Caffita

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Caffita is a single-serving system for espresso and coffee developed in Italy by partners Gaggia and Ècaffè for the home . The coffee system is also known under the name Caffitaly in some countries . In Germany and Austria, the Caffitaly system was best known for the Cafissimo machines from Tchibo and Eduscho. In 2005, Caffita was a co-sponsor of the then Lampre-Caffita cycling team . At the beginning of the 2006 season, Caffita was replaced by Fondital as a co-sponsor of Lampre.

construction

The round Caffita capsules are mainly made of plastic and are sealed at the top with an aluminum foil on which the Caffita logo is located. The capsules contain 8 g of coffee or espresso powder between two plastic sieves. When inserting it into the machine , the capsule is punched at the top and bottom with mandrels through which the hot water later flows in and out. With different degrees of grinding and - with some machines - programs, the correct pressure for the different types is set in the capsule, so that coffee can be prepared with Caffita machines in addition to espresso.

machinery

Machines for the Caffita system are offered by various manufacturers, including the Evolution Caffita from Gaggia (a classic portafilter machine with a portafilter adapted to the capsules), the very similar Cafissimo from Tchibo , in which the portafilter has been replaced by a lever mechanism, and a Series of Princess machines, etc. a. the Princess Silver Caffita 201E .

Types of coffee

There are currently four coffee and one espresso roasters from Tchibo and six espresso roasts from ÈCaffè for the Caffita capsule system. In Italy and Austria there have been other suppliers (Caffè Cagliari, Caffè Chicco d'Oro) since the end of 2006, but their capsules have not yet been offered outside the country. The portion prices at the end of 2006 were between 20 and 30 cents.

Compatible capsules from Julius Meinl have also been available in Austria since the beginning of 2013.

criticism

The coffee systems are criticized because of the so-called lock-in . This means that the acquisition costs for the respective coffee machines are low, the follow-up costs for the coffee pods are - in some cases many times - higher than those of conventional coffee.

The systems are not compatible with each other; different coffee pods or capsules are required for each system. Originally, these were only available from the respective manufacturer, which limited the options very much. Meanwhile, however, coffee portions are also available from other providers.

Another disadvantage is the amount of waste that arises from the composite packaging of the coffee capsules.

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