Member Article

Systix Limited wins coffee machine UK distribution right

A London company has beaten off four competitors to win the exclusive rights to distribute a line of authentic Italian hand-built equipment to the UK coffee market.

The equipment, including manual spring lever ‘Torino’ espresso machines and ‘Gemma’ coffee roasters, are built by Sweet Coffee Italia, based in Turin.

They are already being sold in Italy and exported to USA, South Korea, The Emirates, and Australia.

Now Systix Limited has been awarded the contract to distribute the Sweet Coffee Italia roasters and espresso machines to the UK market, including restaurants and cafes.

The ‘Gemma’ Coffee Roaster, capable of roasting 2kg per cycle, is used by Giacomo Vannelli, winner of the 2014 SIGEP Barista Championship held in Rimini, Italy.

“Above all else I feel in love with the attractive design, and overall quality and reliability of the Sweet Coffee Italia equipment,” said Serhiy Horobets, managing director of Systix.

“The Sweet Coffee Italia engineers studied the pros and cons of other manual coffee machines on the market and have improved on them to create the Torino line,” said Mr Horobets.

“And the fact that Giacomo Vannelli has chosen the Gemma roaster indicates how highly it is regarded for producing quality coffee.

“I was at this year’s London Coffee Festival, and consumers loved the equipment. I’m confident that those UK cafes looking to serve quality artisanal coffee will like our new ‘Bean to Cup’ solution.”

Mr Horobets has always had a passion for artisanal coffee-making and started the machine importing side to his business after 15 years in the food and catering industry.

He is a former food operations manager for The Cantaloupe Group, The Big Chill Group and Camino Leisure Holdings.

Sweet Coffee Italia’s roots originate from Domenico Di Santo who in 1947 emigrated from Italy to Brazil, and with his sister started to trade coffee back to Europe.

Domenico’s son, Mario Di Santo moved to Turin as a teenager and began to roast and mix high-quality coffee beans from Ethiopia, Brazil, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Jamaica and Indonesia. After the opening some successful restaurants and cafes in Turin, Mario set up Sweet Coffee Italia in 2008.

Torino lever coffee machine quick facts: * Manual - enhanced coffee pouring capabilities. * Designed and built to last, requiring minimal maintenance. * Body is stainless steel with chrome lever groups, polished chrome filter holder, and steam wands in stainless steel, boiler and a double pressure gauge.

Gemma Roaster quick facts:

* Roast 2 kg per cycle * Fully automatic with 10 pre-settings * Electric, allowing to be installed in any outlet without gas supply.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Sweet Coffee Italia .