Comparison of Top Brands illy and LAVAZZA of Italian Coffee

About history

Founded in 1933 in the seaport city of Trieste d in northeastern Italy, the illy Coffee Company, founded by Mr. Francesco Illy, can be said to be an inventor and industry leader. He created the first automatic espresso coffee machine in 1935, which replaced steam with compressed air. After World War II, the company was put in charge of his son Ernesto Illy. With a doctorate in chemistry, he set up a research laboratory in the company, which later gave birth to many unique inventions and patents.

Illy Coffee Company produces more than 11 million kilograms of high-quality coffee beans every year, ranking among the high-quality leaders in the coffee industry. Illy coffee already has a place in the North American and European markets, is actively developing markets in Japan and South America, and has signed an alliance with Suntory Group in Japan.

In 1996, the famous modern artist James Rosenquist re-created the new image of illy Coffee into the millennium, using the simple and bold white "illy" words in the red box, and the generous and conspicuous new trademark meant to welcome the new era with a new concept.

LAVAZZA, founded in 1895, has gradually shifted from a grocery store to coffee as the only commodity. After more than a hundred years of development, Lavazza has become the third largest coffee roaster in the world, with a 47% market share in Italy and a sales volume of 86000 tons (14 billion cups) per year in more than 80 countries.

Founder Luigi Lavazza devoted his life to the management of coffee. In 1895, Luigi Lavazza bought a small grocery store, Paissa olivero, at Torina, an old merchant in northern Italy, for 26000 lira (about US $20). This was the seed of the LAVAZZA kingdom. At that time, the grocery store played the dual role of both a producer and a retailer. Luigi Lavazza bought raw beans by himself, and then roasted all kinds of coffee according to the customer's taste, due to high interest. He soon mastered every deep skill in the baking process, and after World War I, his three sons, Mario, Beppe, and Pericle, were discharged and joined, and Luigi Lavazza was able to develop retail into a wholesaler, and took a big step forward in the coffee kingdom.

In the late 1970s, Lavazza launched a very successful ad: & # 39 the more youdrink it down, the more Lavazza pick you up'

(you will be more aware of your existence with a cup of Lavazza coffee) this catchy advertisement

Let Lavazza enter the entire European market and officially become a multinational company.

About sales volume

Illy produces more than 11 million kilograms of coffee beans every year, and about 6 million cups of illy coffee are consumed by consumers around the world. 3 million cups of illycoffee; are sold every day in Italy alone, while LAVAZZA sells as much as 8600 tons (about 14 billion cups) worldwide, accounting for 45 percent of the world's market sales, making it the number one brand of Italian coffee.

About the price

Illy is about more than 230yuan per kilogram, while LAVAZZA has many series, the cheap ones are more than 160yuan per kilogram and the expensive ones are 280yuan per kilogram, so if you drink it yourself, it is recommended to use illy and LAVZZA if you open a shop, because there is more room for choice.

About Packaging

The special features of illy in packaging are its unique patented products-inert gas barrels (3kg for commercial use and 125g, 250g for home use) and coffee easy pack (E.S.E.Pod), while LAVAZZA mostly uses an one-way exhaust valve and its unique bag box, namely Lavazza Espresso Point.

Illy inert gas cylinder lavazza one-way exhaust valve

The three-kilogram barrel of illy is placed directly on the Italian bean grinder, which is very popular in foreign coffee shops, but in China, the sales volume of coffee in cafes is too small. Three kilograms have not been used up, and the coffee beans are not fresh for a long time, so you see fewer illy vats in cafes; of course, there are reasons for the price.

And LAVAZZA's Point can only be used on Lvazza Point machines, unlike illy pod, which can be used for other brands of Pod machines, so its sales in China are not satisfactory. Of course, the price and cost of about five yuan per cup is too expensive for both business and family use.

In Italy

The leading brand in the Italian coffee market is LAVAZZA, which has a 47 per cent market share and makes espresso machines in addition to selling ground coffee and beans to Austria, France, Germany, the UK and the US.

Illy is the Italian Super Premium brand, which reflects that it is more expensive in price and much lower than Lavazza in terms of sales volume. It usually feels that illy is the top brand of Italian coffee, and its sales should be quite a lot, but there are so many Italian coffee brands that illy can only rank fourth or fifth in terms of sales. For example, the best-selling brand in Rome is civci, followed by Peru, illy and laco caffe.

But the brand grade does not depend on sales, just as Rolls-Royce is much worse than BMW, but no one denies that Rolls-Royce is an aristocrat in the car. And illy also deserves to be called the Rolls-Royce of coffee, the aristocrat in the coffee world.

In China

In China, Shanghai Meiyi should be recognized as the general agent of illy caffe in mainland China, and the company also acts as the boutique La cimbali in the coffee machine. Shanghai Jiou Restaurant Management Co., Ltd., which runs the illy concept store in Shanghai, is said to have opened a second illy Coffee concept Store (illy bar concept) in December after the illy bar on the ground floor of Jinmao Building. Illy Coffee does not choose to open a large number of stores in the bustling business district, because its main goal is to provide coffee beans and coffee makers for high-end hotels and restaurants, which is also in line with illy's positioning-the top 10% of coffee consumers, who are characterized by their coffee drinking habits and the pursuit of higher and purer coffee quality.

Lavazza's sales agents in the mainland are quite chaotic. There are no less than four or five who claim to be their general agents, among which Shanghai Qi Jie (HJ) and Jisheng should be more recognized agents in the industry, but they can not be called general agents. Lavazza Espresso Point has only one agent, Shanghai Asgermani Biotechnology Co., Ltd. There is a Lavazza coffee shop in Beijing's Xiushui Street next to SPR, which is supposed to be the first Lavazza shop on the mainland, but its Chinese registered name is "Old Cafe." I don't know why. It is said that there are several shops in Taiwan with a certain degree of popularity. This store uses a Lavazza Point machine, and the cappuccino and Espresso are authentic.

In addition to authorized stores, there are too many shops with illy and lavazza coffee signs in China, many of which are

"selling dog meat with a sheep's head" is like being careful when drinking blue mountains in China. When you encounter illy and lavazza, you must look carefully, especially illy.

Cico comment

Both Illy and LAVAZZA are very successful brands in the coffee industry, but LAVAZZA takes the civilian route and aims at household consumption, while illy strives to target high-end users and high-end restaurants, regardless of recipe, packaging and marketing. So you say to a foreigner how good LAVAZZA is, they generally disagree, but if illy is good, they generally don't object. In northern Italy, you can often see billboards with illy in coffee shops, but rarely see LAVAZZA.

In terms of taste, both are models of Espresso, and it is not easy to comment on them, but illy emphasizes 100% Arabica beans and relatively shallow roasting, and selects milder and lighter acidity beans, which show obvious sweet and smooth characteristics (I have tasted authentic illy coffee in Shanghai Jinmao illy store and Beijing exhibition illy showcase, and what impressed me is the "back sweet" that is the most difficult to embody in Espresso). While the taste of LAVAZZA is more in line with the taste requirements of Espresso, its bitterness is more balanced, and it feels "rushing" some. After drinking it, there is a mellow aroma as strong as wine. I have the honor to drink LAVAZZA Espresso Point in Qingdao Eden, which is commonly known as "time and space capsule". For people who are not used to Espresso, its taste is undoubtedly like drinking high wine, but a small cup has endless aftertaste.