Large cup of coffee with three different muffins on a table.

Consistency matters, and customers count on 3M filtration.

Here’s how a popular chain partnered with 3M to help resolve issues caused by varying source water from location to location.

The Challenge

Helping improve beverage taste and appearance consistency across multiple locations.

When a multi-national coffee and food chain upgraded its coffee machines, it was a significant investment requiring water filtration that would not only help ensure a consistent product taste across all locations, but also help reduce contaminants that can negatively impact machine performance and life.

Knowing that varying water sources can cause inconsistencies in taste as well as damage costly equipment, and that there wasn't a one- solution-fits-all answer, the coffee chain reached out to the filtration experts at 3M.

The Solution

Recommending the right systems and filtration.

The 3M team knew that to meet the customer's objectives, they would need a filtration solution to help reduce sediment, chlorine and organic residue. This would help prevent bitter-tasting beverages and optimize total dissolved solids (TDS) to create an excellent taste profile. Because of the customer investment in new coffee machines, the 3M team wanted to help maximize equipment longevity and performance by reducing sediment and minimizing scale formation on heating elements and sensors.

The team began by helping to establish water quality testing and parameters for the target water quality at customer locations. They also needed to keep in mind each location’s available space for a filtration solution that would be easily accessible. Once they had this key information, they were able to confidently recommend implementing the 3M™ Dual Port System, 3M™ ScaleGard™ HPRO System and 3M™ ScaleGard™ Blend System to provide consistent quality water for brewing great-tasting coffee and espresso — but they weren’t done yet. Next, they provided system maintenance guidance and made themselves available to help solve any issues that arose.

The Result

Consistent taste, happy customers.

More consistent, great-tasting coffee and espresso and equipment protected from harmful scale — but that’s not the end of the story. This partnership continues as the 3M team looks for innovative solutions to increase efficiency and minimize waste to help streamline their operations now and into the future.

What Success Sounds Like

“The 3M team helped a lot — whether on the phone or in person, they were there when we needed them. Not a lot of companies would do that. Their support was really important, especially at the beginning.”

~ Multinational Coffee & Food Franchise Owner