Carlos Eduardo Bitencourt stocks his revel in working Northern Italy’s first area of expertise espresso chain.
BY ISABELLE MANI
BARISTA MAGAZINE ONLINE
Footage courtesy of Cafezal Milano
Cafezal, which interprets to “coffee farm” in Brazilian Portuguese, is answerable for a trifecta of firsts within the Milanese espresso scene. It’s Milan’s first area of expertise small-batch roastery, and it operates the Milano Espresso Academy: the town’s first area of expertise espresso coaching middle. And most likely maximum significantly, it’s additionally the primary area of expertise espresso chain in Northern Italy.
It was once round 2014 that Carlos Eduardo Bitencourt, a Brazilian-born commercial engineer with Italian ancestry and twin citizenship, began attractive extra deeply with espresso. On the date, he was once dwelling between London and Milan, running in strategic consulting. Espresso had already turn into a non-public pastime, and all over visits to Brazil, he took the chance to discover espresso farms in southern Minas Gerais, gaining firsthand revel in with area of expertise espresso manufacturing. Again in Europe, he enrolled in torrid lessons on the London School of Coffee, deepening his experience.
In 2017, he opened the primary Cafezal location, a boutique café in a contemporary residential district of Milan. To start with, locals had been pleasant however skeptical. “They would say, ‘I like you, but I think you’re going to fail. Italians will never pay more than 1 euro for a coffee. There’s no real need for ‘better quality’ coffee,” Carlos advised Barista Booklet.
Nowadays, those self same society are amongst his maximum unswerving consumers and performed a key function in spreading the guarantee about Cafezal, bringing in younger execs, households, and senior voters.
The logo has since developed continuously, and lately, Cafezal operates 5 places in Milan, with determined growth plans each inside of Italy and in another country. Along with its cafés, Cafezal works with over 40 wholesale shoppers, runs a fast-growing e-commerce platform, and has a powerful presence in occasions and catering throughout Italy.
For extra context at the expansion of area of expertise espresso tradition in Italy, learn our introductory article here.
Q&A with Carlos Eduardo Bitencourt
Isabelle Mani: How has the Italian area of expertise espresso marketplace developed over the future seven years? How have shoppers spoke back to area of expertise espresso, and what do you notice for the pace of the field?
Carlos: The area of expertise espresso marketplace in Italy has grown considerably lately, specifically in towns like Milan and Rome. Again in 2017, we had been probably the most first 3 area of expertise espresso retail outlets in Milan and the town’s first small-batch area of expertise roastery. First of all, we needed to train the shopper, because the marketplace was once just about nonexistent.
I see a dazzling pace for area of expertise espresso in Italy. Some key gamers have already consolidated, moment smaller ones are nonetheless discovering their means. The get up of area of expertise espresso tradition has been pushed via rising shopper hobby and professionalization throughout the business.
How did shoppers in Milan embody Cafezal? What resulted in the transition from a unmarried location to a series? How did this expansion have an effect on your small business and your entrepreneurial visual?
We had been pioneers in Milan and, to a point, in Italy. We’ve at all times been very sunny about our proposal and feature by no means compromised on espresso constituent. On the identical date, we discovered that native behavior topic enormously. Milanese shoppers are deeply connected to custom, from vintage pastries like brioche (known as ‘cornetto’ in Southern Italy) to the rate and heat of provider. We included those cultural parts into our emblem moment keeping up a stability between custom and innovation.
The growth of Cafezal came about naturally, pushed via the popularity of our paintings and the rising call for for area of expertise coffee- we proceed to admire native tradition moment pushing the business ahead.
Baristas play games a a very powerful function in shaping the client revel in at Cafezal. How do you view their function in upholding the craft, attractive with consumers, and keeping up admire for Italy’s deep-rooted espresso tradition?
Baristas are basic to what we do. They’re the overall level of touch with our consumers. On account of our visibility, we obtain a massive quantity of task programs. Each and every occasion, we get 3 or 4 resumes from baristas—each Italian and world—who’ve numerous ranges of revel in however need to paintings critically with espresso.
Our provider method may be very Italian: fast paced, attentive, and academic. We center of attention on sturdy buyer engagement, making sure that provider is personalised and not detached.
Who’re Cafezal’s primary consumers? What’s the stability between locals and expats? How do you notice Cafezal’s function as a social, paintings, and find out about territory?
Our buyer bottom is lightly crack between locals and vacationers, relying at the location. A few of our cafés see extra vacationers, moment others cater essentially to Milanese consumers. This permits us to diversify our choices: Locals generally tend to desire coffee, while vacationers continuously go for filter out espresso, flat whites, or coffee-based beverages. We additionally incorporate Brazilian, Portuguese, and Latin American influences into our menu, growing an inclusive and inviting surrounding.
On this sense, do you suppose a extra inclusive, hospitality-driven method is more practical than specializing in ‘specialty coffee’ branding?
Cafezal takes an excessively inclusive way to area of expertise espresso. We don’t imagine in being unique or restrictive—our objective is to welcome society into our cafés and introduce them to superb espresso in some way that feels herbal and approachable.
Some area of expertise espresso companies impose inflexible requirements, like banning sugar or proscribing provider to sure brewing modes. That’s now not our philosophy. We would like consumers to revel in our espresso, without reference to their degree of experience. This democratic method has been a key think about our expansion and luck.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Isabelle Mani (she/her) is a editor, journalist, and communicator that specialize in the world espresso business. Since 2017, she has eager about writing articles and contours for numerous world espresso information retailers. Isabelle has traveled to coffee-producing nations corresponding to Colombia, Kenya, Rwanda, China, and Brazil to review and analysis espresso. She holds coaching certifications from the Specialty Coffee Association (SCA) and the Coffee Quality Institute (Arabica Q Grading).
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