MIAMI, U.S.— sbe, the leading international hospitality group that develops, manages and operates award-winning brands, yesterday announced the growth of its partnership with globally acclaimed Italian coffee company Lavazza Group. As part of this continued collaboration, Lavazza will develop a custom-made blend for EllaMia, in all sbe hotel, restaurant and nightlife properties including all EllaMia locations, and its Citizens food hall in Manhattan. The custom-made coffee, curated and blended by Lavazza exclusively for sbe, will arrive at sbe locations in 2021.
sbe CEO and Founder Sam Nazarian said, “At sbe, we pride ourselves on creating exclusive, innovative, and custom-made culinary and entertainment experiences. The growth of our strategic partnership with Lavazza and the development of bespoke products with Lavazza represent sbe’s commitment to growth and innovation, in hand with creative and forward- thinking companies like Lavazza. I look forward to collaborating with this iconic Italian brand to deliver to sbe’s elite tribe more world-class culinary offerings designed with them in mind.”
“Lavazza is proud to expand our sbe partnership through the creation of a custom coffee blend,” said Davide Riboni President of Lavazza BU Americas, “We look forward to curating an exclusive and innovative coffee experience for sbe’s properties in North America.”
sbe Chief Brand Officer Michele Caniato said, “I am delighted to grow our relationship with our friends at Lavazza and look forward to bringing all our guests our very own custom blend under the EllaMia brand. This is part of our overall strategy to bring our ‘tribe’ unique and innovative products and experiences at our properties, that now, through the retail program, can also be enjoyed at home.”
Since its founding, sbe has worked with international Fortune 500 companies across automotive, telecommunication, beverage, and financial institutions, to deliver the best services and product to its customers across the globe. Long-standing partnerships with Lincoln, Chase Sapphire, Danone, and Tidal, as well as a recently announced private-label collaboration with Goldsheep, have produced a suite of exclusive benefits, products, and experiences for the modern sbe traveler.
About sbe
Established in 2002 by Founder and CEO Sam Nazarian, sbe is a privately-held, leading lifestyle hospitality company that develops, manages and operates award-winning hotels, residences, restaurants and nightclubs. Through exclusive partnerships with cultural visionaries, sbe is devoted to creating extraordinary experiences throughout its proprietary brands with a commitment to authenticity, sophistication, mastery and innovation.
Following the acquisition of Morgans Hotel Group, the pioneer of boutique lifestyle hotels, in partnership with Accor, sbe has an unparalleled global portfolio which will see 36 hotels and over 200 global world-renowned culinary, nightlife and entertainment venues by the end of 2020. The company is uniquely positioned to offer a complete lifestyle experience – from nightlife, food & beverage and entertainment to hotels and residences, and through its innovative customer loyalty and rewards program, The Code, as well as its award-winning international real estate development subsidiary, Dakota Development – all of which solidify sbe as the preeminent leader across hospitality.
The company’s established and upcoming hotel brands include SLS Hotel & Residences, Delano, Mondrian, The Redbury, HYDE Hotel & Residences, and The House of Originals. In addition, sbe has the following internationally acclaimed restaurants and lounges under subsidiary Disruptive Restaurant Group: Katsuya by Chef Katsuya Uechi, Umami Burger, Cleo, Fi’lia, Carna by Dario Cecchini, Leynia and Diez y Seis by Chef José Icardi, HYDE Lounge, S Bar, Doheny Room, Nightingale, Skybar, Bond, and Privilege. To learn more, visit sbe.com.
About Lavazza Group
Lavazza, founded in Turin in 1895, has been owned by the Lavazza family for four generations. As one of the world’s most important coffee roasters, the Group now operates in more than 140 countries through its subsidiaries and distributors, with 70% of turnover generated on international markets. Lavazza employs a total of over 4,000 people and in 2019 generated sales of € 2.2 billion.
Lavazza, one of the 100 most prestigious international brands according to the Reputation Institute, is ranked ninth in the world in the Corporate Responsibility field in the Global CR RepTrak Ranking 2019, also achieving first place in the Food & Beverage sector and among Italian companies. Lavazza invented the principle of blending in its early years, i.e. mixing coffees from different geographical origins, which is still a key feature of most of its products today. Lavazza has been producing and marketing portioned coffee systems and products for 30 years and was the first Italian supplier of espresso capsule systems. Lavazza’s activities cover all its business areas, such as At-home, Away-From-Home and Office Coffee Service, always with a particular attention to innovative technologies and systems.
Lavazza has been able to increase brand awareness through important partnerships that are precisely in line with its internationalization strategy. This concerns the sports sector, with the support of Grand Slam tennis tournaments, and art through partnerships with prestigious museums, including the Guggenheim Museum in New York and the State Hermitage in St. Petersburg.
Companies that form part of the Lavazza Group include France’s Carte Noire and ESP (acquired in 2016 and 2017 respectively), Denmark’s Merrild (2015), North America’s Kicking Horse Coffee (2017), Italy’s Nims (2017), and the business of Australia’s Blue Pod Coffee Co (2018). At the end of 2018, following an acquisition, the Lavazza Professional Business Unit was created, which includes the Office Coffee Service (OCS) and Vending systems Flavia and Klix
