If you’re as overcaffeinated as us, one name’s likely caught your eye at your local coffee shop, emblazoned on the back of the espresso machine: La Marzocco.
Considered the Ferrari of espresso machines, La Marzocco coffee makers power nearly every other specialty coffee shop. But that wasn’t always the case.
The stylish machines were once the workhorses of Starbucks, helping the coffee juggernaut grow from 425 locations to 8.5k in a decade — until 2005 when the company ditched them.
Rather than signal a decline, La Marzocco’s allure only grew — jumpstarting the third wave of coffee shops and a flourishing resale market of entrepreneurs restoring vintage machines.
Brewing up success
Founded by brothers Giuseppe and Bruno Bambi in 1927 in Florence, La Marzocco upended the espresso game, literally.
- In 1939, Giuseppe patented the first horizontal boiler espresso maker — a departure from decades-old vertical boilers.
- Horizontal boilers provided more room for steam and more group heads to brew more espresso simultaneously.
- In 1970, La Marzocco patented the GS model with a double boiler to brew espresso at a consistent temperature, while steaming milk at a different temperature.
The GS model — and its exceptional espresso — caught the attention of Howard Schultz, then-CEO of Starbucks, thanks to Seattle entrepreneur Kent Bakke.
Bakke visited La Marzocco in 1978 and received the blessing of Piero Bambi, Giuseppe’s son, to import to the US. Initially, Bakke sold a couple machines per month, but after partnering with a rapidly growing Starbucks, business exploded.
In 1994, Bakke built a La Marzocco factory in Seattle, producing around 5k machines across 10 years, exclusively for Starbucks.
But with massive growth, a bigger menu, and more baristas to train, Starbucks ultimately replaced La Marzocco machines with super automatics that brewed at the push of a button.
New life
Before La Marzocco bought back those machines from Starbucks, an estimated 1k ended up on the secondhand marketplace.
- La Marzocco machines curiously began appearing in newly opened specialty coffee shops.
- Companies now refurbish vintage La Marzocco machines, which can cost half the price of a new machine ($20k-$30k).
La Marzocco has become a hallmark of coffee shops that take espresso seriously, which is why you keep seeing that Italian name while anxiously awaiting your next fix.
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