We are thrilled to present you the recent business article on La Marzocco, featured in one of the leading and most influential newspapers in Italy: IL SOLE 24 ORE – originally written in Italian by journalist Silvia Pieraccini.
And are pleased to share with you, our international audience, some insights and data on our company… please find below the text in English!
La Marzocco, the historic espresso coffee machine company from Scarperia (Florence), in Mugello, is preparing to celebrate its 90th anniversary, with record sales and two new objectives. Founded by brothers Giuseppe and Bruno Bambi and subsequently guided by Piero Bambi (now 84 years old and still a part of the company), it has been led by a group of American-Italian managers and investors since the 1990s. Indeed, La Marzocco has more than one strong link to America, given that, until 15 years ago, its largest customer was the coffee-shop chain Starbucks.
Today, its customers are still international, but spread throughout over 120 countries, with Australia in first place, the US in second, and England in third. It ended 2016 with overall sales of 120 million dollars, a 26% increase over the previous year, and with 336 employees worldwide, over 200 of whom are based at the Mugello facility, the heart of the group’s industrial activities, controlled by the American holding company. In actuality, from 2009 (year in which it made 8 million euros in sales and employed 40 people) to the present, the company has increased its revenues 15-fold.
The Italian market represents only 1% of its sales, and it is precisely in this area that La Marzocco is now aiming to change its approach, capitalising on the strength of its high-quality machines, which combine innovation and design. “It is estimated that Italy purchases around 40,000 coffee machines per year, and so we want to invest in the domestic market,” explains marketing director Christopher Salierno. “That is why we have opened a sales office and a warehouse in Milan, and why we are creating events to establish relationships with coffee roasters and cafés. Our machines are not for everyone, so we want to build platforms for sector professionals who are interested in quality.
As part of its development plan, La Marzocco is focusing not only on professional coffee machines, but also on high-quality and expensive machines for the home (priced at about 4,000 euros), which launched a year and a half ago. Already, in 2016, it sold three thousand of these new machines, making them a driver of company sales.
This emphasis on the Italian market will go hand in hand with the company’s expansion abroad, with two new locations, bringing the total to eight: Stuttgart opened two weeks ago and Shanghai, opening soon, is intended to serve the large Chinese market, which has become the world’s largest importer of coffee machines made in Italy. To support its growth, La Marzocco is investing a million euros in the digitalization of its Mugello manufacturing plant, which will be connected to all of its other locations. Paper will disappear from its operations and its manufacturing devices will communicate with one another.
The other investment the company has planned will involve nearly five million euros and will see its old industrial facility in Fiesole, in the hills above Florence, transformed into a museum and “Accademia” of coffee. Scheduled to be completed in a year’s time, it will be a place to house the company’s history and train industry professionals. “Meanwhile, we are preparing to hire 12-13 new employees, including engineers and marketing representatives,” Salierno concludes, “which is why we are organising an ‘on-site’ recruiting program at our Mugello facility in early May.”