Preface
Essse Caffè is a family owned business based in Italy. The Segafredo family has been in the coffee business for generations, founding their fi rst roaster company in the 1920´s. Following the great success with the brand Segafredo, and the subsequent sale of it in the 70’s, the family founded Essse Caffè in 1979. Ten years later Essse Caffè was already between the top ten espresso coffee roasters in the Italian HORECA market. Today in Italy we are on the top five coffee roasters in the HORECA.
Where did the name “ESSSE” come from? What’s the meaning?
In 1979 the Segafredo family, well-known for their time-honoured tradition in this sector, established the Essse Caffè brand in Bologna. It was no accident that Essse was spelled with a triple S, with the three S's standing for "Scienza, Sapienza, Specializzazione" (Science, Knowledge, Specialisation), the three values that sum up the company's philosophy, founded on experience and committed to innovation, and expressed through the consistency of the coffee blends and a constant quest for the best organoleptic properties. The company mission has always been to deliver top quality products. This is why, right from the start, we relied on the scientific support of the Departments of Agricultural Science of the Universities of Bologna, Cesena, and Foggia, a collaboration that continues to this day. Over the last thirty years we have become leaders in the coffee industry, with a knowledge base that ranges from fresh coffee beans to the coffee in your cup, from roasting to packaging, from professional equipment to espresso coffee-making. Today, Essse Caffè is a successful brand, well-known in Italy and increasingly established abroad, an acknowledged guarantee for quality.
What are your main products at present?
Our main products are coffee roasted beans for coffee shop, hotels ands restaurants.Our coffee reputation is for a balanced, sweet and persistence taste.
We also are in coffee capsule machine business and we produce together with Giugiaro design (Ferrari and Lamborghini designer) coffee capsule machines for offi ce and home using. Related with this system we offer a full range of products from coffee capsules to tea and chocolate capsules.
What countries do you mainly export to? How about the proportion of each?
We export in more than 50 countries all over the world in all continents. Our main markets are 20 % USA, 20 % Saudi Arabia, 20 % Greece, 10 %Belgium, 6% China, 5% Korea, 4% Philippines, 15% others.
How does the brand represent the coffee culture of Italy?
We only serve roasted in Italy products and since 1998, we belong to the Istituto Nazionale Espresso Italiano (The National Institute of Italian Espresso), which has certified that our professional Essse Caffè blends meet the technical-sensorial specifications of Italian Espresso. Right from the creation of the Essse Caffè brand we planned to do more than just produce high-quality coffee blends. We also wanted to oversee that minor, but truly industrial transformation that takes place when a bar tender transforms coffee beans into the extract we call Italian Espresso. This commitment led to the foundation of "La Classe di Essse" Training Centre in 2005, a purpose-built facility with classrooms fitted with modern equipment and a spacious and fully-functional bar, for all bar tenders who wish to learn the trade or perfect their skills. Our courses, scheduled also wordwide, are divided into modules and subdivided into four main areas of specialisation: The World of Coffee, the Art of Coffee-Making, Certifi ed Italian Espresso, the Barista Entrepreneur.
What do you expect from the current coffee market situation in China? Food2China is your first step into China market?
We already distribute our products in China but we would like to wide our business also to South China. We expect to increase our share on the HORECA coffee market also in the south of China.
Source: www.food2china.com
