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Host Exhibition Milan.

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  • Host Exhibition Milan.

    This from Alan Frew, Coffeeco, latest newsletter, always an interesting read.

    His observations re capsule/pod machines and pods along with comments on the dominance of E61 groups are particularly interesting, also a strong line up of new spring lever machines.


    "The HOST exhibition in Milan far exceeded my expectations, in both
    size and breadth of coverage of the equipment and marketing sides of
    the coffee world. The only thing missing (from my viewpoint) was the
    presence of major green coffee brokers, but this was to be expected
    in a machinery dominant show.


    There were many of the major Italian coffee roasters present, all
    spruiking their wares in various capsule formats. And yes, capsules
    were prevalent throughout the stands, but what surprised me was the
    lack of exclusive capsule machine suppliers. Most of the capsule
    machines I saw were the standard made-in-China types we see locally.

    The reason for this seems to be the competition among the various
    capsule formats. Based on my observations, Nespresso seems to be the
    leader of the capsule world, with CaffItaly taking the second spot.
    Lavazza is a distant third, with a few other formats trailing. All
    the existing capsule types are still environmentally disastrous, but
    I saw a supplier of certified compostable capsules at the show.
    Something that might show up in the near future.

    I also spotted a "small" capsule manufacturing form, fill and seal
    machine. With a size of 3 metres x 2 metres x 1 metre and a price of
    300,000.00 Euro it was a steal! It does explain why small roasters
    aren't trying to get into the capsule business.

    E-61 group machines were everywhere, they now seem to be the machine
    of choice for makers of home espresso machines. Heat exchanger,
    double boiler, single boiler, stainless steel boiler, and Lelit even
    had a particularly kitsch one with a gold plated group. The easy
    availability of all the bits needed to make one of these machines,
    with several suppliers for each part, makes it more or less a kit
    building exercise. There was even a booth displaying an E-61 group
    from a Chinese metal fabricator.

    The sad consequence of this is that the "entry level" point for
    decent home espresso machines seems to have moved up to $2500.00 or
    so. The price points below this appear to have been ceded to capsule
    machines and Chinese made home appliance machines.

    In the commercial market, now that computerized control of brewing
    time, temperature, flow and pressure is becoming commonplace, the
    leading espresso machine makers appear to have decided that
    everything old is new again. Every major manufacturer, including La
    Marzocco, was displaying a "new" spring lever machine.

    That's right, the machines you see in old Italian films with the
    long levers used to manually pull espresso shots are back again. The
    tech was invented in 1948 by Achille Gaggia, to make "Crema Café".
    Last time I was at HOST, in 2011, there was ONE machine on display,
    made by Brasilia who went bust shortly afterwards. Now there are
    over a dozen, and I would expect more to come. Expect to see them in
    your local café in the next few years."
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