Evoca Group to close coffee vending machine plant in Gaggio Montano
Source Evoca Group
Europe’s largest vending machine manufacturer said it is closing one of its factories in Italy. Following discussions with trade unions, Evoca Group announced on Nov. 5 that will shut down its coffee equipment manufacturing plant in Gaggio Montano by the end of 2022.
Production is expected to cease by the end of the first quarter next year at the factory know as SaGa Coffee, where Saeco Professional vending and brewers are made. The company did not say how many jobs will be lost at the Gaggio Montano factory.
“This difficult decision [follows] an in-depth analysis of the market [that] highlighted the need to rationalize the group’s industrial footprint as a result of its production overcapacity and the inability of the Gaggio Montano plant to achieve the necessary levels of competitiveness … covering small coffee machines for office use,” Evoca said in a press release
Evoca added that the office coffee service manufacturing segment has been negatively impacted by pricing pressures and increased competition from Asian producers and household coffee brewing technologies.
Since 2019, the press release stated, Evoca had already been suffering from production overcapacity throughout Europe, but the impact was severe at the Gaggio Montano factory, where small OCS machines are made. The COVID-19 health crisis accelerated the plant's overcapacity.
By shutting down the facility, Evoca is hoping to align its production capacity with the market demands to hold onto a competitive position in the medium-long term.
Evoca, formerly N&W Global Vending, invested in Saeco Vending SpA in 2017 before fully acquiring the company. Saeco was founded in 1981 and unveiled the first "superautomatic" espresso machine for the home market in 1985. It has played a leading role in popularizing countertop and freestanding espresso vending machines internationally. In 2009, it was acquired by the Netherlands' Philips.
Nick Montano
Contributing editor Nick Montano is passionate about covering news in the vending, office coffee service and micro market industry. He brings more than two decades’ experience to AM and VMW as a business journalist. His industry roots go way back; his first jobs were managing the stockroom of a full-line vending company and filling in for vacationing route drivers during his high school summer breaks.
