{"id":4022,"date":"2021-06-25T19:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-06-25T10:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/global.typica.jp?post_type=roasters&p=4022"},"modified":"2025-05-13T17:55:03","modified_gmt":"2025-05-13T08:55:03","slug":"man-versus-machine-coffee-roasters","status":"publish","type":"roasters","link":"https:\/\/typica.coffee\/en\/narratives\/roasters\/man-versus-machine-coffee-roasters\/","title":{"rendered":"MAN VERSUS MACHINE COFFEE ROASTERS"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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After about a year and a half of careful preparation, MAN VERSUS MACHINE COFFEE ROASTERS (MVSM) was established in Munich in 2014. The company put importance to be an independent entity and has always prioritized quality over growth, which has paid off. They have been approached by Michelin-starred restaurants and bars at top-notch hotels that shows their success in the business. We speak with the co-founder Mr. Marco Mehrwald, who adds, \u201cMy experience in kendo<\/em> is still alive in me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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The constant \u201cstruggle\u201d between man and machine.<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

MAN VERSUS MACHINE. It\u2019s a straightforward name. You may think that the co-founder who came up with the company name would be an old-fashioned person, one who rejects anything mechanical and inorganic while sticking to a thoroughly analog approach. But this is not the case at all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marco says, \u201cI believe that there is a constant interaction happening between man and machine. For example, the process of a barista using a grinder and other machines all day long in the pursuit of perfect results is like \u201chaving a battle\u201d between man and machine.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s impossible to make good coffee without using the best machines, but using the best machines does not necessarily lead to good coffee. The machine must be handled by a person who knows it well.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSo, to make good coffee, we should not take shortcuts, like choosing inexpensive machines to save costs. We should be appreciating the people we work with, because they are the ones who use the machines to brew coffee.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWith our company name, we wanted to emphasize that our coffee is not the same as that of an industrial roaster with pretty packaging and good marketing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n\n

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\u201cWhat we are pursuing is the best division of labor between man and machine. We do everything manually that makes sense to, but when we want to be more precise and eliminate the risk of mistakes and errors, we utilize data and machines.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI think machines should always be perceived as tools to improve on results. If machines can solve it, it\u2019s best for the machines to solve it while man can focus on other manual things.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLike in the case of automated driving, it would be wonderful if we could focus 100% of our energy on the things we want to do, such as listening to music or reading books, instead of losing time to driving.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s the same with roasting and brewing. If we can utilize as many techniques as possible to achieve homogenization, we can leave more room for people to express their own individuality.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n

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Individuality and ingenuity creating excitement.<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Marco encourages all the baristas in the store to create their own recipes and coffees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFor example, if a regular customer comes to our store on Monday and Wednesday and asks for the same espresso, the aroma and taste may be different. That\u2019s because different baristas brew the same espresso and the barista\u2019s personality comes into play. Of course, the coffee has to be perfect, but I like it when each barista\u2019s coffee is different.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cConsistency in our store doesn\u2019t mean that we serve coffee that tastes exactly the same every day. It means that the coffee is always delicious and the barista\u2019s personality is always on display.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe interesting thing about brewing is the individual additions to an almost perfect recipe that makes the difference, while the roasting depends on how faithfully you follow the profile or method you decide is best for that coffee.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat\u2019s why we are not only trying to meet our customers\u2019 requests, but we also place importance on conveying the thoughts, opinions, and enthusiasm of each barista. This also gives customers a chance to discover things that they have never thought of. I believe that quality is enhanced by the perfect use of tools, and excitement is created by adding individuality and ingenuity.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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 If you don\u2019t take shortcuts, you won\u2019t fail.<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Marco and his wife Mrs. Cornelia Mehrwald founded MVSM in Munich in 2014 when specialty coffee was still not that popular in Germany.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marco says, \u201cI was reckless and na\u00efve, or maybe too optimistic, because I put all my money into it,\u201d but before he started the business, he spent a year and a half cramming as much information and practical know-how about coffee as he could.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI demanded perfection in my products, but I was thoroughly optimistic in my business. I was holding on to such thoughts because I thought, \u2018I can\u2019t be the only one who feels the great potential of good coffee roasted by a good roaster.\u2019 I was convinced many other people are looking for good coffee.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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They have sent out information through social media, but they don\u2019t do advertising which shows his personality well. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEven though we had to spend a lot of money and time, if we are dedicated to something and put in a lot of effort, it will lead to great results. You won\u2019t fail unless you look for a shortcut to make money. That\u2019s what I strongly believed then and still do now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI haven\u2019t been satisfied with the products and services by people who take shortcuts. In business, the first thing should be the pursuit of great products, and the other things such as customers, profits, and reputation will follow. Our stance hasn\u2019t changed since our business started.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n

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 We are not thinking, \u201cIs it worth it?\u201d<\/strong> <\/h4>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe operate our business with only our capital. We don\u2019t accept any investment from anyone else because we want to choose a path that we don\u2019t have to compromise on.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFor example, even if something doesn\u2019t seem to make any sense in terms of profitability, I can do it if I think it makes sense from the perspective of the company, the community, and my personal life. I chose the crocodile as our company\u2019s logo just because I like it and I can do that because I\u2019m an independent person.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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When Marco and Cornelia founded the company, one of the philosophies of the company was built on the Japanese spirit of putting importance to detail. As a former kendo<\/em> practitioner, Marco was influenced by the spirit of Japanese, not cutting corners or taking shortcuts when it comes to business practices and was also influenced by his interactions with Japanese people and kendo<\/em> training.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019ll never forget the time I bought a small cup for 4-5 Euros (500-600 Japanese yen) at a store that sold Japanese goods. It took about twenty minutes for the owner to wrap it. I was very surprised and impressed by his \u201cinefficient\u201d work in detail. I could feel that he wanted to give his customers the best hospitality regardless of the price of the products.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prior to founding MVSM, Marco had the Coffee-Dou<\/em>; the way of coffee as a possible name for the company name. For Marco, who is more Japanese than the Japanese in a way, coffee may be the best discipline and guiding principle for his way of life since he is all about the Coffee-Dou.<\/em>

Originally written in Japanese by Tatsuya Nakamichi.<\/p>\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section><\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":4035,"template":"","prefectures":[875],"roasters-category":[3],"cut_article_video":[],"roasterss_area":[],"acf":[],"toolset-meta":{"roasters%e7%94%a8field-group":{"roaster-kvmode":{"type":"radio","raw":"1"},"image-roaster":{"type":"image","raw":"https:\/\/global.typica.jp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/MvsM_2021_07.jpeg","attachment_id":null},"name-roaster":{"type":"textfield","raw":"Mr. Marco Mehrwald"},"roaster-copy":{"type":"textfield","raw":"\u201cDon\u2019t expect an outcome immediately.\u201d A strong conviction of perfecting the COFFEE-DOU; the way of coffee."},"roaster-shopname":{"type":"textarea","raw":"MAN VERSUS MACHINE COFFEE ROASTERS"},"roaster-shop-image":{"type":"image","raw":"https:\/\/global.typica.jp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/MvsM_2021_SIGN.jpeg","attachment_id":null},"roaster-oncup":{"type":"textarea","raw":"\u201cI feel happy when I drink a cup of coffee during a break from work and realize my work is related to coffee. A cup of coffee is the fruit of the efforts of many people, like the producers and many others. If it tastes wonderful, it means that everything has gone well. It makes me feel very content and humble at the same time. I feel very privileged to be able to work with the coffee which makes me happy.\u201d"},"roaster-favorite-farm":{"type":"textfield","raw":""},"roaster-favorite-beans":{"type":"textfield","raw":""},"roaster-ec":{"type":"url","raw":""}}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/typica.coffee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/roasters\/4022"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/typica.coffee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/roasters"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/typica.coffee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/roasters"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/typica.coffee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/typica.coffee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/roasters\/4022\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13250,"href":"https:\/\/typica.coffee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/roasters\/4022\/revisions\/13250"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/typica.coffee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4035"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/typica.coffee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4022"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"prefectures","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/typica.coffee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/prefectures?post=4022"},{"taxonomy":"roasters-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/typica.coffee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/roasters-category?post=4022"},{"taxonomy":"cut_article_video","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/typica.coffee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cut_article_video?post=4022"},{"taxonomy":"roasterss_area","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/typica.coffee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/roasterss_area?post=4022"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}