Cold brew coffee is an essential component of modern coffee shops and café menus. Younger consumers especially like the smoother, less acidic, and more mellow flavour and profile, and the suitability of cold brew as an RTD coffee base only adds to its growing popularity.
In the café setting, adding cold brew to a menu offering and incorporating its preparation, dispensing, and serving into well-oiled workflows can introduce extra complexity and potentially slow things down. Nevertheless, failing to offer cold brew coffee will lead to missed sales and customers choosing competitors.
Cold brew dispensers – like Flo-Smart’s system – have been engineered to solve this conundrum. By automating the dispensing process, forward-thinking cafés, coffee shops, and restaurants can add cold brew to their menu seamlessly, as well as a host of other non-pulped or non-carbonated liquids.
Instead of messy, disorganised countertops and flustered staff, your workstations will be transformed into fast-paced, highly consistent, and more hygienic operational environments.
We spoke to Emmanuel Katongole, head of quality control and training at Arabian Horeca, to learn more.
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Cold brew dispensers: explaining the appeal of cold brew
Modern commercial cold brew makers have made brewing cold brew coffee a legitimate commercial endeavour by speeding up processes that have, in the past, taken hours or days. In the QSR and food service industry, speed and efficiency are crucial to success and offering products that jeopardise processes is rarely worth the extra headache.
Just like the brewing equipment, dispensing and pouring have also benefited from improved technology. Combined with faster brewing and preparation capabilities, cold brew is no longer a nice-to-have; it’s a must-have. With the right combination of tools and equipment, brewing and serving cold brew quickly and accurately is easy.
The technology is available, and so is the market. Cold brew coffee is regularly reported to be the fastest-growing segment within the global coffee market, compounding at 22.67% year on year and expected to exceed $16.2 billion by 2032.
The number of people regularly consuming cold brew has increased by more than 60% since 2019, backed by healthier perceptions vs. regular coffee. 21% of coffee drinkers surveyed by the National Coffee Association in 2024 believe it’s a more diet-friendly option.
Unlike espresso-based hot coffee, the cold brew category does not rely on physical stores or baristas to build a market. Cold brew is as accessible in supermarkets, convenience stores, and transport hubs as it is in your local independent coffee shop. It can be prepared quickly, consistently, and safely regardless of the channel it’s ready for.
As Millennials and Gen Z’ers are happy to seek their caffeine fix from previously unconventional sources, like e-commerce platforms or grocery stores, cold brew is fast becoming familiar and popular. Adding it to your menu is sure to appeal to your consumer base.
How do cold brew dispensers work?
Our Flo-Smart cold brew dispenser is far more than just a basic tap. The Flo-Smart beverage system automates the dispensing or pouring of any popular café, coffee shop or restaurant beverage, including dairy milk, plant-based milk, fruit juice, and wine.
The countertop unit is compact, robust, and award-winning aesthetically, transforming a messy workstation into a simple and clean one. The unit is linked directly to under-counter refrigerated bladders that house up to 18 litres of up to four different types of liquid.
At the touch of a button, the four or two-tap set-up dispenses the chosen liquid according to pre-set measurements, minimising excess wastage and cross-contamination and banishing the outdated need for a barista or staff member to run back and forth between the point of sale and storage spaces.
“Overall, excellent service speed is the key to creating a positive café or coffee shop experience for customers,” says Emmanuel.
“Enhancing your operational efficiency is the way you stay competitive in the marketplace. The world is a fast-paced place, and customers seem to always be in a rush to keep moving. They never want to wait. Professional baristas need to be able to keep the queue moving in busy periods but also maintain consistency.”
Cold brew dispensers unlock the kind of service standards Emmanuel references above. Keeping things sharp and high quality and moving during service periods where staff are under pressure are made easier through automated dispensing.
Plus, they unlock further capabilities. Oat milk, almond milk, orange juice, and wine: all can be linked up to the Flo-Smart cold brew dispenser for convenient product variety, as can a variety of different cold brews that you may wish to offer.
Classic cold brew is one option. Served black over ice, it is preferred for its natural flavour notes, easy-on-the-stomach lower acidity levels, and natural caffeine boost. With Flo-Smart, an operations manager or owner can pre-set portion sizes before service so beverage preparation is quick and smooth.
For businesses operating through multiple day-parts, cold brew dispensers open up a range of restaurant or bar menu additions. Cold brew-based cocktails and mocktails can be prepared on the counter at the touch of a button and measured accurately to maintain recipe standards and minimise waste.
Flavoured cold brew beverages are also made easier with Flo-Smart. Whether blended during the brewing process – some cold brew equipment enables this – or after dispensing, liquid management with a cold brew dispenser means consistent, high-quality menu options.
Cold brew dispensers are revolutionising food service operations. They unlock and maintain higher quality standards, open up new product options and menu variety, and ease the pressure on staff. Plus, they help you offer the most in-demand items without disrupting things.
To source your own cold brew dispenser, visit our website or get in touch with us directly.
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Cold brew dispenser
