Article by Matteo Donelli
Three generations have crossed a century of great achievements together. Carrying on the unmistakable hazelnut color of their fantastic coffee.
At the end of the First World War, two friends Aldo Filicori and Luigi Zecchini decided to put all their artisan passion into the cup.
In the heart of Bologna, the aroma of their freshly roasted coffee.
Between via degli Orefici, the first coffee shop and via Oberdan where the first home of the artisan roasting was born, the dream of two men came true, who with an incredible capacity for balance, support and research made it possible to spread their product unique in 43 countries.
A DNA of balance handed down to the children who have interpreted and still interpret the professionalism and love of the founders.
A separate roasting for each single origin of coffee respecting the various types of green coffee that have their own optimal cooking point.
So many details that have made Filicori Zecchini coffee obtain prestigious awards including Certified Italian Espresso.
From a small Bolognese workshop to the conquest of the world. Many families woke up with this unmistakable special aroma that made actors, artists and families fall in love. The Savoys, for example, who wanted exclusive supplies from the Bolognese company at all costs.
The grandchildren of art Costanza Filicori, Luca Filicori and Luigi Zecchini jr, today aim to transmit the quality of their cup to the world. A road map with important economic investments.
Among the most significant, in 8 the foundation of the “espresso laboratory”, a real coffee academy where the secrets of preparing the perfect espresso are revealed to professionals and others.
But Filicori was able to trace a strong industrial footprint with the decision to immediately follow the entire production chain directly: from the selection of the beans to the preparation of the espresso. The raw materials from India, Brazil and other South American countries are treated in detail. Many trips by the company management together with the partners, to closely follow the whole initial part of the care of the plantations themselves. Quality at the center as a sector on which to push more than you on the company structure. State-of-the-art machinery accompanied by the recruitment of hyper-specialized profiles precisely to guarantee the product the maximum innovation and quality.
The quality perceived as great added value would then have driven the natural diffusion of the brand. And so it was.
Symbol of the reconstruction and the Italian economic miracle of the 50s, Filicori was able to seize this positive wave by growing exponentially in terms of turnover in Italy and Europe.
The company in these hundred years has never stopped its production, not even with the Second World War.
Only Covid managed to block the Bolognese reality for three months in 2020. Now Filicori is faced with a new challenge and a new great opportunity after the significant decline in turnover. As in the 50s within the company, today there is a great ferment among the staff who are very attached to their company to restart together with the bars and restaurants heavily penalized in recent months.
A race to be resumed as soon as possible after the last decade has seen further historical passages for the company.
One of the most significant is certainly the birth, in 2009, of the first European franchising network which will coincide, a few years later, with the historic overcoming of the one million kilograms produced.
Today the quality of the product is also perceived by the high-end international market, as the great plus compared to the big brands of the competition.
Like mushrooms, they were born in the most beautiful streets of European and American capitals, real coffee boutiques, where you can also taste and buy tea, another important product of the Bolognese company. An important selection of green and black teas from the best plantations of China, Japan, India and Sri Lanka as well as the precious and rare White and Yellow Teas, without forgetting the unique characteristics of the most sought after Oolongs and the ancient Pu-Ehrs.
In over a hundred years of history, the products enhance that incredible alchemy of highly sought-after quality as a corporate must and the uniqueness of the balance between the members perfectly handed down for three generations guided by the love of research and innovation of their company.
