Lavazza's Loss

Emilio Lavazza infused high-tech innovation with caffeinated marketing to transform his family's coffee roaster into a global brand.

Mr. Lavazza, who died Tuesday at age 78, started out delivering ground coffee door-to-door to restaurants around Turin, Italy, where his grandfather founded the company as a grocery store in 1895.

Lavazza became a national brand in the decades after World War II, and today is Italy's biggest-selling coffee with almost 50% of the retail market.

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What, no free coffee?

The Boston Globe’s October 5 “Monday Question” revealed that a single-serve coffee maker and coffee pods or K-cups is becoming a popular choice for keeping office politics at cool levels – at least where coffee is concerned.

The Monday Question was posed as follows:

Does your office provide coffee at no cost to the employees? What form does your office coffee maker take (e.g. a pod machine, a vending machine, a pot that someone is responsible for making)? How important do you consider the availability of coffee to be in your workplace?

By close of business Monday October 5, there were 77 responses to the question. Of those responses, 30 said they used some type of single serve coffee system – coffee pods or k-cups. The second most popular answer? No free coffee at all, due to budget cuts.

Based on many of the comments, those offices who utilize traditional “pot of coffee” systems have a harder time keeping all of their employees happy, with many employees choosing to leave the office to buy coffee elsewhere. Other offices utilize a coffee delivery service or simply provide a “pay for your own” cafeteria.

* Source: American Coffee