MILAN – It is true that latte art is now part of the skills of a bartender who wants to keep up with new trends. In Italy, we have understood this well, so well that we have won the world championship two times in a row thanks to the technique of Manuela Fensore and Carmen Clemente – reigning champion -. But for those who do not have the hands of two world champions, latte art is not off limits, thanks to tools that allow you to serve it without wasting too much time, effort and raw material. So today we are talking about the Latte Art Factory Bar Pro (LAFBP), a device that won the Sca New Product Award at the World of Coffee for its innovative features.
The brainchild of German start-up Frank Buna, which develops technology and equipment to serve baristas, the LAFBP is an automatic machine that froths and dispenses milk, with a compact model that connects to a module that can be positioned under the counter with the possibility of storing two types of milk at the same time.
The company launched sales of the LAFBP in Europe, Asia and Australia. Pricing on the LAFBP for customers in the United States has not yet been disclosed, though U.S. sales are slated to launch next year.
Latte Art Factory Bar Pro: more details
A frothing capacity of one and a half litres in a 60-second flash time capable of handling hot and cold temperatures, plant-based drinks, infusions, cold brew and kombucha: the Latte Art Factory Bar Pro lacks nothing. Not even the opportunity to play with different parameters to be set at the operator’s will to create complex recipes with different volumes, temperatures and textures. All supported by full telemetry enables remote support and business analytics.
The LAF Bar Pro differs from other models on the market in several features:
-IoT/cloud enabled for fast remote support, software updates and real-time consumption statistics.
-No steam is used to heat or froth the milk – which is also a great energy saver -, Latte Art Factory relies on a unique system to froth the milk with a patented technology to avoid burning the milk.
-The unique patent together with the internal rinsing mechanism allows 2 liquids to be extracted from 2 milk containers at the same time (and up to 4 steps per drink).
-The automatic rinsing system after each use eliminates cross-contamination from different types of milk.
-The menu is customisable and recipes are already set in the machine.
Compared to other milk frothers, the Latte Art Factory Bar Pro can not only froth hot milk and foam, but also extract it cold
The same performance and high quality results can be achieved with any vegetable or chocolate-based beverage (iced or hot). But Latte Art Factory Bar also provides for the aperitif hour and is ready for a classic Espresso Martini.
LAF Bar Pro increases airflow and pressure to mimic the micro-foam produced by higher protein liquids such as milk.
It provides complete control becoming a real support for any manager, on the one hand solving the shortage of qualified staff to be employed behind the counter, and on the other hand avoiding unnecessary waste of drinks used in recipe preparation.
This makes Laf Bar Pro particularly interesting also as an economic investment: its cost, which is completely affordable, is amortised both in the saving of raw material and because it facilitates the operation of the service.
Franjo Damir Kis, International Sales Manager: “I can tell that this award is going to be the first of many more in the future. “
“The Latte Art Factory Bar won for its versatility, the possibility to have more than one solution for a cafè, a bar or a restaurant. It can work with any liquid and it will be able to function, it has only to be customise. Whatever you can imagine as liquid, you can use it. I don’t see anything like that in the market in the next few years.
And it is totally the easiest machine to mantain: it takes maybe one minute to clean, you literally only press a button or automatically set up the cleaning system, putting two temperatures in the containers, press start, connect the two, and it’s done.
The target anywhere where you’d like to have more controll and consistency over any liquid you’re trying to extract. You can be in a coffee chain, in a big store, in restaurants, in a convenient store, in a hotel. The machine can work in every space because is a dispensing machine, not only calibrated for milk.
It’s so easy to use it, that it’s meant for everyone: it gives the opportunity to customise the recepies without limits only with the press of a button. We provide the perfect experience for barista and consumers with one machine, in a coffee shop in Milan or in Croatia, the same quality is garanteed. You will just need to calibrate every time that you change the milk.
It’s a smart choice for any coffee shop that doesn’t count on a super high qualified barista, to avoid milk wastage, that is probably the second or the first cost loss for a cafè. We calculate that from 15-33% percent of milk is wasted. With our machine, when a barista need to use 110 ml, the system is going to excract the exactly amount required, withouth any waste. Mimizing it, you won’t lose 15% of beverage.
And you can save also time in cleaning and resourches. Every machine today is customised, from coffee machine to the roasting and grinding: so why don’t we authomised also the milk system? The milk is going to be the changer of the flavours. And we can control the portfolio of flavours with the milk, the customers’ going to be very impressed and they’re going back to drink more”.
And what about Italy, that traditionally is linked more to espresso than to milk based beverage?
“We are glad to work with the right partners that believe in the product. Italy is a complex market, it’s true, for the high consume of espresso more then milk beverage. But in the few next years also this country is going to change, thanks to the new generation. Already a few of the major italian companies requested our product.
For now we’re going to focus on the countries that are more responsive to sales as New Zeland, Asia, Australia, Corea, Neatherlands, America, Scandinavian. But we want of course to be partner with every country in Europe, today or in a few years.”
What’s the future in this milk sector?
“More and more people are going toward authomasation. We simplified the way of exraction of coffee, but still it lacked the same oportunity for milk. It’s going to customise flavour and the barista will not be as indispensable in coffee shops. We have a few more things that are coming in the next year: innovation has just started. You can watch us on socials, I’m very confident that we’re going to see us also in Milan very soon.”
