A three-colour cup to celebrate the 150th anniversary of Italian Unification

A three-colour cup to celebrate the 150th anniversary of Italian Unification.

The iconic Lavazza cup becomes a symbol of participation in “Esperienza Italia 150°”, the celebration dedicated to the anniversary of the Unification of Italy.

Lavazza, the official coffee for the event, will be present at the Officine Grandi Riparazioni and the Royal Palace of Venaria Reale as of 17 March 2011.

Moreover, Lavazza will be a main sponsor of the exhibition entitled “Leonardo. The Genius, the Legend”, which will be inaugurated on 21 October at Juvarra’s Stables of the Reggia di Venaria.

For the city, the 150th anniversary of national unity is a multifaceted event spanning nine months. It is an opportunity to reflect on the process of unification and the construction of Italy’s identity, and to recount the country’s finest aspects: industry, art, publishing, creativity and craftsmanship, all of which made Italians what they are today.

Lavazza has helped tell this story through its product — espresso — that is one of the best-known symbols of “Italianess” around the world, through the unforgettable signs of advertising campaigns, experimentation with taste, and through a solid attachment to our homeland, which is powerfully emphasised even today.

“The decision to participate in the celebrations for the 150th anniversary of the Italian Unification is yet another mark of the desire to support our all-Italian background and, above all, to reconfirm Lavazza’s presence in Turin, the city to which the company has been tied with profound gratitude for 116 years of history,” comments company President, Alberto Lavazza. “The construction of the new administrative complex, scheduled to be completed by 2014, and the recent inauguration of the Lavazza Innovation Center, move in this direction. With our espresso, our company is now one of the most powerful icons of the Italian lifestyle, a daily habit that unites the country from north to south, including the islands, and a worldwide vehicle of the values of quality, tradition and expertise that distinguish us.”

Lavazza wants to pay a tribute to Italy and to the city to which it has been tied since the company was founded. When the Unification of Italy was proclaimed in 1861, Luigi Lavazza, founder of the world’s leading Italian espresso company, was just two years old. In 1885, he left the countryside of Monferrato and his home town, Murisengo, to go to Turin, where a decade later — in 1895 — he established what is now known worldwide as Luigi Lavazza S.p.A.

At the beginning of the 20th century, Luigi was the one who invented the concept of blends, i.e., combining coffee beans from different origins to attain an original, unique and tastier coffee. And in the early Sixties, Lavazza was the first company in Italy to introduce vacuum-packed ground coffee, an innovation that was nothing short of revolutionary.

In the Eighties, the company started to expand towards international markets, but its heart has always remained in Italy: even today, over a century after the company was founded, Lavazza is still headquartered in Turin, the city where Italian Unification was signed. Turin is the very heart of the business, which now works on five continents with 11 subsidiaries and is present in more than 90 countries around the world.

Lavazza’s history is the story of a company, but it is also the tale of a family that has worked passionately for four generations, striving to unite quality, tradition and originality. In short, it is an international company whose heart beats in Turin, one that feels itself involved daily in strengthening its pact of trust with customers around the world and through every channel, thanks to the creativity that has always set it apart. So that drinking a Lavazza coffee will always be a pleasure.