With Massimiliano Zappa Family Coffee Is to Be Drunk Abroad
Massimiliano Zappa was just a boy when his father Stefano started the Varanini company in Milan in 1970. It was based in a 430 square feet space in a Viale Monza side street and it had a single coffee roaster. "He used to wake up at 4 am to roast coffee. After that, he would go out looking for clients. He had capacities, insight, bravery and some nerve that's necessary when you're starting a company". Forty-five years later, Zappa is a Varanini associate with his brother Alberto and leads the ho.re.ca channel, an abbreviation for hotel, restaurant, cafè.
He didn't plan to be involved in the family business, though. A 1991 Business Economy graduate at Università Bocconi, Zappa completed also a Master's program in Marketing and Communication at the Ca' Foscari University of Venice. He was a marketing manager at Philips when in 2001 his father and brother asked him for help. Their company was growing and a new manager was required. "Working in a family business has pros and cons", he says. "Devotion on one hand, dealing with conflicts on the other. The latter may affect your personal and family life. The best thing you can do is to separate roles and be very clear when charging responsibilities. It's essential when you're working in a company with 12 employees and no intermediate positions".
Zappa brought to Varanini his experience in management. "They never did analytical accounting before. They would use intuition and make strategic decisions based on not-so-good assumptions". Today the company has three channels: ho.re.ca.; capsule and pod line for offices; vending. "The latter has become the most important one. According to FIPE, the Italian Federations of Bars, in the last three years coffee consumption in bars had a 30% drop while vendor and home consumption have increased. License deregulation had a negative effect on us. We meet the demands of 600 bars. Every year 10% of them close down, and it's a huge problem because of unpaid debts. We're looking for revenues elsewhere". Abroad, for instance, where more and more people want to drink coffee the Italian way. Not in the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) that are too remote for a small business, but in Eastern Europe and Maghreb. "Five years ago export's share of sales was 2%, today it is 12%. We aim at 20%. The Italian roasting companies have good reputation in the world, but other producers, German for instance, are getting better and better. They have a competitive advantage because of better logistics, efficient bureaucracy, and lower taxes. Ten years ago we inaugurated a new factory., today we would open it abroad". What's the next challenge? "To face consolidation. In Italy ten years ago there were 1,200 roasting companies. Today they're 700".