If you’re in the market to purchase coffee machines or in the business of supplying to your customers, particularly Flavia machines, the chances are you’ll know Ralph Francis, the man responsible for looking after Lavazza Professional’s distributors.
Amongst his colleagues, Ralph is known as ‘Mr. Flavia’. Get him talking on his favourite subject and you’ll encounter his extraordinary evangelistic zeal: I’m not sure how his General Knowledge is, but with his encyclopaedic understanding of all things Flavia, he’d sale through the ‘Specialist Subject’ round on ‘Mastermind’.
So, when he tells you that the forthcoming FLAVIA Creation 600, is ‘the single biggest step change Flavia has ever accomplished’, you’d be wise to ask, ‘how so?’.
“It’s breathtakingly simple to prepare coffee-shop style drinks,” he says. “First, choose your preferred milk. What’s yours? Cow’s milk, soya; almond? The C600 can work with them all, making it the perfect choice for vegans and those with medical conditions such as lactose intolerance. There’s zero risk of cross-contamination; no cleaning, no hassle.”
‘Then, pour the milk into your cup. It’s raised to the delivery nozzle where the milk is heated and frothed to the perfect consistency. Then, add your choice of Lavazza coffee. That’s it; job done. You take your drink and the machine is left as clean as a whistle and ready for the next user.
It sounds pretty good, doesn’t it? But Ralph is eager to ensure the market appreciates just what a ‘game changer’ the C600 is: “I hate that expression ‘game-changer’’, he says. “It’s so overused these days; but I accept that in this case, ‘game-changer’ is an accurate description of this machine and its capabilities. What’s more, arrival of the C600 coincides with the launch of our new drinks menu including a selection of Lavazza coffees and single-pack indulgence drinks such as cappuccinos and lattes – perfect timing.”
Following a successful launch in the US, the FLAVIA Creation 600 arrives in the UK marketplace this spring.
“We’ve commissioned a video to demonstrate what the C600 can do,” Ralph says. “Pictures paint a thousand words, so rather than tell people about the many valuable features the C600 will bring to the marketplace – ease of maintenance, how simple it is to customise a drink; how you can place your order via an app; how good it looks and so on – I’ll let my customers see for themselves.”
If Mr Flavia’s reaction sums up the excitement that’s buzzing around Lavazza Professional HQ. A sense that something very significant is about to happen. “The C600’s launch may, in the future, come to be seen as a landmark event in the story of OCS,” Ralph says.
