Espresso Express In March 1995 Howard and Gail Roseman took on a five-year lease from British Rail and opened a small café at Elstree and Borehamwood railway station in Hertfordshire.
Until then there had been no catering facilities at the station, so the café, called Snackline, was welcomed by commuters.
For the Rosemans it represented a venture into new territory. They had previously owned a mobile snack van, operating on registered sites.
They knew that coffee would be an important part of the operation, but with a limited budget they could not afford to burden the business with an expensive machine. “Because this was our first permanent site, we were also not sure about numbers of customers,” says Howard.
Supplier Jaguar Coffee Products recommended a BZ99S espresso coffee machine from Buttress (list price: ï¿¡675). “We first saw it demonstrated at the Fast Food Fair in Brighton,” says Howard.
Buttress produces both manual and automatic filling machines. The Rosemans chose the cold water manual-fill version. It has a two-litre boiler, which takes 10 minutes to heat the water.
Maintenance
Howard says he is pleased with the compact machine and has found it can produce a cup of good-quality espresso or cappuccino every 90 seconds.
Gail finds the machine easy to maintain, and changes the Brita water filter every three months. No plumbing is needed, and the machine has a 1.2kW loading.
As well as a coffee strainer there are two separate spouts, one for steam to froth milk, the other for hot water. Italian mix espresso, supplied by Smiths Coffee, is put into the strainer, and hot water poured through.
The machine is supplied with heated cup storage and a two-cup filter holder. There are semiautomatic or programable controls, and it is self-cleaning. A water softener, knock-out drawer and grinder dispenser are optional.
The Rosemans also brew fresh leaf tea using the machine. They charge 80p for a 3oz cup of espresso and 90p for cappuccino. A larger size is priced at ï¿¡1.50. A 7oz cup of tea costs 35p, with a 12oz version costing 50p.
Business at the café has built up to 1,000 customers a week with coffee is the most popular drink. More than half the café’s customers take it.
There is also a brisk trade in take-away orders for drink and food. “We are now supplying local offices with sandwiches and finger buffets,” says Gail.
The café is purpose built, on land leased for five years from British Rail. Planning permission from the local council was given for the Rosemans to erect a six-seat structure. A patio was built facing on to the street, with room for three tables and a further 12 chairs.
The Rosemans are pleased with both the catering venture and the Buttress coffee machine and hope to expand their business in the future.
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