Sophia – An advanced IT solution that drives Evoca North America's game-changing brewers

Evoca North America, a division of the Evoca Group, has a clear vision: “To delight people with outstanding out-of-home coffee experiences, enhancing their everyday lives.” That vision is becoming increasingly important to operators and facility managers today, as every effort is being made to delight workers enough to get them to return to the office. “Sophia” is helping to make that happen.

While Evoca North America showcased its impressive line of brands at the 2023 NAMA Show in Atlanta, encompassing Cafection, Gaggia Professional, Necta, Saeco Professional and Wittenborg, many of those who rely on those brands to serve their clients are aware of the benefits of “Sophia,” Evoca North America's technology solution.

A web-based application

“Sophia is a web-based application offering optimized features designed to elevate the end user experience across all of our brands and to reduce operator costs,” said Pascal Ferland, marketing supervisor at Evoca North America. “This global management system has been around since 2012 and has remarkable capabilities for the operator, especially after we revamped Sophia in 2021.”

Ferland said Evoca North America listened carefully to operators as they revamped the Sophia platform. “The changes were driven by comments and interviews with customers because we wanted to ensure that it gave them everything they needed,” said Ferland. “In fact, this is the platform that allowed us to be the first to offer touchless when operators needed it and asked for it.” 

Core features are popular

Ferland explained that the Sophia revamp focused on two primary features, refreshing the user interface design to improve ergonomics and to enhance the operator’s ability to easily manage on-screen video. While this improved the program, something that Evoca North America is always working on doing, Ferland added that the core features of the platform have always been very attractive to operators.

• Reporting: Data is king, and Sophia gives operators access to important equipment-related data.
• Creating and changing recipes: Operators can manage the brewer’s recipes as if they were in front of the unit. If a customer calls in with a taste issue, remote modifications can be made in seconds, quickly resolving an issue.
• Monitoring: Operators see equipment status in real time at a group level or a brewer level.
• Asset Management is a breeze for every level of the company, from upper management to technicians to accounting.
• Screen customization: Allows the operator to use the screen to either promote their own product or the customer’s brand. For example, the brew time video can be used as a cross-promotion tool to increase the sales of one product, while the screen saver video can be used to promote another or to gain attention for the brewer when it is not being used.

Tangible value

Because Evoca North America considers Sophia to be an important product, there is a technology team that is dedicated to the platform. “Our commitment to connectivity and technology says a great deal about Evoca North America,” Ferland said. “We are true leaders in our industry, and we do things the right way, such as making sure that our products and services are not only based on customers’ expectations, but also, with out-of-the-box thinking that leads to cutting edge product innovation. As a result of this approach, we deliver real, tangible value to our customers, even though they may not be asking for it or expecting it,” he added.

A competitive advantage

Ferland points to several ways that operators who utilize Sophia enjoy a competitive advantage.

• Sophia brings down the number of service calls: “It is a fair assumption that Sophia will save you at least one unplanned trip per unit per year, probably more. Because service issues can often be resolved remotely – that is a huge saving.”
• Sophia allows operators to be more proactive, rather than reactive: “Operators can use information provided by Sophia to make recommendations on multiple levels. For example, use consumption data to detect what’s popular and what’s not and recommend changes. Or, based on data relating to machine refilling and cleaning logs, you might recommend staff training. This leads to increased sales, less downtime and fewer service calls.”
• Sophia allows the operator to monitor customer compliance: “First, compare true consumption data to see if it correlates with the customer’s sales volume, allowing for detection of foreign product use. Also, use data to see if a customer’s sales volume is in compliance with the location’s contract requirements. The data tells all.”

Ferland said he would like to see greater usage of Sophia by operators. While an increasing percentage of operators are using the Sophia platform, others tap into the Application Programming Interface (API), which enables connected brewers to send data directly to the applications and software that the operator is accustomed to using companywide.

“The benefits of Sophia are significant, and we need to do a better job of communicating that to operators. We are working on it,” Ferland said. “After all, what could possibly be better than utilizing a customized software platform which at the very least, will increase sales and lower operating costs?”

For more information about Sophia, contact the customer care team at [email protected].

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Bob Tullio is a content specialist, speaker, sales trainer, consultant and contributing editor of Automatic Merchandiser/VendingMarketWatch.com. He advises entrepreneurs on how to build a successful business from the ground up and specializes in helping suppliers connect with operators in the convenience services industry – coffee service, vending, micro markets and pantry service specifically. 

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