Franke Office Coffee Machines

Company background and UK presence

Franke Coffee Systems is the professional coffee business within Franke Group, whose headquarters are in Aarburg, Switzerland. Hermann Franke founded the original business in 1911; the acquisition of Swiss coffee-machine specialist Augsburger AG in 1984 established the foundation of its professional coffee operation.

Franke fact panel

• Coffee business: Franke Coffee Systems.
• Parent group: Franke Group.
• Country and group headquarters: Switzerland, Aarburg.
• Main machine classes relevant here: fully automatic A-Line systems and the Mytico professional, barista-facing line.
• UK support: Franke Coffee Systems UK Limited, with a published UK sales and service contact.

For the wider shortlist, start with our office coffee machine brands guide. This profile concentrates on Franke’s published capabilities, not a claim that it outperforms every competing brand.

Franke office coffee machines: the range explained

The A-Line is the natural starting point for an office assessment. Mytico deserves separate consideration where staff serve drinks rather than simply letting colleagues select them from a screen.

The table compares manufacturer-claimed daily capacity, cleaning configuration and likely workplace fit. Suitability is our editorial assessment, not a Franke headcount rating.

Specifications checked in November 2026. These are manufacturer claims, not independently measured office throughput.

Check the generation, especially on the A600

Franke’s older A-Line brochure lists the A600 at up to 150 cups daily. Its current UK new A600 page states up to 200. That is a generation distinction, not a reason to silently apply the newer rating to an older machine.

Request the full product designation and matching technical sheet. The same discipline matters for cleaning, connectivity and milk options.

Where Mytico fits

Mytico combines automatic coffee preparation with a more traditional, barista-facing format. Franke distinguishes Mytico Due, with a barista module and steam-wand options, from Mytico Vario, which incorporates automatic milk preparation.

Our view is that Mytico merits assessment for a staffed workplace hospitality point or reception coffee service. It is not the obvious default for an unattended kitchen: demonstrate its workflow with the people who will actually operate it.

Milk systems: FoamMaster is not EasyClean

Franke’s terminology becomes clearer once you separate drink preparation, milk selection and cleaning.

FoamMaster controls milk and foam preparation. Its capabilities depend on the machine: the A300 leaflet specifies hot milk and milk foam, whereas the A400 FoamMaster specification includes hot and cold milk and foam. Do not assume that every FoamMaster-labelled machine offers the same cold-drink menu.

EasyClean is a cleaning system. CleanMaster is another cleaning system with different detergent handling. Neither name tells you, by itself, which milk drinks the machine makes.

Ask to taste the drinks you expect colleagues to order. Check foam texture, drink temperature and the balance of coffee to milk using your intended cup sizes and actual dairy or plant-based product. A demonstration with different ingredients is not a substitute.

IndividualMilk and separate channels

Franke describes IndividualMilk Technology as maintaining separate milk paths from the cooling unit to the cup. Its current UK technology page lists it as optional on the new A600, new A800 and Mytico Vario.

That is more specific than merely having two milk containers. A quotation saying “two milk types” should identify the actual technology and whether any downstream components are shared.

Franke makes strong cross-contamination claims for IndividualMilk. Treat these as manufacturer claims, and ask for the configuration documentation and handling instructions before making any workplace allergen assurance. Our recommendation is to assess the entire handling process, not just the internal tubing.

Cleaning: what remains for your team?

The practical distinction is detergent handling:

• EasyClean: Franke describes automatic cleaning with manual addition of cleaning fluid.
• CleanMaster: Franke describes automatic cleaning using an integrated cleaning cartridge.

The A300 leaflet specifies EasyClean. The A400 offers different cleaning configurations, and the A1000’s published UK description includes CleanMaster. The new A600 and A800 also introduce IndividualClean, Franke’s usage-based cleaning approach, alongside configuration-specific EasyClean or CleanMaster arrangements.

None of these descriptions should be interpreted as permission to leave the whole refreshment area unattended.

Before ordering, ask the demonstrator to:

1. Run the complete cleaning routine for the quoted machine and milk cooler.
2. Identify every manual preparation, detergent and rinsing step.
3. Show which containers, outlets and external surfaces require separate attention.
4. Explain what happens when cleaning is missed or interrupted.
5. Give the nominated workplace operator the matching instructions and training.

Record hands-on work separately from automatic cycle time. That gives a more useful staffing picture than the phrase “automatic cleaning”.

Capacity: match cups and peaks, not just headcount

Daily capacity is only a starting point. For example, the new A800’s published parallel-dispensing capability is relevant when several drink components need preparing at once, but your menu and serving pattern still need demonstrating.

Use attendance rather than total payroll to estimate demand. The following matrix is an illustrative planning calculation, assuming two machine-made drinks per person present each day, excluding visitors.

These are not manufacturer headcount recommendations. Replace the assumptions with your workplace’s measured use.

Also record the busiest short period, typical drink sizes, milk-drink share and distance between users and tea points. Ask for a timed sequence of representative orders, including refilling and grounds handling, rather than one freshly prepared espresso.

Telemetry and remote management

Telemetry means sending machine information to a remote system. Franke describes Digital Services features including drink monitoring, extraction-time information, remote menu changes and remote machine health checks.

Availability is model-specific. Older A-Line literature lists Digital Services as optional across the named families; the new A600 and A800 brochure lists FrankeConnect connectivity as standard. Standard connectivity should not be mistaken for confirmation that every service feature is included or activated.

Ask for a demonstration of the exact portal and permissions supplied. Establish who receives alerts, who acts on them and what your IT team must approve. Remote visibility is useful only if somebody owns the response.

UK service, installation and ownership

Franke publishes a dedicated UK sales and service contact through Franke Coffee Systems UK Limited. That confirms a UK support route, but it does not establish an independently verified response time, repair success rate or local parts availability.

Get written answers on:

• Who installs, commissions and repairs the machine.
• Service coverage at your postcode and during your operating hours.
• Preventive maintenance, exclusions and replacement-machine arrangements.
• Milk-cooler support, consumables and operator training.
• Responsibility for filters, water assessment and installation preparation.

Check utilities before choosing the model. Franke’s new A-Line brochure lists the new A600 with a single-phase electrical connection and the new A800 with a three-phase connection. Confirm the precise UK configuration with the installer, alongside water, drainage, ventilation, counter loading and access.

For your own ownership calculation, include the machine and cooler, installation, ingredients, cleaning products, filters, service, energy, staff time and downtime arrangements. Put recurring items on the same comparison period, divide the resulting total by expected drinks if you need a per-drink figure, and identify the VAT treatment of each item. Obtain itemised written quotations rather than comparing incomplete headline offers.

Pros, cons and who Franke suits

Our assessment uses five criteria: daily demand, peak workflow, milk choice, cleaning responsibility and local service provision.

Reasons to shortlist Franke

• A broad capacity ladder: the published range provides several starting points rather than one machine stretched across every office.
• Configurable milk preparation: relevant models offer different milk, foam and separation arrangements.
• Different cleaning packages: buyers can specify the detergent-handling approach rather than accept an unspecified “automatic” system.
• Remote-management options: worth investigating where facilities teams oversee several machines or sites.

These are specification-based advantages, not independent reliability findings.

Reasons to be cautious

• Configuration complexity: a model name alone does not identify everything supplied.
• Generation differences: older and newer A600 specifications are not interchangeable.
• Ongoing operator responsibility: require a demonstrated cleaning and replenishment plan.
• Installation requirements: assess the complete machine, cooler and utilities, not just the countertop photograph.

Franke is a sensible shortlist candidate for workplaces prepared to specify and manage a professional drinks system. It is a weaker fit where nobody will take responsibility for its daily operation.

For alternatives, use the JURA profile and WMF profile to build a like-for-like requirements list. The Schaerer profile provides another comparison without assuming that similarly named milk or cleaning features work identically.