A CremaLoop Slow Feeder Pro atop a Niche Zero grinder. All images courtesy of CremaLoop.
A young, Zurich, Switzerland-based coffee accessories brand called CremaLoop is launching a tool called the Slow Feeder Pro, designed to throttle the flow of whole coffee beans into a grinder down to as little as one bean at a time.
Shipping begins this month on the mostly 3D-printed plastic device that nests atop a grinder in place of a hopper. Driven by a AAA-battery-powered motor, a rotating disc with bean-sized holes at the base of the Slow Feeder hopper allows beans to drop in more gradually for people seeking peak grinding precision, either for high-end home setups or for low-volume commercial environments.
“Adoption in commercial settings is growing, especially for shops focused on specialty light roasts,” CremaLoop Co-Founder Rennan Hu recently told Daily Coffee News. “It’s not yet ideal for high-speed cafe workflows, but it could become a go-to tool for competition baristas looking for extra edge in extraction control.”
The Slow Feeder Pro, which has been available for pre-order for CHF 130 ($160 USD as of this writing) since April, builds upon the original Slow Feeder that launched in November 2024. The Pro model features broader compatibility with more grinders, as well as a new control knob that allows the user to set the rotation speed of the disc.
“The underlying mechanics are straightforward: A lower feed rate allows the grinder to process fewer beans at a time, reducing burr load and heat,” Hu said. “This helps prevent particle smearing, minimizes fines, and improves uniformity, particularly with light roasts or high-density beans. The adjustable feed rate also allows you to speed up things when you are in a rush or set the feed rate according to your grinder’s auto shut-off limit.”
Grinding one bean at a time also diminishes the amount of static electricity generated while grinding, a phenomenon often diminished by home or professional baristas through the Ross Droplet Technique (RDT) of spritzing water on dry beans prior to grinding.
Following the trend of user-adjustable burr RPM in coffee grinders, the concept of instead more carefully controlling the flow of beans into grinders has been gaining traction in recent years.
Prosumer grinder company Zerno offers a variety of pre-breaker augers that alter the flow of coffee into its grind chambers. Late last year, Madkat Coffee, Australian maker of handgrinder motorization kits, rolled out an independently motorized slow bean feeder device. This year, home grinder brand Baratza introduced a flow control disc beneath the hopper of its upcoming Encore ESP Pro grinder that slows the flow.
A printer at the CremaLoop production site.
Hu and CremaLoop Co-Founder Yanyan Huang met as engineering students at ETH Zurich prior to beginning careers within the automotive, energy and semiconductor industries. The two decided to team up to create products that follow their respective passions for specialty coffee.
CremaLoop’s 3D-printing lab, known as “the farm,” is also the production site for MountLoop, another brand created by Huang and Hu that makes accessories for baby strollers. Both brands fall under parent company 3D Farmer.
With rising demand for CremaLoop’s espresso dosing cups, portafilter accessories, WDT devices and a recently launched brew temperature analyzer, the CremaLoop business has demanded Huang and Hu’s full-time attention since last year.
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Howard Bryman
Howard Bryman is the associate editor of Daily Coffee News by Roast Magazine. He is based in Portland, Oregon.
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