Balazs Blaho has solved a very important question: How on earth automation and beers could be related? As the CEO & Co-Founder of OneTwoBeer, he’s changing the way beer dispensers work, creating a beer machine that’s as simple and fast as your average coffee machine.
Curious to learn more about it?
Engineering a solution
Balazs worked for more than 10 years as a mechanical engineer and lead engineer, so we were definitively interested in knowing about what inspired him to switch gears and be at the front of OneTwoBeer. He says, that it was just the product of his personal experience, he and his friends would attend festivals and waste a lot of time, waiting in the queue to get a beer. But what if a bit of engineering could change that?
He set out to find it
The very first prototype
The first prototype Balazs and his team created was an innovative self-service beer machine designed for event attendees. With just the push of a button, guests could easily dispense their own beer. Now that was amazing, they repurposed an old coffee machine and fitted their mechanism inside it. This unique design included an automatic cup dispenser and a sliding window to protect the beer from theft and damage. While the machine functioned effectively, its size posed challenges for scalability, making it difficult to commercialize.
Smaller, better
They discovered that a more compact and efficient machine would be ideal for use in bars and at events. This realization led to the development of their current product, which measures just 40 cm by 40 cm. This smaller size made the machine incredibly easy to transport, allowing it to fit comfortably in a standard car. A single person can move up to six machines without any physical issues. Talk about improvement.
No professional expertise required
Many traditional beer dispensers rely on trained bartenders to serve the perfect beer, which can be time-consuming and require a certain degree of skill. In contrast, OneTwoBeer has designed their machine to simplify this process; with just the push of a button, people can receive a perfectly poured beer in just five seconds. This becomes especially advantageous for big venues like music festivals.
Saving time
What makes OneTwoBeer unique is that it completely automates the pouring process in just five seconds, allowing staff to focus on other essential tasks during that time. While the machine dispenses the beer, employees can take the next order, handle cash or card payments, and interact with customers. And speaking of customers, who wouldn’t love to have a beer in seconds and go back to see their favorite artist on stage?
Keep testing
Balazs tells us that OneTwoBeer is a work in progress, and there have been many challenges along the way, as we saw the size of the prototype was really a problem in making it attractive for companies, once they solved that problem, they maintained an eye on what improvements could be made according to customer feedback.
Embrace your journey
Balazs’ advice for young people is one that resonates with many us, don’t be afraid to start your own entrepreneurial journey, even if you already have what could look like a dream job at a big company. Yes, bringing a new product to the market is 100% challenging but you can be sure that the feeling of reward and satisfaction is going to double more than that.
