The History of Lavazza Coffee

In 1895, Luigi Lavazza opened what would become the first Lavazza store on Via San Tommaso in Turin, Italy. After a trip to Brazil, he saw the potential of coffee and studied the art of blending different beans to create unique flavors. In 1927, he officially founded Luigi Lavazza SpA, now known simply as Lavazza. In the 1920s, Lavazza began using Pergamin, a special packaging made of two layers of paper that retained the flavors of the coffee beans and made bulk buying a practical option for families. After World War II, when Italy became a republic and the coffee embargo was lifted, Lavazza thrived once again. In 1947, the company introduced its first logo, which was designed by Aerostudio Borghi in Milan and featured an enlarged “A” — a design choice that is still used in the company’s branding today. In 1955, Emilio Lavazza, Luigi’s grandson, helped to create the now-famous Lavazza blend. In the 1970s, Lavazza released the Qualità Rossa blend and debuted new vacuum-sealed packaging that maintained the subtleties of the coffee’s flavor. The company opened subsidiaries all around the world in the 1980s, taking Lavazza coffee global. In the early 1990s, Lavazza launched the Gualtiero Marchesi blend; it was the first of the brand’s collaborations with chefs. The Giuseppe e Pericle Lavazza Foundation, an NPO, was founded 2004 to help improve living conditions in coffee-producing countries, beginning with Honduras, Colombia, and Peru. That same year, Lavazza launched the ¡Tierra! blend and began to focus on sustainability. In 2015, Lavazza worked with the Italian Space Agency (ASI) and Argotec to create the ISSpresso, the first coffee machine in space, and sent it to the International Space Station along with some Italian espresso. In the late 2010s, Lavazza expanded through more acquisitions, becoming a major global group, and also committed to sustainability goals. Today, Lavazza is a popular coffee brand that is available on store shelves in over 140 countries.