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Home > UNITED KINGDOM > Focus On
THE AROMA OF ITALIAN COFFEE PERVADES THE WORLD
Rome (Ign) - Hazelnut cream colour, with a range of flavours lingering on the tongue, sometimes for minutes. Espresso coffee is an art imitated all over the world. And the leadership in the manufacture of espresso coffee machines, whether for bars or home consumption, is an Italian prerogative. So much so that there was set up the Istituto Nazionale Espresso Italiano (www.espressoitaliano.org), whose task is to defend quality espresso also by means of a guarantee, recognised by a certificate of conformity based above all on the manufacturing process and the techniques used.
In Italy the market of espresso machines for professional use is flourishing: in 2005 the turnover was €287m, of which €212m from abroad (thanks above all to Asian markets, the USA and Australia). Investments are also up: from €13m in 2005 they have risen to €26.5m in 2006 - according to a report by the Prometeia research centre for the association of the engineering industries, Anima (www.anima-it.com). This, then, is a sector in full expansion, that encourages exports, thanks also to the increasing interest in this product in Europe: in Germany, for the first time in years, the sale of espresso machines has overtaken that of the more traditional filter machines. The American market, instead, has welcomed the adaptations that some companies have made to the old percolator, which has itself been transformed into a sort of espresso machine thanks to the high specialisation of Italian components. The result is that some major American companies are on the point of signing profitable deals with leading Italian companies in the sector for future initiatives in the US markets. This is an international celebrity, a signal that shows attention to the demands of changing markets. Also for this reason there has been set up a trade association bringing together the Italian manufacturers of coffee machines and equipment for bars, UCIMAC (www.assofoodtec.it/ucimac/), which guarantees the quality of espresso machines. On the other hand, the attention to technology and innovation is a national prerogative: the research and development departments of the companies dealing in the manufacture of espresso coffee machines for bars (whose studies include agronomy, botany, physics, chemistry and biology) have come up with inventions such as the single-dose sachet and the selecting machine, which analyses the intensity of light reflected by each individual bean to eliminate defective ones.
But the espresso has also invaded the houses of the Italians, with a growing number of people deciding to buy an automatic coffee machine. In 2005 there was recorded growth of 1.5%, also thanks to a drop in the average price of 4.7%. The merit for these positive figures is surely down to the progressive marketing of ever less bulky products, which are at the same time easy to use.
Basically, the sector of espresso coffee machines exports excellence to the rest of the world, and not only on a merely economic level, but also in terms of style and innovation. For some years there has in fact been an exhibition dedicated to the history and design of coffee machines, bringing together 25 perfectly restored original coffee machines, some dating back as far as 1900. The collection, organised by Enrico Maltoni, has been hosted by a large number of cities in Italy and, above all abroad: from Bangkok to Caracas, passing through Salonika, and can also be seen online, at www.espressomadeinitaly.com
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