Christos says. “Fill the jug and press a button. How easy is that?”
He says one of the device’s key benefits is its self-cleaning ability after use.
“After each cycle the wand retracts inside the machine and passes through a curtain of steam. This automated process, coupled with a once-a-day wand soak and wipe, prevents the build-up of milk residue, and minimises the risk of carry-over contamination,” says Christos.
“That means your milk doesn’t slow you down, it speeds you up. So, you have faster service at busy times, lower staff overheads and consistently better coffee and hot chocolate for your customers.”
Christos says the Australian-made invention is one of the only self-cleaning automated milk steamers on the market.
“Say goodbye to slow, unsanitary manual cleaning and purging between shots. It means dirty cloths disappear from behind your counter and you minimise cross-contamination between milk types,” he says.
The Caffe Assist also features a telemetry system. Christos says connectivity with e-assist technology is ideal for brands wanting a consistent customer experience across multiple venues.
“This remote telemetry system allows centralised access to your devices across the country and the world, letting you manage real-time adjustments to steaming, temperature, and texture. Every one of your machines can steam milk exactly the same way for exactly the same high-quality flavour, texture and temperature every time,” he says.
Christos says every Caffe Assist is built using the highest quality stainless steel, mechanical and electrical parts, all chosen to withstand the rigours of high-turnover hospitality service.
“We pride ourselves on our quality control because we know that the only way to produce consistently steamed milk is through machines that can stay the course,” he says.
Also increasingly important to Caffe Assist users is how the device blends with a café’s décor and existing equipment.
“Consistent milk and brilliant technology are all very well, but it’s amazing how often the first question everyone has is ‘does it come in the same colour as my espresso machine?’ Which is why we offer a colour matching service that means your machinery will all be colour coordinated,” Christos says.
The Caffe Assist can be configured to work with the steam boiler on an espresso machine or to operate independently with its own under-bench boiler.
“It requires only a power source to operate. Caffe Assist technology is compatible with all commercial coffee machines. It’s easy to install and has a very low environmental impact, making it an ideal addition to existing café setup and technology. It’s also simple to troubleshoot and supported in Australia by a national servicing network,” Christos says.
Caffe Assist debuted at the 2017 Melbourne International Coffee Expo and is now available nationwide, used in small independent cafés to larger iconic venues such as Brunetti’s and even quick service restaurant coffee offerings like Jack’s Cafe.
“Hungry Jacks has rolled out Caffe Assist in all Jack’s Cafe’s to deliver a reliable product to their customers and get that message across that it doesn’t matter which Jack’s Café they go to, they’ll get the same beans, the same milk, and the same coffee experience,” Christos says.
The Caffe Assist team is constantly looking at how to improve the patented technology to continue to deliver dependability.
“There’s always improvements and things we can do it better, not only from a customer perspective but also a service perspective. We always have our ear to the ground and are taking on feedback from our customers and service providers. This has flow-on affect to the café owner who ultimately receives a more efficient product that’s less costly to maintain,” says Christos.
“It’s an exciting time to be in this space. I’m excited to see the Caffe Assist constantly evolve so we can deliver every coffee with perfect milk.”
For more information, visit www.caffeassist.com
This article appears in the December 2022 edition of BeanScene. Subscribe HERE.
