In a fireside chat with Jura Australia managing director, George Liakatos at the company’s recent product conference in Melbourne, Jura global CEO, Emmanuel Probst shared his insights on the brand’s innovative spirit, sustainability efforts, the newly opened Jura Campus and partnership with Swiss tennis champion, Roger Federer.
“It’s about curiosity,” Probst said when asked about leading, rather than following, the market. “How can we make our product better to create new coffee solutions? How can we further develop our machines? How can we further develop our design philosophy? These three questions not only drive Jura as a company, but also me as CEO.”
When Jura releases new products, there is no time limit to develop new technologies in the pre-development stage, according to Probst. “For example, RFID technology which controls our filters took six years to get right. Developing a new machine takes three years on average because you can only start development with components which we already know, but it happens by coincidence sometimes.”
Sustainability
Using the planet’s resources responsibly has always played a central role at Jura. Probst explains how this approach incorporated into the development of products.
“We must avoid waste because waste is not cool. We should not waste our resources – we should use them for as long as possible,” he said.
“Longevity is our goal. We strive for our machines to have the longest lifetime possible which is why we created our Hospitality Centres to help prolong the life of our machines. We recondition our grinders to give them a second, or even third, life. It is also about backwards compatibility – when we develop new machines or new components, we always think about how we can make the unit as backward compatible as possible.”
Jura Campus
The Jura Campus opened in Switzerland in July 2022, reflecting the company’s commitment to long-term investment in new technology.
“Our goal with innovation is not just innovation for the sake, it is to have a better product with better quality. To improve quality, it takes a lot of testing and sometimes it took us too long because we didn’t have the right facilities, which brought us to the idea of the Jura Campus,” Probst said.
“The Jura Campus has 102 test stations. Each station has two different coffee beans available brought to the station by a robot. There are also two types of water – hard and soft, four different voltages (100V, 110V, 200V and 220V). Each station has a screen, automatic water supply and milk supply. With 102 stations, it enables faster development.
“We also have four special laboratories, one of them is specifically designed for acoustics. I believe the Z10 is the best example of the best sound design – you want to hear it, it’s freshly ground, not capsuled; but you don’t want to hear the frequencies. In another laboratory, we are testing the machine grinders and the goal is to have the most stable result as possible, and two other laboratories measure electromagnetic radiation.”
Roger Federer
Probst then shared details about the brand’s long-standing partnership with Swiss tennis champion, Roger Federer.
“We started working with Roger in 2006 and it was all about his personality. The first working day together with Roger was two days after his fourth title at Wimbledon and at the time, he held eight Grand Slam titles, so we were fortunate to celebrate another 12 Grand Slams with him, especially the last one in 2018 at the Australian Open,” he said.
“Scientific research in marketing shows there are two key factors which make you buy a brand or product. First is the orientation. What does the brand stand for? The second is trust. Do I trust this brand? This is exactly where Roger comes into play as one of the most trustworthy people on Earth. If he keeps his character and ages well, he is hopefully our ambassador for a lifetime.”
What does the future hold for Jura? “It’s simple – better products. We want new coffee recipes, ease of use and further develop our design,” Probst said.