Eversys brings new technology to the new frontier

While Eversys is a relatively young company in the super automatic coffee machine industry, it has certainly made a lasting impression on its customers. This success has been particularly evident in the exciting emerging markets of Asia, where Eversys’s revolutionary e’Barista system has proved extremely popular. With the rapid growth of the Chinese consumer market looming large in the minds of every businessperson who harbours ambitions of establishing their brand in Asia, the emerging superpower has become something of an El Dorado for businesses in the coffee industry. Through the establishment of a successful partnership with the Hong Kong-based Hiang Kie Coffee Group, Eversys has managed to gain a foothold in this fast-moving and even faster-growing market. With more than 80 years of experience in the industry, the Hiang Kie Coffee Group offers total beverage solutions to customers in Hong Kong, Macau and mainland China.
Hiang Kie Coffee Group’s core business includes supplying ingredients such as coffee beans, tea leaves and specialty drinks ingredients; equipment and accessories such as coffee machines, tea brewers, blenders and barista bar accessories; and consultancy, recipe development, training, and equipment technical services. With 15 branch offices located in capital cities of major provinces in mainland China, Hiang Kie Coffee Group’s 200-strong team offers these solutions to food service operators throughout the region. “We offer a total beverage solution to our customers so that they only need to focus on their daily operations in the shop and they can count on us for the rest,” says Hiang Kie Coffee Group’s, Group Managing Director, Clive Chan. Chan says that while each customer has different circumstances and priorities, there is one constant – the need for high quality coffee that can be reliably produced at any time. In addition to doing just this, Chan says, Eversys’ machines offer exceptional additional functionality in terms of ease of maintenance and servicing, and a particularly rich set of features for connectivity and data collection. “Our customers need a machine that is easy to operate, minimising training time and stress for their staff while providing them with exceptional and reliable beverage quality and the ability to expand their business through the development of new beverages.” “Staff can be easily trained on an Eversys coffee machine within about 30 minutes,” Chan says. “This is particularly important for foodservice operators, many of whom have high staff turnover rates but need to maintain a consistent beverage quality in order to maintain the loyalty of their customers.” The strength of Eversys’s data features is also an attraction for customers in this market, Chan adds. A particular need for management in the foodservice industry is the ability to quickly and reliably access data for analysing sales patterns, stock levels and maintenance. “With the telemetry features offered on Eversys’s machines, management in head office can remotely monitor machine conditions with a click,” Chan says. “In addition to this, the machines with steam wands also give a platform for food service operators to invent new beverages by making use of steam.” Eversys’s machines’ ready integration with the Internet of Things is also a major reason for their success in another key Asian market, Singapore, where they have partnered with Arthur Cheong’s ValaisPlus. Cheong, who also runs an optical internet service provider in the ASEAN (Association of South-East Asian Nations) region says that productivity and technology are the driving features that attracted him to Eversys’ machines. “ValaisPlus was looking for a complementary product to support the growth of the Internet of Things,” Cheong tells GCR. “Eversys was the only firm that was able to translate a brew of coffee into data through its telemetry system. The data plugs into a whole network of data analysis that makes smart decisions possible – from temperature to cleanliness of the system.” However, Cheong says, while the technical side of Eversys’ offering made their machines stand out to him initially, it is the quality of their output that has kept his customers satisfied. “Eversys has resolved the challenge of having a consistent coffee experience by perfecting the automation of the brewing of the coffee,” Cheong says. “Food and beverage business operators have to focus on maintaining the environment and human relationships that form the establishment’s uniqueness. With Eversys’ machines, the consistency of the coffee is guaranteed with every cup and the rest is art.” Hiang Kie Coffee Group’s Chan says that as well as providing a high quality product, the relationship with Eversys has been smooth and productive. “We are constantly giving feedback about the market developments in our territory and Eversys always gives prompt advice on how to cater the market,” he says. Chan makes the point that the modular design of Eversys’ machines, and their focus on innovative solutions to common issues, has made them a leader in their field. “Eversys responds to the needs of market ahead other machine manufacturer, especially in the technical support field,” he says. “For instance, we cannot avoid stopping machine operation when conducting maintenance, but the critical point is how we minimise the time affected. Eversys’s modular design is the best solution, because by swapping modules out we can let operators keep operating their machine while we take back the used module for maintenance.” Another example is in the detection of water flow of machine, Chan says. “Usually coffee machines’ problems come from water. Scale is one of the major causes. By alerting persistent reducing flow rate of water through telemetry, it helps to pre-alert technician for expecting potential machine breakdown and take preventive measures.” He adds that while the coffee industry is growing rapidly in China, there are still challenges ahead. “China is still a tea-consuming country where coffee is an imported culture and it takes time to develop the market,” he says. “However, the industry is growing so fast that some of them need to headhunt baristas in coffee school. This is a market environment that we believe Eversys can thrive in.” GCR