RBC TV tried to find out whose coffee business is better – McCafe's & Starbucks'? Classic children's question: "Who is stronger, an elephant or a whale?" And a boring grown-up answer: "Two subjects must be compared on common parameters". It is strange that none of those present in the studio have not identified these "common parameters", having lost sight of that in the competition between the two world HoReCa market leaders we observe frontal confrontation between players using virtually the same automated technology of coffee preparation and not the difference in the "approach to the consumer".

It makes no sense to compare the two opposing leaders by the value of their brands, or the number of sales points – it would be better to assess the potential of their respective business models. At the modern coffee market there are only two such models: first, the so-called "Thread-Process" which involves automatic coffee machine, the other - "manual" coffee brewing, when the barista makes the drinks. The first model is used by both world leaders in question, the second – by "traditional" coffee houses, which make the majority in our country. So far they do ...

"Thread-process" technology model of making the coffee beverages is focused just on reducing the human impact on the final result. No "copyright drinks", "masterpieces in every cup" or "individual brews!". Strict technological template and standard formulations that are the same for all points of sale. Following these technologies both the "Good Old Starbucks" and "Coffee appendage of McDonalds" equip their establishments exclusively with automatic coffee machines. Therefore, to the program with such a topic of discussion it is logical to invite the manufacturers of coffee automatic equipment, specialist in in-line models of the coffee business, integrators of IT solutions for process automation, not restaurateurs and especially the representatives of coffee roasting companies.

Drop of IT in every cup of coffee

Starbucks uses almost the same model of automatic coffee machines that simulate the "manual" brew around the world, McDonalds sets the equipment of several leading manufacturers, but in any case, both networks acquire coffee superautomatic macines exclusively from automatic coffee equipment market leaders, so they can not win the fight for the buyer against each other only at the expense of coffee machines' technical perfection.

During the discussion, one of the experts mentioned that McDonald's leads the market in terms of "manageability" of the chain. Where did he get this notion – i do not know because Starbucks is just as good. On what it would be reasonable for the two world leaders to apply their efforts in the fight for the consumer?

Any coffee house – it's a special atmosphere created not only by the design of its space, but also by customer-oriented service. The fact that some of the technical issues can be solved by telemetry, I already told you.  Implementation of IT solutions, including the remote BMS Coffee Control coffee machines monitoring system is guaranteed to remove part of the concerns that both companies have. For example, milk under-filled in coffee. You'd be surprised, but it's the most common complaint of customers in catering all over the world.In eight cases out of ten  milk is under-filled due to the improper care of the elements of the milk system. And a delicious cappuccino or latte can be only made with natural milk, no with the powder one. So, in the coffee machine there should be a system of milk supply, which should be washed regularly and correctly. I specifically highlight these words - regularly, which means on a daily basis, and correctly, that is, strictly according to instructions. Telemetry solutions eliminate minor bugs, errors and influence of the human factor, which would allow both companies to improve the quality of beverages offered to the level of the world's best coffee. In addition, I am sure that these guys always find a way to use the benefit of customers-generated big data, which is created by arrays of coffee machines' online monitoring data. There are already IT-solutions for the coffee machines to memorize their regular customers' preferences, recognize them etc. These are some excellent opportunities for the growth of both businesses using the model of the automated coffee machines. Opportunities that are not available for the "traditional" coffee establishments.

"Affordable luxury" or the Price of a cup of coffee can be…any

I was surprised that respected "experts" got so confused trying to answer a simple question about the cost of a cup of coffee. That's really an open secret! Let's count on the fingers: to make a cup of cappuccino you need 10 grams of coffee beans - 10 rubles, 120 ml of milk - 7-8 rubles, plus sugar and some cinnamon. Espresso or Americano do not require the use of milk and, accordingly, their cost is even lower.

No surprise then that knowing these numbers one of the "experts" mentioned: "The price of a cup of coffee can be any". Apparently, to say publicly that the cost of a cup of good coffee is never more than 40 rubles, is scary. Both host's guests couldn't not know that, but managed amicably "to blur" the answer, hiding it by the words about the price of the brand and "affordable luxury." I agree, you have to pay for marketing, the question is, to whom and how much?

Summary: Fortunately, the modern customers use no glamor verbiage to remain well versed as to where there's tasty and pleasant coffee, voting with their feet. Judge for yourself: the most traditional coffee houses consider a great success if they manage to sell 200 cups a day, Starbucks or McDonald's restaurant on the average sell some 800 or even more cups. And this is not the limit ... So whose coffee business is better, Starbucks or MacCafe? The answer is obvious - these are two equally important businesses using the same business model. Prospects for growth are not laid down in the poaching the customers from each other, but are present in the inflow of new customers who previously were not supporters of good coffee or prefered the "traditional" coffee places.

Bottom line: Lyrics about the mystical properties of coffee beans and its roasting ordinances can be skipped. Philosophy of consumption of coffee as a drink, too. My seditious thought is the following - there is no particular "World of Coffee Idea". But there is a snobbery with which the adherents of the traditional coffee business reject newcomers, breaking the established coffee market as they please.