Overview
The last few years have dramatically changed the mobile food and beverage landscape. While food trucks and stalls have been around for some time, the demand for more mobile options has significantly increased over the last decade – particularly with the advent of social media and the need for small vendors to look at alternative ways to jumpstart or diversify their business. The pandemic also played a part in accelerating growth as the shutdown of restaurants and cafés around the world forced traditional food and beverage experiences outdoors.
As a result, the mobile food services market is growing at a record pace. Globally, the market had an estimated value of $21 billion US dollars (USD) in 2022, and this is expected to grow to $40 billion USD by 2033. Evolving consumer trends have also underpinned this new demand, particularly in the coffee industry where there has been a notable rise in mobile coffee carts and vans. In addition to established mobile coffee vendors, the emergence of local roasters and artisan coffee brewers has transformed the landscape even more.
Against this backdrop, mobile coffee vendors are also tasked with keeping up with the pace of change. The continuing consumer preference for more flavor options, the rising popularity of milk alternatives and the demand for more varied specialty drinks has evolved. Rather than offering a limited menu, mobile coffee vendors must offer an array of choices to maintain a viable presence in the market. This requires a flexible barista style set-up, which can be difficult to achieve in a mobile environment where on board stock, supplies, machinery and equipment need to be limited.
Challenge
Established in 2003, and based in New South Wales (NSW), Bombora Supplies is Australia’s leading supplier of water filtration products, brewing gear, barista tools, and coffee machine spare parts for the specialty coffee industry. With a range of over 4,000 specialty products, Bombora Supplies are dedicated to helping their customers find the right solution for the job, every time. Having supplied coffee machinery and related equipment to a varied customer base for many years, Bombora Supplies identified a problem: during the busy coffee rush, mobile coffee vendors were struggling to keep up with demand.
With limited space for multiple barista machines, coupled with the increased expectation to offer more choice, mobile carts are extremely challenged when it comes to offering the same experience as brick and mortar coffee houses. In a bid to identify a system that would increase capacity and offer greater flexibility within mobile coffee applications, Bombora Supplies turned to leading small pump provider, Flojet, a Xylem brand, to design a bespoke solution.
As a leading supplier of advanced pumping solutions and related technologies, Xylem has been partnering with customers around the world, helping them solve complex problems across a wide range of industries – including food and beverage. From small cafés to large restaurant chains, Xylem and its Flojet brand, backed by a global network of expert distributors, have set the standard when it comes to the provision of bottled water dispensing equipment and technology.
Solution
In response to the problem identified by Bombora Supplies, Xylem’s team of expert engineers designed a bespoke pumping solution that combined the renowned Flojet BW5000 Bottled Water System with an accumulator tank and supporting pipework to create the Flojet BW5000 Bottled Water Booster System. The solution ultimately allows mobile coffee vendors to operate a 2-group coffee machine – an upgrade that improves efficiency by making up to four coffees at any one time during the busy coffee rush.
Xylem’s Flojet BW5000 Bottled Water Booster System supports multiple mobile coffee machines, with numerous groups, in applications where there is not direct access to water mains.
Launched in November 2022, the Flojet BW5000 Series Bottled Water Booster System is a single solution engineered to support multiple mobile coffee machines, with numerous groups, in applications where there is no direct access to water mains. Thanks to its unique design, the innovative system maintains constant water pressure and flow while minimizing noise. Designed to feed both bean-to-cup and traditional machines with only a bottle change over needed, coffee vendors can now enjoy uninterrupted operation while maximizing output.
“Maximizing water pressure while maintaining flow is incredibly important in mobile coffee cart applications,” said Adam Hart, Global Product Manager – Jabsco, Flojet, Rule.
“If the pressure is too low, or there’s not enough water to keep the boiler at its optimal level, it can really impact the quality of the coffee – both in terms of taste and texture.”
“We’re incredibly proud to have designed this innovative solution exclusively for Bombora Coffee Supplies. Not only does this system maximize pressure and flow to retain the specific flavor profiles of the coffee, but Bombora’s customers are now equipped with a system that provides a quality output with increased capacity – all within a small footprint. As a result, their customers can enjoy uninterrupted operation while satisfying ever evolving consumer demands,” added Matthew Cavey, Business Development Manager – Jabsco, Flojet, Rule.
Result
Once the system was finalized, Bombora Supplies became the first distributor in the world to trial the solution, selling directly to its expansive customer base. Since then, Bombora has placed an order for more than 100 systems in advance of the busy Australian coffee season.
“During the initial trial period, we had some really positive feedback on the system. One customer in particular noted that, in addition to the exceptional consistency offered by the solution in terms of taste, the ability to maintain pressure while increasing volume has been a real game-changer for their operations,” said Cameron McDonald, Sales and Technical Manager at Bombora Supplies.
“We’re thrilled to have worked with Xylem on this one-of-a-kind offering, and look forward to introducing it to more of our coffee vendor customers as we head into the busy Australian summer season.”