The coffee roasting industry of Italy, and why it has been slow to adapt to what it called the “new coffee era”. Coffee is basically quintessentially Italian, but it has remained behind Americans in innovating and making it the global product that it is today.
Since the birth of Starbucks, the coffee industry has not changed in hundreds of years, but it took the Seattle-born company, and other companies such as Nestle to change the way coffee is served. Specifically:
- An Italian developed the first espresso machine, but a Swiss firm, Nestlé,
conquered the market for personal espresso-makers with its Nespresso system. - Starbucks was inspired by founder Howard Schultz’ visit to cafes in Milan, but he revolutionized it to provide fast service and social ambience.
Today, Italy’s coffee firms are trying to grab more of the global industry for themselves. There is a movement towards mergers between large coffee manufacturers and roasters from Italy, and homegrown brands from other countries. For example:
- Lavazza, Italy’s biggest coffee firm, buying Douwe Egberts’ Carte Noire premium brand for €800m ($870m), making it the market leader in France.
- The initial public offering of 40% of Massimo Zanetti, to raise capital for expansion. Zanetti owns a score of brands, including Boncafé, an Asian roaster; and is buying a stake in Club Coffee, a Canadian firm with which it has developed compostable capsules.
Another noteworthy fad in the industry is the curiosity for the “science” of coffee-making—improving grinding methods, better monitoring of water quality, and so on. Illy caffé was an early innovator, having pioneered the use of pressurised cans when most others were still selling coffee in paper bags.
More so the high street is becoming aware of what is going into their daily coffee and have a b
etter understanding of taste and cost, – Today’s coffee customer understand more about the coffee and the Baristas that serve it
What seems to be the core strength of today’s top coffee roasters is disappearing with no real differentiation in the process, of roasting coffee – Coffee is more about education and presentation and understanding the needs of a new type of coffee customer that are queuing to drink it new types of coffee blends that large chains have trouble producing, And with greater volumes passing through independent chains and, baristas representing an important part of this new supply chain –
There understanding of the customer is part on a New age of coffee production
Baristas working with Blendly have access to the production and manufacturing 
services and can advise the new type of Speciality coffee chain on cost and taste, – Blendly Services have been developed around the economies of choice allowing greater transparency around the coffee offering
And as palates are changing none more so than how we enjoy coffee, with more people purchasing barista style machines for their homes and purchasing more and more international origin coffees – The baristas working with blendly offer a new opportunity in the coffee industry.