With a machine as seemingly simple as a coffee grinder, it may be surprising that Conti Valerio succeeds in making technical and aesthetic improvements. “Offering fresh and colourful coffee grinders is just the tip of the iceberg,” says Maurizio Fiorani, Managing Director for two years. “Our grinders are highly precise, and we are constantly developing the grinding mechanisms.”
One example is stepless micrometric regulation, for which the company holds a patent. Among Conti Valerio’s latest innovations is the electric grinder Atom, launched at the 2015 HOST in Milan. “Atom can grind beans both for espresso and filter coffee, and is ideal for the barista and end consumer alike,” Mr. Fiorani says. “Atom also uses silent grinding technology and is the only product of its kind to combine all of these qualities. In my entire professional career, I have never seen so many orders for a product before production has even started. Atom is immensely popular.”
Conti Valerio’s range covers on-demand and doser coffee and espresso grinders. At this year’s Sigep fair in Rimini, the company presented the Olympus KR-E, a high-quality on-demand mill with conical burrs for grinding for the professional market.
Many of its grinders bear the descriptor ‘Hi Speed’, meaning baristas can serve customers faster. For instance, the Olympus 75E Hi-Speed boasts the ability to grind one serving of coffee in just over one second. A number of new developments are already lined up for the HOST this year, where the company aims to present at least three new products.
While Conti Valerio has long been a player in coffee grinders, innovations in recent years have put the company on the map – literally. It has been active on the Chinese market for three years now, one of its longest-standing markets. 2015 was a busy year for Conti Valerio with the opening of other Asian markets, such as Korea, as well as the North American market.
“Northern Europe, especially Germany and the UK, are also key markets for us,” Mr. Fiorani points out. Conti Valerio caters to the individual markets with coffee grinders tailored to each country’s preference and acquires the appropriate certification.
The company is due for further expansion, however. “Southern Europe loves its coffee products, so we’re going to focus on Spain and France,” the Managing Director continues. “We’re also interested in English-speaking markets, including Australia, the German-speaking markets and Russia.”
In addition to the HOST in Milan every two years and the Sigep in Rimini, Conti Valerio shares its innovations at the Food & Hotel Asia in Shanghai and the World Barista Championships in a number of cities, such as Seattle, Budapest and Seoul.
The company’s dedication to development and geographic expansion has paid off: Since 2013 its turnover has quadrupled to 16 million EUR. “We’re a small company that thinks globally,” Mr. Fiorani highlights. “We strive to be the go-to partner for distributors, producers and roasters in the world of coffee, and our continued developments will reveal our technological soul.”