LAVAZZA MUSEUM -

After a delicious start and a visit to the chocolate works shop, we needed a caffeine boost to continue with our day. The visit to the Lavazza Museum was right on spot.

*Espresso and coffee ice cream tasting at the end of the visit to the museum, as it was too early for a cocktail. Pih*

Situated in the unattractive Aurora neighborhood together with its headquarters, the museum offers full on immersive experience into coffee culture and its rituals.

Divided into five themed areas defined by sounds, images and aromas it guides you through the origins and the history of the company and the coffee supply chain.

*By pressing down on the surface the Lavazza cup is used for activating the interactive features*

Like all great things in the world even Lavazza started small, as a family business that included females, which was not the very common back in the day.

It all began when Luigi Lavazza, then 26 years old moved from his hometown in Murisengo to Torino. The year was 1885 and the price of a tailored suit was 50 Lire. With that amount secured from the insurance company, Luigi embarked on the greatest adventure of his life. Then years into his life in the royal capital he opened a grocery shop in Via Tomasso 7.

Just two numbers up, we had our lovely accommodation, across the second, bigger Lavazza shop at nr 10, now a fine dining restaurant.

From a simple grocery shop in charge for roasting, blending and distributing coffee beans as well as oil and sugar in the surroundings areas, the Lavazza company became the leading Italian manufacturer of coffee products with a yearly revenue of over 2000000 US dollars.

*In 1948 Lavazza patented a press-on-lid cylindrical container for better preservation of the taste and flavor*

The coffee is sent from the producer to Lavazza in bags of 60 kilos, big bags of 1 tonne and bulks of 21 tonnes

The coffee plant, coffea, requires a lot of rain for it to bloom and fruit. The ripening of its fruit, known as drupes or cherries, requires 6 to 9 months for Arabica and 9 to 11 months for Robusta

The skin and pulp of the coffee cherry can be used to make tea infusions or jams

In 1884 Angelo Moriondo invented and patended a steam coffee machine able to produce a large amount of coffee in short time. Express in the making. The espresso was born

Torino express coffee machine from the early 20 century

*During the furniture exhibition in Torino in 1959, Lavazza introduced the first Autobar coffee truck designed by Boneschi, the coach builders*

Owned by the Lavazza family for four generations the company employs over 3000 employees in six production sites, both in Italy and abroad.

*In 1979, inspired by the characters of Lavazza television advertising show, the Italian designer Marco Zanuso created the most popular household object in Italian kitchen the Carmencita moka pot*

In 1997, architect Claudio Caramel turned the central A of the Lavazza logo upside down to create to create a model for coffee service objects. And that how an iconic everlasting Lavazza espresso cup came to be

*Lavazza Qualità Rossa is a quality blend of Robusta and Arabica beans with an aromatic and smooth flavour*

In 2007 Lavazza launched an espresso coffee capsule system for home use; A modo mio

Seven years later, in 2014, ISSpresso, the first espresso coffee machine for use in space was developed

Partnered with some of the most creative artists, designers and photographers like Helmut Newton and Armando Testa, Lavazza continues to blend art and coffee business just like it’s blending the finest coffee beans for our daily pleasure.

LAVAZZA MUSEUM

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