In a short time, a company that began producing agricultural machinery turns into a manufacturer of machines for selling petrol for lighters, coin selectors and automatic sweet vending machines.
Martín Luis Troyas Osés founds the Azkoyen factory and begins manufacturing machinery for agricultural tasks, such as asparagus and potato peeling machines and a device for pulling out potatoes. This decade also sees him register patents for a washing machine, a wicker peeling machine and a cradle with a rocking and a small device at the head that emits sounds similar to a heartbeat so that the baby feels as if they are in the arms of their mother.
Azkoyen begins to manufacture a wall dispenser called Surme, which sells petrol for lighters and works with 10-cent coins.
Azkoyen begins to produce coin selectors, which distinguish between 1- and 5-peseta coins. A, the first model, is fitted to the Ventamatic automatic sweet vending machines.
During the 60s the range of devices for automatic vending is increasingly broadened: matches, tobacco packets, biscuits, chocolate bars, sweet packets… And even change machines appear.
Polimatic, the first tobacco vending machine created by Azkoyen, is introduced into the Spanish market. This is a wall vending machine model with mechanical selectors.
Azkoyen’s best accepted model, Novomatic, makes its debut. It is easily recognisable for its peculiar handles for drawing the product.
Baby is launched onto the market of children’s sweets. The chewing gum balls that it contains can be seen through a glass ‘window’. After inserting one peseta, a horizontal lever is manually actuated to make the chewing gum come out.
The mechanical wall machine Norimat begins to vend biscuits, chocolate bars, sweets… All the products, which are packaged into bags or non-rigid wrapping, are visible from the outside.
Azkoyen builds Canjemat, its first mechanical change machine. Initially, it exchanges a 5-peseta coin for five 1-peseta coins, and a 25-peseta one for five 5-peseta coins. It will stay on the market until 1983, when it will be replaced by an electronic model.
The Golven model appears, with up to nine channels for vending packed sweets. That same year, Azkoyen also produces the first coin selector supporting front plate for the arcade game sector.
The 70s are an especially relevant period for Azkoyen, since it goes from being a family business to becoming a limited liability company. A group of investors from Navarra purchases shares of the new Azkoyen Group and management is professionalised. At product level, vending machines already allow buying coffee, tea, chocolate, snacks… The firm’s technicians develop the ‘brains’ of these devices.
Karmele, the first electronic machine that vends tobacco packets, is introduced. It is fitted with push-buttons for the end client to be the one to command the drawing. It is named after one of Troyas’s daughters.
Azkoyen creates the Metromat model for the Barcelona Metropolitan Subway, which is installed in metro stations. It is fitted with the electromechanical coin selector model F, with a payment collection and change system and a turnstile. Five years later, Tikemat appears. This is a mechanism for cutting and collecting payment from multi-trip local bus passes that can be added to the Metromat.
Cafemat, the first hot beverage dispenser with instant soluble products, is manufactured. It dispenses coffee, milk coffee, chocolate, broth, tea, milk tea and milk. That same year, Azkoyen S.A. Makes an important strategic decision: to dedicate its business mainly to providing financial, administrative and subsidiary management services.
Husimat, Azkoyen’s first electronic machine for vending snacks, is introduced into the Spanish market. It consists of two types of augers: steel-wire and aluminium-strip. It is not refrigerated, so it only vends non-perishable snacks. It allows for 20 different product selections and can vend at nine different prices. The second electronic tobacco machine, the Anne model (again named after another one of Troyas’s daughters), is also developed this year.
Its unstoppable penetration into the wall machine market leads Azkoyen to present its new Novamatic model, which vends tobacco packets at 135 pesetas.
A decade full of activity and remarkable events begins, including the company’s initial public offering on the Spanish Stock Exchange. In parallel, Azkoyen unequivocally commits to research and development of new products and achieves great competitive advantage in product lines and in the organisation of industrial processes. This is the first step towards a new distribution system and the creation of the company’s own sales network.
Azkoyen manufactures its first cold beverage vending machine, Botelmat, which offers bottles or cans. The Minicaf (190 coffee servings) and Maxicaf (500 servings) models complement the offer of the Autocaf series, improving technical solutions.
The Electronova electromechanical wall machine is presented. Azkoyen Group’s first commercial branches are created in Spain.
A project is conducted for developing a new electronic control system based on a microprocessor, which is fitted onto the tobacco vending machine product line. This is a true milestone in Spain’s industrial and economic history. That same year, it launches the T range of tobacco machines, and Telefónica Española approves Azkoyen’s mechanical selectors for its public telephones. Thus the company now leads the domestic market, which up until that point had been dominated by British and German manufacturers.
The electronic selector is patented. Two years later, it is produced and installed on all automatic tobacco and vending machines. It is capable of ‘reading’ and validating a coin in milliseconds. The sale of electronic coin selectors begins. Their new series are also progressively fitted to arcade machines and public telephones. The electronic selector marks the beginning of the change in the image and design of the Azkoyen machines and it becomes the seed of what will come to be Azkoyen Payment Systems, created years later.
The companies Azkoyen Industrial, S.A., whose activity is manufacturing; and Azkoyen Comercial, S.A., whose activity is marketing; are created. The parent company owns 100% of both of these. Azkoyen Comercial Internacional, S.A., geared towards marketing to the rest of the world, is also created.
On 18 July, Azkoyen is quoted on the Madrid Stock Exchange, with 1,707,000 registered shares at a price of 1,000 pesetas. The Azkoyen Group is born. The first company that will sell Azkoyen’s products abroad (in Portugal) is created, as well as Azkoyen Hostelería, S.A. for the manufacturing of equipment and refrigerator trays for the hotel and catering sector. Azkoyen Industrial, S.A. obtains the ISO 9001-standard-compliant quality certification for the manufacturing of all its automatic vending machines. The marketing of D machines for tobacco vending begins.
The Fan range is launched as the successor to Botelmat machines and the predecessor to the Palma B range for the vending of refrigerated products. A result of the new microprocessor technology of Design tobacco machines, together with the N-7R Multiventa model, it becomes Azkoyen’s strongest product in the Cold Vending market during the 90s. It includes polyurethane-injection insulation, which is still used nowadays in the PALMA refrigerated product ranges. It becomes a bestselling machine for big brands, adapting to their corporate image thanks to its easily customisable aesthetics. Modular bottle-can mechanisms are born alongside it. Initially, the range is made up of four models with different widths or depths, and hence capacities. Subsequently, the Fan-2 is born. The latter can sell two different 1.5-litre water bottles.
Azkoyen enters the coffee market under the Mocay brand and expands abroad, increasing the number of its subsidiaries in the UK, Germany and France. Machines adapt to the ‘euro effect’.
The Noria machine is marketed. It vends cans, bottles, mini bricks and snacks. The Azkoyen Group begins industrial production and selling of coffee in the hotel and catering sector.
There is an expansion in terms of subsidiaries in the UK, Germany and France: Azkoyen UK Ltd, Azkoyen Comercial Deutschland GmbH and Azkoyen France, S.A.R.L., respectively. That same year witnesses the birth of the Noria N7R Multiventa series, designed following a modular concept for vending professionals.
The Seville World Expo constitutes an important challenge for Azkoyen’s Cold Vending division, which manufactures and brings in hundreds of machines for the exhibition, many of them incorporating the Expo’s Curro mascot. With aesthetics that can be adapted to any corporate image, the Fan product range becomes one of the stars on display.
The P (Panoramic) model for automatic tobacco packet vending is launched onto the domestic and international markets.
Azkoyen signs several collaboration agreements with cutting-edge research centres in order to develop better knowledge of coffee. It also begins producing and marketing industrial equipment and coffee vending devices for the hotel and catering sector under the Mocay brand.
The M01 is one of the most revolutionary products of the brand, and of the hotel and catering sector. It is the first compact model in the sector for traditional coffee machines that grinds the coffee on the spot. This prevents it from oxidation caused by having to store it, which affects the beverage’s quality. There are more novelties: the N series for automatic tobacco vending and the CA 360 range of automatic coffee machines, which grind the coffee at the time of serving (their double phase hopper for coffee beans allows different types of coffee), distribute the ingredients, can add milk to the serving and include self cleaning and waste removal features. They will be progressively upgraded, reaching the third generation in 2001.
The Azkoyen Group is distinguished by American magazine Forbes Global as one of the world’s 300 best SMEs, and on 6 July, the Azkoyen Medios de Pago, S.A. payment systems company, split off from Azkoyen Industrial, S.A., is created.
In the context of the ‘euro effect’, all Azkoyen products adapt to the new European currency. Novelties do not stop coming, as evidenced by the arrival of the Palma series, the broadest in vending, and the Hopper U, a coin withdrawal device that becomes a benchmark product in the most important markets thanks to its reliability, precision, security, quickness of payment and versatility allowing multiple configurations, creating its own standards.
The first protagonist of this decade is the new European currency and its economic, industrial and even social consequences. The Azkoyen Group demonstrates its flexibility and its technological capabilities to respond to the euro challenge.
In February, the Azkoyen Comercial, S.A coffee roaster is officially inaugurated. It will subsequently be sold in 2010. Investments exceed 3.7 million euros.
Bravo and Vienna replace the bar coffee machines Az04 and AZ03, improving their features. The former is the basic version and the latter is the more advanced one.
The nine industrial and commercial companies of the Azkoyen Group are reorganised into just three: Hostelería (Hotels and Catering), Vending and Medios de Pago (Payment Systems), which are configured as business units with asset, financial and management autonomy.
The M02, an evolution of the M01 grinder, appears and is marketed under the name Capriccio. This coffee grinding technology will also be incorporated into fully automatic hotel and catering machines CA360, Spression and Xpression.
The Azkoyen Group, which already markets asparagus and piquillo peppers, adds different varieties of anchovies and tuna products to its range under the Costa Fría brand for the hotel, catering and food sectors in Spain and Portugal.
The Azkoyen Group is among the 50 bodies, companies, technology centres and universities featured in the publication ‘Imágenes Actuales de la Ciencia y la Tecnología Españolas’ (Current images of Spanish Science and Technology), edited by the Ministry of Science and Technology.
The Spression and Xpression models (also known as SP and XP, respectively) make their debut in the market. These are high-performance fully automatic coffee machines designed for a consumption of between 100 and 200 coffees/day: they grind the coffee, distribute the ingredients, can offer options with milk, boast self-cleaning and waste removal features… SP and XP are versions of the Xpression range: The former is the basic version and the latter is the most complete one.
This year also witnesses the appearance of M03, an adaptation of Capriccio applied to the City and Tempo espresso vending machine models that continues to be used in product ranges even today.
Coges S.p.A. becomes part of the Azkoyen Group. Based in Schio, Italy, Coges S.p.A. specialises in the design, manufacturing and marketing of payment systems and mechanisms.
The Hopper U-II appears, further improving the features of the model that had been launched onto the market in 1999: it accepts coins between 1.2 and 3.2 millimetres thick, processes 8 coins per second, has empty and full sensors, has a choice of three hopper sizes (small, for 275 one euro coins; medium, for 435; and large, for 750)… Azkoyen obtains the ISO 14001 certification attesting to the company’s full integration in environmental management. Azkoyen also holds the ISO 9001 (design and process quality management system) and BS OHSAS 18001 (management system for health and safety at work) certifications.
In March, Coffetek Ltd. joins the Azkoyen Group. Headquartered in Portishead, UK, Coffetek Ltd. Specialises in the design, manufacturing and marketing of vending machines and hot drink dispensers. In September, Primion Technology also joins. Headquartered in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, it specialises in the manufacturing, marketing and implementation of innovative software and hardware systems for access control and presence control, and in integrated security systems.
In March, Impulsa Soluciones Tecnológicas joins the Azkoyen Group. The company consolidates its European leadership in payment systems for the vending market by integrating this company that is a leader in Spain in the area of new technologies for this sector.
The Azkoyen Group starts up a Research and Development project for the 21st century. Through it, it intensifies cooperation with research centres, universities and other companies in order to absorb knowledge from the scientific and technological environment. The company intends to guide the knowledge, competence and professionalism of all its employees, suppliers and collaborators so that they are part of the ‘Azkoyen Project’.
Azkoyen sells its coffee division to the Leche Pascual Group, with the Mocay brand, in May 2010.
Anticipating customers’ needs and making use of the comprehensive knowledge of Payment Systems and skills of the R&D department, the Azkoyen Group launches Cashlogy, an automatic payment device that replaces the traditional tills of shops, hotels and catering venues. This is a revolution for the sector, which gains a fast and reliable product that prevents errors and involuntary misplacement of cash. The sale of the POS10 and POS20 models begins.
Novara model coffee machines experience a groundbreaking technological and aesthetic overhaul. These designs set a trend on the market. At the same time, Zen, Zensia and the Vitro family are presented with a novelty design thanks to the glass and the neutral tones of the appliance, as well as functionality allowing adapting hot beverages to the consumer’s preferences.
Vendexpo (Russia) and the UK vending industry reward Azkoyen’s coffee machines for obtaining the best espresso. Operators can control consumption and payment systems of vending machines via a telemetry system thanks to Coges Engine.
The Coffetek coffee machines receive another two awards in the UK from the British vending industry, one of them in the Innovation category. In November, the Azkoyen Andina plant is inaugurated in Pereira, Colombia, to serve the American market. This coincides with the launching of the Barista Button App for iPhone and Android, created for the purpose of personalising the beverages available in the vending machines.
Homepaq (now Homecity) appears. This is a package collection and shipping terminal developed together with the Spanish Post Office (Correos). It features systems for reception and delivery notification via mobile or email.
The creation of Coges Mobiles Solutions comes hand-in-hand with the development of Pay4Vend, a virtual application allowing payment for products from vending machines through a mobile phone without the need for using cash, since the money is in the cloud. Cashlogy POS1000, the automatic payment device that replaces traditional tills, improves the speed at which change is given (28 coins per second) and accepts more coins (8 types). In April, Azkoyen receives the Best Practices in Innovation Award. Also, the Button Gourmet wins the Red Dot Design Award. This self-service system is a fully automated sale point that offers high-quality food in a swift and easy manner, with a high profitability.
Azkoyen keeps moving forward. The purchase of Primion, which had been acquired in 2008, is completed, the Time & Security division is inaugurated and the Cashlogy POS1500 model is launched. In addition, the Vitro range is renewed. The Vitro range, targeted at the HORECA market, is an evolution of the old Coffetek Neva range: In the selection area, push-buttons have gone from mechanical to electronic, with capacitive technology and a smoked glass in front of them. The transformation of the complete new range covers the whole front part of the machine: coffee outlets, a special hot water outlet for herbal teas, programmable lighting for the serving area, waste trays… Furthermore, it is complemented by several new versions, including Vitro M3, also capable of dispensing fresh milk.
In May, Azkoyen renews its ISO 14001 certification, which attests to the company’s full integration in environmental management. It is currently valid until 2023.