President Hoffer, Caffè Corsini is synonymous with quality. Your slogan, in fact, recites: “From Tuscany, the art of Italian coffee”.

Italy is the birthplace of espresso and cappuccino, of a certain way to live coffee, born from a diversity of regions and entrepreneurs who, in the past 100 years, have created the success of coffee throughout the world. For more than 70 years, Caffè Corsini has been a part of this world and best represents the all-Italian and Tuscan ability to experience coffee.

For more than 70 years, we have been selecting the best origins, creating the best blends for coffee lovers, and the first in the whole country to promote the single origin nuances, helping the Italian consumer approach this new world.

When in 1987 we launched the first monorigin on the Italian market, we invented the slogan “Estrella Del Caribe, doc coffee is born”, thus creating the concept of doc coffee, as before it the only coffees available on the Italian market were blends. For decades, we have been the forerunners of what is now known as “specialty coffee”. Obviously all this does not go against the art of blending coffees, something we are clearly very conversant with, simply that we complement the art of blending and roasting different coffees with the art of allowing the best cup of coffee from single plantation to excel in its own right.

Caffè Corsini is a sustainable coffee, caring for the planet and its inhabitants… What distinguishes your Green philosophy?

In today’s world, we believe sustainability has to be intended at 360°, starting from the origin, to the processing phase, all the way to the final packaging.

In our case, we initially develop direct relationships with small, medium and big coffee producers; we help them to excel in production by recognising them with prices that are independent from stock market values. More than 35% of our production stems from renewable energy sources and we are converting more and more of our packaging in recyclable packaging.

How exactly does Caffè Corsini represent the Italian way of life?

We value the concept of Italianess, the same one that seems to be reaping success throughout the world. The central role of Caffè Corsini amongst the Italian coffee roasters (there are roughly 800 roasters in Italy, but Caffè Corsini is the most important one in Central Italy) with its baggage of Tuscan culture and its experience as attentive and long-standing producers, allow us to be a beacon in this world.

What exciting new products have you in storage for us?

We already offer a wide range of products and we are one of the companies counting the most produces by far, roughly 160. Out of all of them, I would like to mention our whole beans – their sale is growing rapidly thanks also to domestic use, sign that consumers are looking for quality at home as well -, our aluminum compostable capsules dedicated to famous Tuscan cities, and our capsules compatible with the main extracting methods. On our website, one can discover our whole range of products for use outside the home, for baristas and coffee lovers. In addition, we are focusing more and more on our origin products, collaborating with the best coffee producers.

In 2005, in unsuspecting times, you also created an Academy in which some of today’s best professionals and a huge number of champions grew up. Exactly how important is training for you?

We definitely believe in it a lot and consider it essential. As coffee roasters, we sell a semi-finished product; it is up to the consumer who prepares it at home or to the baristas to transform it in a beverage that the client will drink. One of our main objectives is to make sure they both have the capacity and knowledge on how to best extract the produce in cup, as each single coffee bean has its own organoleptic characteristics and it is important to know how to enhance them. This is the main reason why we created the Academy, and the same reason that we became one of the new School of Coffee partners, an international reality born inside a coffee shop in Florence, in Via Carducci.

A new challenge awaits you: you have recently joined the Melitta family. How do you feel about this?

I actually feel extremely lucky, as during these first months of getting to know the Bentz family who runs Melitta since four generations – we share having both strong family roots and traditions – I have come to understand that I am dealing with people before a company, individuals who value personal relationships primarily and who are willing to journey together. This is something I personally believe fundamental to guarantee a continuous growth to the Corsini family, to our community and for our clients’ best interests. A growth important for the environment and the world we live in. I am positive together we will overcome many challenges, also because ours is a relationship based on real collaboration. For Melitta it was important to find a partner who is an iconic Italian brand, representing the excellence of espresso in the world, with whom to bring about a concept and create a positive value for all and for the whole industry. Conversely, joining a multinational like Melitta guarantees us an expertise and a unique vision on the international market, something fundamental in today’s world. In fact, I personally believe that networking and sharing skills is the key to success.