Office coffee machines,
industry by industry.

Brokerages, property managers, developers and owner-association firms. One brokerage runs machines on three separate floors of the same Business Bay tower; others are in Dubai Hills Business Park, Deira, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah's Buhaira Tower, and one developer put a machine in its Abu Dhabi showroom rather than its office.

Agents are out of the office half the day and back in bursts. The machine is a meeting prop as much as a staff perk — a client who is offered a real cappuccino while the paperwork prints stays seated. Showroom placements skew to espresso and branded cups.

Main contractors, interior fit-out firms, façade engineering and equipment rental. One contractor runs four machines across a Dubai Investment Park office and an Abu Dhabi site. Others sit in Production City, Dubai Internet City and along Sheikh Zayed Road.

Long days, early starts, a site canteen that is either far away or does not exist. This group is the most price-aware and the least fussy about the menu: americano and cappuccino carry almost the whole volume. Machines here also take the hardest use, which is why replacement being free matters more than it does elsewhere.

Production studios, photo studios, creative agencies and a bridal atelier. One production company in Al Quoz runs three machines; a photo studio runs two; an agency sits in a Media City boutique office.

Studios run on irregular hours and host clients for long shoots — the coffee point doubles as hospitality. This is the sector most likely to ask about the look of the machine and the cup, and the most likely to want a second unit within a few months of the first.

Car trading groups, a motors dealership, a tyre service and a bike workshop. One group runs three machines across Deira and Sheikh Zayed Road locations; the dealership is in a Business Bay tower.

A customer waiting for a service or a test drive is a captive audience, and the alternative is a jug of instant coffee that says something unhelpful about the brand. Showrooms are the clearest case where the machine is customer-facing rather than staff-facing.

Hardware distributors, a network operator and a computer retailer. Two sit in DAFZA, one in Production City, one on Khalid Bin Al Waleed Road.

Free-zone offices are often far from a café and the walk is not a walk in July. Technical teams also skew to black coffee: this is one of the few groups where americano and double espresso outrun cappuccino.

Law firms, corporate-services providers, management consultancies and a serviced business centre. One law firm runs machines in three of its offices — DIFC, Abu Dhabi and Dubai Internet City.

Client-facing floors where the coffee is part of how the firm presents itself. This group asks the most questions about service frequency and the least about price, and it is where a machine being visibly clean matters most.

Nurseries, a children's activity centre and a club. One nursery is in an Al Manara villa, another in Abu Dhabi.

The drinkers are parents at drop-off and pick-up, in two sharp peaks. Chocolate and tea options matter more here than anywhere else, and cup size goes down, not up.

A polyclinic on Al Wasl Road and a veterinary clinic in Al Barsha.

Patients wait, and staff work shifts that do not line up with café opening hours. Closed hoppers, a documented cleaning routine and quiet operation are the questions that actually get asked.

A government transactions centre in Dubai Investment Park and an airbase.

High, steady, unavoidable footfall with a queue attached. These behave less like offices and more like our public locations, and they are usually fitted with a card terminal from day one.