MILAN – The desire to strengthen its business in the Horeca and OCS markets has led Evoca Group to invest in these two strategic segments in recent years, both in terms of product development and communication. “Another aspect on which we are focusing today is undoubtedly human resources” Paolo Ghidotti, Evoca’s Horeca & OCS BU Leader said. “In fact, we can count on a high number of people, across a series of specialised departments, who are totally dedicated to the Horeca and Ocs business. The goal is to consolidate our workforce in terms of research and development, production, sales, marketing, and after sales services.”
Does your new focus explain why the past year has seen Evoca participate in a very high number of national and international events? 2023 promises to be just as busy: what commitments do you have on your agenda?
“We have made large investments in trade fairs to re-boot after a two-year break, with confidence and enthusiasm, and 2022 is concrete proof of this. A year of events in Europe, in the United States and South America, Singapore and Australia… The Gaggia World Tour took-in fifteen cities.
In 2023, we attended Sigep in January and Internorga in March. We’ll be at the World of Coffee in Athens next week, while in October we certainly can’t miss our appointment with Host. And that’s not all: we’ve already exhibited at the SCA event in the United States, the NRA Show in Chicago and Hotelex in Shanghai. It’s a very busy schedule, which takes into consideration not only the main international events, but also local initiatives, driven by our offices in various countries around the world.
To conclude, at corporate level we invest heavily in customer meeting initiatives because, in addition to being a great opportunity to present new products, they allow us to interact with market players and create networks.”
Two great innovations for the Horeca market were previewed at the last edition of Internorga: La Brillante by Gaggia Milano and Kometa by Necta. What can you tell us about these products?
“In Hamburg, we presented two fully-automatic machines for the mainstream segment, which will be available for sale from the second half of 2023: La Brillante from the Gaggia brand and Kometa from Necta are both designed for mainly self-service use.
Compactness, an innovative user interface and refined aesthetics are the main features that give these two machines a strong identity, by making them immediately recognizable. All without compromising their performance: in particular, the two models can handle one or two types of coffee bean and, in the case of La Brillante, fresh milk is an ingredient in all its recipes. The field tests necessary for the launch have generated very positive feedback, so we are confident about both machines!”
The range of products offered by Evoca for the Horeca and OCS market is very broad: which brands and models are you focusing on?
“Our leading brands for the Horeca sector are Gaggia Milano and Necta, while for OCS the main reference is undoubtedly our Saeco brand; not forgetting Futurmat and Visacrem, which are both well-known in the Iberian Peninsula where, thanks to our sister company Quality Espresso, we are leaders in the ‘traditional’ coffee machines market.
Between 2021 and 2022 we launched the fully automatic La Solare and La Dea, the manual model with one brewing group, both under the Gaggia Milano brand. During the same period, Saeco launched Magic in various versions, including one with fresh milk.
La Dea deserves particular attention, because it is a traditional coffee machine with a refined design that allows us to approach a market segment that is new to our company, which encompasses small cafés, coffee corners and kiosks. Equipped with a single brewing group, La Dea is the ideal solution for those locations which, despite low coffee consumption, are eager to use elegantly designed equipment that’s capable of guaranteeing excellent drinks.
At Evoca it is essential we work on the segmentation of our offer: we are convinced that variety and flexibility are our trump cards in responding to the individual needs of our customers. With this in mind, a premium version of La Dea will be made available in the coming weeks. It will still be a single-group machine, but it will come with even more professional performance. Among others, La Dea Pro will be equipped with a double boiler, with the option of setting dedicated temperatures for dispensing water and coffee.”
More generally, what is Evoca’s vision with respect to the market trend of professional coffee machines?
“In recent years, a first variable has emerged that has been – and still is – a major critical issue. From components to raw materials, including electricity, we have experienced an exponential increase in our costs. Fortunately, Evoca can count on important economies of scale. By producing large volumes of coffee machines, we are well-placed to manage and optimise our costs and expenses. This represents a significant advantage for us over our competitors. A second aspect to highlight is the decisive recovery of the business that we witnessed, especially during 2022.
After the periods of lockdown and the consequent increase in smartworking, which caused out-of-home consumption to decrease considerably, we are finally returning to pre-pandemic levels. The trend reversal has become evident with the return of face-to-face working and with the relaunch of the tourism sector, which is confirmed as solid, with encouraging prospects.
In the face of these two variables, however, there is ample room for growth and recovery compared to the last two years. The good results we achieved in 2022 and in the first months of 2023 give us reason to be optimistic for the rest of the current year!”
Regardless of market trends, companies today cannot afford to neglect a topic such as Sustainability. How are you proceeding in this direction at corporate level?
“At Evoca this topic is an absolute priority. In recent months we have had a structured project linked to the ESG area (Environment, Social, Governance). This is not just a slogan: it’s the synthesis of a series of activities promoted by management across the business, with concrete interventions on several fronts.
From product development to business processes, our goal is to introduce solutions that reduce our environmental impact as much as possible and ensure greater sustainability for the whole business.”
