Matteo Zanetti: “Vi offro un caffè, ma solo in capsula…”

Interview to President Matteo Zanetti published on Style, the magazine of “Il Giornale”

Matteo Zanetti: “Would you like a coffee? Of course in a capsule…”

The history of his family starts from Veneto and spreads a unique aroma. His grandfather invented the company. His father taught him everything. Then he decided to adopt an innovate approach and dedicated himself to the sector of cutting-edge coffee machines. Today he is ready to conquer the United States as well.

By Marco Lombardo

There is a point in space that starts from Veneto and spreads out into the world: it has got a coffee aroma and Matteo Zanetti observes it with pride as it encloses the entire history of his family and that of a company, named Segafredo Zanetti, which was capable of building an empire starting from the Italians’ favourite coffee brand. “A Point in Space” is the name of a sculpture by Pomodoro, which is located in the middle of the family-owned estate, today also home to a foundation run by Laura, Matteo’s his sister, offering support to disadvantaged children. This is the point of reference chosen by 34-year-old Matteo as his starting point to continue this wonderful story. “My grandfather was the founder, while my father Massimo was the genius who taught me everything”. One day he told him: “I’m going to help you. But first of all show me what you are capable of doing”.

No sooner the word than the deed! Now there is point close to Casale sul Sile, a rugby players’ land (“But I don’t like rugby”), where every day Segafredo Zanetti Coffee System produces capsules and pods. This is Matteo’s pride. At the wheel of a roaring sports car, he arrives to his company which looks like an operating theatre, as everything works perfectly with the maximum cleanliness. The only exception being, of course, a lingering aroma of coffee. “We are newcomers, but we want to be the first ones. The parent company did not deal with this type of market. In 2003 I set up Segafredo Zanetti Coffee System all by myself and now I’m imposing its business. Of course this also happened thanks to my father’s advice.”

Everything originates from the company-owned plantations, today located in Brazil, Honduras and Vietnam too: “They satisfy 60% of our needs, so we buy the remainder on the market. The last few months have been difficult because of the raw materials cost which has increased significantly”. Coffee arrives from the storage bins located in Bologna and is packaged inside the company thanks to special encapsulating and packaging machines. “We also offer two models of coffee machines for companies, offices, professional firms and shops. They are produced locally, by La San Marco, a company belonging to the Group. “Made in Italy” products are more expensive but they are always a winning choice”. And he is a winner himself, as he founded his company when he was just 26 year old, after various experiences around the world. “I owe everything to my father Massimo, he has always been ingenious and intuitive, a step ahead of everybody else. Thanks to him our company has always been a family, while multinationals which are our competitors remain quite impersonal. In our company business is a serious matter, but we do it in a more relaxed atmosphere”.

Walking around the company one can actually perceive such atmosphere, especially when Matteo Zanetti ceases to be a businessman and starts to talk about himself: “I love racing cars, sometimes I go on the track to relax. Then I practice tennis and sailing, I also played the “seventeenth man” role on board of an America’s Cup boat thanks to Vincenzo Onorato. As a matter of fact, it was a dream of mine to become a Formula One driver…”. While saying this, he looks at some historic photos hanging on the wall, images where Ayrton Senna was smiling with the Segafredo Zanetti brand on his car: “Thanks to my father I had the opportunity to go to the pits where I used to dream a lot…”. He finally embarked on different path, that of his family's coffee business, which is leading him to his next goal. "US people don’t like espresso at all, they do not want our coffee capsules. Therefore we are thinking about inventing new capsules with the American coffee flavour. Nobody came out with such an idea so far…” A brilliant idea, typical of a member of the Zanetti family. Perhaps, one day, he could even aspire to Confindustria’s top management. “Are you kidding? I still have a lot to do in my own company…”.