FIGURES
Established in 1895, the Turin-based company has been owned by the Lavazza family for four generations. Lavazza is one of the most important roasters in the world, a leader in Italy with a 48% share of the retail market in value (source: Nielsen).
Facts in figures
- a turnover of € 1.1 billion in 2010
- 11 direct subsidiaries
- Present in over 90 countries around the world
- 4,000 employees
- 43 coffee laboratories around the world
- 20 years of tradition in the production and marketing of systems and products for the portioned coffee segment
- 14 billion cups of Lavazza coffee consumed yearly worldwide
ACQUISITIONS – THE GROUP’S UPWARD TREND
In 2010, the company improved its business through the acquisition of the Italian Ercom, specialised in the hot-beverage industry with brands such as Eraclea, Dulcimea and Whittington, and continued its internationalisation and development process abroad through the acquisition of 7% ordinary shares (or $ 250 million) of Green Mountain, leader in the coffee-pod market in North America. This partnership offered the possibility to distribute, market and sale both in the United Stated and Canada Lavazza coffee-capsule espresso machines, based on company’s technology designed for home use. In 2010, Lavazza also acquired Onda, Bulgaria's first coffee-shop chain, and Coffice, Argentine company operating in the OCS (Office Coffee Service) and Vending sectors.
THE TRAINING CENTER NETWORK
The distinctive values of the Lavazza brand are mainly quality and innovation. Therefore, Lavazza has created the Training Center Network, an international network of over 43 training centres around the world, where customers, journalists and opinion leaders can learn how to make an excellent espresso and study everything there is to know about coffee on a broader level. Furthermore, Lavazza signed an important five-year agreement with the Turin Polytechnic Institute for research and development activities and, in October 2010, inaugurated the Innovation Center, a new area created in the historic Settimo Torinese plant and devoted to innovation. It houses three Departments: Research & Development, Machine and System Design & Engineering, and the Training Center. In order to consolidate its ties with its homeland, the company has launched an ambitious architectural project for the new executive centre which will be inaugurated in the first half of 2015.
