Italian coffee company Mokarabia
Whether elegant espresso or creamy cappuccino, it's one of the great pleasures in life. How wonderful then to be able to talk to Luca Giani, the CEO of Mokarabia, one of Italy's most influential brands and one of BEV's latest clients.
Mokarabia began in Milan in 1951 as a creator and distributor of artisan coffee to the hotel, restaurant and catering market. Since then it has expanded to become grower, trader, roaster, distributor and coffee bar operator. The company even manufactures espresso coffee machines and has its own barrista school. It is no longer a brand exclusively for professional caterers but has opened up to the general public, the “end user” if you like, with a range of products designed for home consumers, including mono-use capsules.
This year Mokarabia has undergone a rebranding exercise, strengthening its position at the centre of the world market. This dynamic process has included a redesign of the company website and integration with social media networks. Both professional and home users are catered for and there is also an e-commerce section where enthusiasts worldwide can buy Mokarabia products direct from the site.
Mokarabia called in BEV to assist with its overseas expansion, particularly Sweden, Russia, the UK and China. Luca Giani explains the thinking behind this: “Mokarabia has operated for some time in both Sweden and China and considers them attractive markets, not just because of the amount of coffee they drink per head,” he says.
“In the last few years countries like Sweden, (one of the largest Nordic countries) and China in particular have changed their coffee drinking habits and begun focusing on coffees distinguished by the excellence of their aroma, taste and body. This trend in consumer demand is totally in line with the new positioning of Mokarabia. We offer the customer a wide range of products, including a capsule-compatible system, a closed system and a wide range of coffee machines that cover all their needs.”
Giani goes on to elaborate on the reason for choosing BEV: “We decided to work with BEV as we believe they will help accelerate the development of our overseas markets, especially China. We hope to build a long term partnership which allows both sides to benefit. We produce excellent coffee and hope to use BEV's extensive network of contacts to build a strong presence for the Mokarabia group abroad.”
It appears that the new relationship has got off to a flying start. Thanks to BEV, Mokarabia will be working with Italian group IVH – Italian Venture Hotellerie – to set up an innovative system in hotels where every room will have its own capsule coffee machine.
In addition to this, Luca Giani is flying to Beijing, China on 29th November with Ben Radomski of BEV and BEV's representative Yufei Wu. BEV has set up a series of meetings with potential clients, including a Chinese real estate agency with a management portfolio of 50 billion dollars which is opening a chain of coffee bars and so very keen to talk to Mokarabia. “We have a number of serious potential Chinese clients keen to meet Signor Giani,” explains Ben Radomski. “It isn't long since we signed the agreement with Mokarabia, but already it looks like this is a very exciting time for our new relationship.”
Luca Giani agrees: “It has only been a few months,” he says. “But my impression so far is that our agreement with BEV offers a lot of strong opportunities. I am very optimistic and positive that this will continue into the foreseeable future.”