Emilio Lavazza, Honorary President of the family-owned coffee company, died at the age of 78 in Turin on Tuesday, it was announced yesterday.
The Lavazza coffee company had been founded by his grandfather, Luigi Lavazza, in 1895 and at first it operated out of a small Turin grocery store. Luigi Lavazza was an expert in coffee blends.
Born in Turin in 1932, Emilio Lavazza joined the company in 1955, becoming chief executive after his father’s death in 1971. He became Company President in 1979 and held the position until 2008 when he became Honorary President.
In the early days he recruited workers for what was then a new factory and later he recognised the importance of product image and branding, developing the upmarket products known as Lavazza Gold and Lavazza Grand’Espresso. These, along with the company’s cheaper products, represent 47% of all coffee sales in Italy.
Under Emilio Lavazza the company also began, in the 1980s, to use sophisticated television advertising featuring celebrities. But it was in 1995 that the most memorable advertisements were first produced – the so-called Lavazza Paradiso publicity spots, in which a newcomer in heaven gives St Peter coffee and it is so good that all the inhabitants of heaven start drinking it. The Lavazza company accused Nespresso of copying these advertisements in their publicity featuring George Clooney in 2009.
In the following video: TV Spot by Lavazza with Italian showmen Paolo Bonolis and Luca Laurenti:
In the following video: TV Spot by Nespresso with american actors George Clooney and John Malkovich:
Emilio Lavazza followed a policy of seeking coffee beans from many countries and set up authentic Italian coffee bars abroad. In 2008 the company reported sales of 1.12 million euros and it is Italy’s largest single product company.
In 1993 Emilio Lavazza received an Honorary Degree from the Faculty of Economics and Commerce at the University of Turin and he was also honoured by his country, becoming a Cavaliere dell’Ordine al Merito del Lavoro [Knight of Labour].
Which tv spot do you prefer?
What’s your favourite type of coffee?
