Price and quality: Coffee from vending machines increasingly popular in BiH

Bosnia and Herzegovina citizens are increasingly consuming coffee and other hot beverages from so-called self-service machines, writes the BiH news agency Patria (NAP).

Although daily coffee drinking is an integral part of BiH tradition, which used to last for hours, today coffee in BiH, at least during working hours, is increasingly drunk from self-service machines and lasts much shorter than before.

Two things influenced this: the price of coffee from self-service machines, which can be up to several times cheaper than what one would pay in a restaurant, and the quality of coffee, which is often no different from what a waiter serves you.

Mladen Duno, owner of the company “Coffee Break” from Kiseljak, which operates self-service machines for hot beverages from the renowned Italian company “Necta Zanussi” in several cities in BiH, says that the number of self-service machines in the BiH market is increasing every year, and that his company has imported new machines this year which will be placed in several locations in BiH.

- When these machines first came to the BiH market, people were reluctant towards them, but it is clear that they are very well accepted here today – says Duno.

It is interesting that hot beverages from self-service machines are often safer to use than those we make ourselves, because almost all self-service machines have a sterilization system that makes it almost impossible for impurities to appear in them.

- New machines are so hermetically sealed that it is almost impossible for external dirt to come into contact with the beverages. In addition, every time the machine is refilled, a technician performs additional cleaning – explains Duno. His company “Coffee Break” has now imported self-service machines that have two grinders inside, allowing users to choose between cheaper and more expensive coffee.

- From our new machines, you can get standard coffee that costs 0.5 KM, and more demanding customers can order some of the world's most famous coffees such as “Lavazza”, “Julius Meinl”..., which cost 1 KM – says Duno, writes NAP.