Schaerer Coffee Soul 12
In use at gibb Vocational School Bern
Founded in 1826 as a trade school in the city of Bern, gibb Vocational School Bern is now the largest school of its kind in Switzerland: It offers 60 different vocational training courses and more than 40 continuing education courses. In addition to the main building, there are five other buildings available for the roughly 750 teachers and staff as well as the 6800 apprentices and 800 students. Since 2020, three Schaerer Coffee Soul 12 machines have been supplying coffee to the four dining halls, which are also open to people from outside the school and are often very busy. “Coffee specialities from Schaerer coffee machines – that’s a tradition for us”, explains Peter Chopard, who has worked at gibb since 1985 and has been Head of Administration since 2002. “Ever since I’ve been working at this school – and it’s been 37 years now – Schaerer coffee machines have been used in our dining halls”, says Chopard.
Coffee specialities at any time
Vocational training in Bern operates as a dual system. This means: Depending on the type of training, students spend around three to four days at the training company and one to two days at the vocational school. In adult education, the range of part-time training includes multi-year, occupation-specific training courses that can be completed with a vocational/specialist examination or a technician diploma. So it is not uncommon for the dining halls to be full, and the demand for coffee to be especially high. “Together, the coffee machines dispense about 30,000 cups of coffee a year”, says Chopard. The most popular types of coffee are those made with milk and a classic espresso. When the heat makes it hard to study in summer, it’s not far to the banks of the river – and a cold coffee like a café freddo is the ideal companion. The machines were equipped with the “Hot & Cold Technology” in order make possible automatic preparation of the cold coffee drinks that are so popular in summer. “The employees, apprentices and students all really appreciate this”, Chopard explains. The coffee machines are equipped with credit card readers. And coffee can also be purchased outside dining hall opening hours thanks to the self check-out – payment is then carried out via the Swiss payment system Twint.
Modern look and perfect service
In his role as Head of Administration, Chopard is responsible for administrative staff, finance and controlling, as well as HR, financial accounting, in-house services and central services – so he was also the one to decide on which new coffee machines to purchase two years ago. Schaerer came out ahead in the selection process for several reasons. “We have had several generations of Schaerer machines and have always been very happy with them. Apart from regular service maintenance and the replacement of small or wear parts, there have never been any major repairs. The machines have rarely malfunctioned and have worked flawlessly. However, it was not the quality of the machines alone that convinced us to buy the machines, but also the quick availability of a service technician on site. Christian Ledermann, who has been our contact at Schaerer for years, provided me with great consultation customised exactly to our needs”, Chopard confirms. In addition to the ease of use and the wide variety of coffee specialities, a decisive factor was the appearance. Chopard’s opinion is clear: “The Schaerer Coffee Soul 12 really impresses with its modern look.”
