In a high-cost coffee shop environment, operators who choose their direction and use data to get there will be the ones who succeed, writes Jānis Jukna, Head of Sales, Vendon
If I’ve learned anything after almost 10 years in the vending industry, it’s that coffee machines are honest. They tell you what people like, what they ignore, and how the market is shifting long before anyone writes about it. With more than 100,000 machines connected to Vendon Cloud, across factories, metro stations, corporate offices, cafés, and petrol stations, it becomes clear very quickly where the demand is moving.
Right now, it’s moving away from the middle.
Premium keeps growing. Specialty coffee is one of the few categories going up, year after year. Even local players feel it. Latvia’s premium coffee leader, Kalve Coffee, recently shared that they have grown 46% in the first half of this year, and that’s not a small signal. People still want great coffee. And it must meet their expectations.
The value segment is rising as well. EVA data confirms it – OCS is now the fastest-growing part of the hot drinks market. Walk into any office or factory, and it’s obvious: table-top OCS machines are everywhere. More small corners, more steady daily cups. When everything gets pricier, people stick to what makes sense: reliable coffee that doesn’t overcharge them.
The middle, the classic mid-tier café, is where the pressure is building. Costs are up, visits are flatter, and for many operators, the math just isn’t working like it used to.
This is where telemetry becomes a real decision-making tool.
When you connect thousands of machines, you stop making choices based on gut feeling. You make them based on what the machines tell you.
If you're running a premium location, Vendon Cloud helps you protect quality. You can see if extraction slips, if recipes aren’t followed, or if the machine is not being looked after properly with regular cleaning. For specialty roasters and café chains, this is becoming essential. Roasting great coffee isn’t enough anymore; you need visibility into how it’s brewed once it leaves your roastery.
If you're running a value location, a university vending machine, or an airport coffee corner, the same platform helps you run a lean operation. You know exactly when to refill, when a machine needs attention, and how to maintain high uptime with minimal costs.
And for the mid-tier sites, where revenues are plateauing, telemetry becomes the tool that helps answer the hard question: Can this site last? Do we go self-service and cheaper, or upgrade it to premium?
Vendon Cloud gives operators the evidence they need to make that important call.
After close to a decade in this industry, that’s what I trust most about connected machines. They don’t dramatise, they don’t sugar-coat, and they don’t hide the truth. They simply show how people drink coffee. And right now, they’re showing that the middle is shrinking, premium and value are growing, and the operators who succeed will be the ones who choose their direction and use data to get there.
