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Thermoplan AG is a manufacturer of kitchen appliance for foodservice. The headquarters of the company founded 1974 by Domenic Steiner is located in Weggis, Switzerland.〔Swiss Trade Register: (Thermoplan AG ) (German)〕 Thermoplan is an international machinery manufacturer in the restaurant sector. Thermoplan's espresso machines are modular fully automatic coffee machines. The medium-sized firm employs 125 employees. Ninety-five percent of the turnover of Fr. 85 million are from outside of Switzerland. The company's major breakthrough came when it was introduced by the international coffee house chain Starbucks as the exclusive supplier award received. The module system convinced the coffee giants from overseas, but it guaranteed shortest downtime. Today, more global corporations like McDonald's and IKEA to the customers of the emerging company, which is the 2004 Innovation Award from the Central Swiss Chamber of Commerce won and its growing number of specialized manufacturing buildings in a quiet village (Weggis) in Switzerland, far from the major economic centers of the Swiss Central country and foreign effect. The Verismo 801 by Thermoplan AG Switzerland is used by Starbucks espresso coffee business. This unit is sold internationally as the Thermoplan Black & White (to IKEA and McDonalds, among others) but is exclusive to Starbucks in the United States through 2010. The first machine of this design was originally made in France. The machine has a modular architecture. For example, the grinder module (Mechanical Module in Starbucks-speak), has two grinders units but only one grinder motor. The way it works is one grinder has a burr set cut in one direction and the other burr set is cut in the opposite direction. Both grinders are connected to the motor by a common drive belt. When the motor turns clockwise the left grinder grinds and the right just bounces the beans around. When the motor is reversed counterclockwise the right grinder grinds and the left just bounces the beans around. The other modules are the CPU module, the Power Module, the Hydraulic Module (coffee boiler water distribution block, and pump), the Foamino (a hot milk auto foamer). Each module is held in place by two thumb screws. The French company fell on hard times and the Foamino suppler Thermoplan acquired all the assets and patents, moved the operation to Switzerland, and began marketing the machine under the Black and White name. In the late 90's when Starbucks was looking to replace the venerable La Marzocco with a Superautomatic, they first invested in the Schaerer made Verismo 701, and then found Thermoplan. They realized some changes needed to be made for the US market and to meet their strict coffee quality profile (which then abandoned until the Flavor profile upgrade of 2008). Although the Foamino works well in Europe where they add a little milk to their coffee to make a little cappuccino, Starbucks understood in the USA where they add a little coffee to their 16 or 20 ounce cups of milk the Foamino would not cut it. Working with the Thermoplan engineers they replaced the Foamino with a powerful steam boiler and a thermal sensing steam wand. The Tea / Steam Module (Starbucks speak again), looks like a small old time steam locomotive when it's removed from the machine for service and works like one too. The Thermoplan developed NEE (New Espresso Equipment), Magistrale and Verismo 901 were all ill-fated Starbuck's prototypes that were rejected during testing and subsequently scrapped. Thermoplan also manufactures Starbucks newest machine, the Mastrena, the Tiger, a lower-volume espresso machine with a similar modular design which is distributed by Bunn in the United States, and the Black & White 2, an upgrade to the Black & White line of espresso machines, combining the main features found on the Thermoplan Verismo 801 and the Thermoplan Tiger. The company spent 1.6 million Swiss francs (US$1.3 million; €980,000) to convince Brazil's national soccer team to choose Weggis for its training camp before the 2006 World Cup. A practice ground in Weggis was turned into a temporary 5,000-seat arena called the "Thermoplan Arena". ==References== * (English translation ) * 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Thermoplan AG」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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