Cimbali

Gruppo Cimbali SpA
legal form	Corporation
founding	1912
Seat	Binasco Italy
Website	www.cimbali.com

Gruppo Cimbali SpA is an Italian industrial company and is the world's largest and most renowned manufacturer of professional espresso and cappuccino machines and accessories. The company is mainly known for the La Cimbali and FAEMA brands , which were taken over in 1995. The company's headquarters are in Binasco near Milan .

history

"Around the world - La Cimbali - The first name in espresso coffee machines"

"Un cimbalino"

The company's history began in 1912 with Giuseppe Cimbali, who was a coppersmith in Milan and who manufactured the first espresso and cappuccino machines under his family name.

From 1930 onwards, Cimbali manufactured coffee column machines with hot water and steam operation with the “Rapida” production line; these devices were heated with wood or coal.

After the war ended in 1945, Cimbali appeared on the market with the “Albadoro” espresso machine; this model had two independent vertical boilers . With the Albadoro, Cimbali brought out the world's first espresso machine with an integrated cup warmer. This model had a modular structure and the buyer could choose between three to six espresso dispensing groups.

At the beginning of the 1950s, electrical operation of the devices replaced firing with coal and wood. Cimbali now brought out piston machines with which the cream formation that is common today was made possible.

In 1955, Cimbali was the first espresso machine manufacturer to use hydraulic groups in its devices and had this innovation patented in 1956 . The espresso machines with hand lever technology that were common up to this point in time have largely been pushed out of the market.

In 1969 Cimbali brought out the first automatic “coffee bar” with the “Superbar” model.

In the 1990s, microprocessors increasingly took control of the main functions of the devices; the "M31 Dosatron" was the first La Cimbali to be equipped with this new technology. With the "DolceVita" series from 1992, the automation processes with the aim of becoming fully automatic machines were advanced even further.

Todays situation

La Cimbali specialty shop in Cologne

Today Cimbali is represented in more than 100 countries worldwide and has branches in Germany, Great Britain, France, Spain, Portugal and the USA; In other markets of the global world market, La Cimbali is represented by over 700 direct sellers, who also take care of customer service. More than 70 percent of all La Cimbali devices manufactured are intended for export. With four factories covering an area of 75,000 square meters, Cimbali has the world's largest production area for the manufacture of professional espresso technology.

The Cimbali group of companies now has more than 150 different espresso machines in its product range. The stock company Cimbali has a share capital of 6.6 million euros.

Awards

Cimbali Pitagora next to the Compasso d'Oro in the MUMAC museum

In 1962, together with the Italian industrial designer Achille Castiglioni - and under the eyes of the jury chairman Pinin Farina - Cimbali won the highest national prize for Italian industrial design, the “ Compasso d'Oro ”, for the innovative espresso machine “Pitagora”.

Trivia

In 1956, Cimbali tried to use the “Rubino” model with an advertising campaign to implement the slogan “un cimbalino” as a synonym for ordering an espresso at the bar with espresso drinkers . “Cimbalino” is still used today in Portugal in the region around Porto as a synonym for an espresso, because Cimbali was the first manufacturer to export professional espresso machines to this country.