Oxygen is the enemy of liquid coffee concentrates, and Paul Kalenian is taking great pains to ensure it doesn’t degrade the flavor of his premium extracts.

Kalenian is founder and president of XCafe LLC, a Northborough, Mass., company with production facilities in Portland, Maine. The firm is one of several coffee processors hoping to grab a share of the $8.9 billion foodservice coffee business by helping restaurants slash waste and serve better brew with on-demand dispensing systems.