From Italy to Rio
When Fulvio Pagani arrived in Australia in August 1955 as a bright eyed 21 year from the small town of Sondrio in far northern Italy, the last thing on his mind was coffee.
He left his beloved home and family to work in the textile industry. Little did Fulvio know that he had embarked on an adventure that would see him play soccer for Australia and eventually own one of the most iconic Australian coffee companies in recent history - Rio Coffee.
“Coffee is such an important part of my day,” Fulvio says. “I love my espresso, but I have to laugh, still to this day, when people ask for a latte. I know they mean a cafe latte, but they still ask for a latte, which is literally a cup of warm milk.” And, in Italy, that is just what they would get. “Here we understand what they mean, what they want. Life has been good,” he says as we begin to reminisce about how it all began.
“Rio Coffee began in 1964, right here in Adelaide. In fact where we are now in Nelson Street, is only a stone’s throw away from our original premises in Norwood Parade, Stepney. I was actually more interested in playing soccer at the time as I had been playing for local side Juventus since 1956. They are now called Adelaide City.”
Fulvio’s soccer statistics are quite impressive in their own right. As a young Italian immigrant all he dreamed of was playing football, so it was the realisation of that dream when he not only played for a local side, but actually became the only Italian/Austalian player on the Australian team between 1957 and 1959.
“I was so proud, everybody knew me. I was like a mini celebrity.” It was this that prompted the team manager at Juventus to convince Fulvio to go into business with him and begin roasting and selling coffee. In an instant Rio was born. The rest, as they say, is history.”
Fulvio is a self-taught roaster. He began Rio with nothing more than a small roaster and a blue VW Combi which he would use to deliver freshly-roasted beans to his friends around the city. Rio Coffee remains a family-owned and run business with the third generation of Fulvio’s family working in the store.
The company has grown over the years, retaining an impeccable reputation, thanks to key people such as head roaster and noted industry expert, Tony D’Angelo, whose reputation speaks for itself.
It’s all about the quality of raw product at Rio. They insist on sourcing the best possible green beans and any coffee bearing the Rio name is of the best quality.
Tony and the roasting department are constantly monitoring, tasting, testing, altering, tinkering with and refining the roasts. Rio’s coffee portfolio consists of 15 blended and single-origin coffees from some of the most desirable plantations on the planet. One of Rio’s main points of difference is this commitment to roasting – by hand – five days a week.
“Looking to the future is paramount, and learning from the past is key. Never lose focus of your plan.”
“We are one of the only coffee companies in South Australia who can offer this,” explains Tim Watts who is in charge of barista development and training and has personally been involved with coffee for over 10 years. “We have vans on the road six days a week and can deliver fresh coffee when required. We also have a full service department (repairing and servicing commercial and domestic equipment) committed to providing our customers with on-demand technical support. Add to this barista training, local reps who know the business, and a retail store, and you have a great offering to the local and national market. This is very important to us.”
Rio has worked hard over its long history to position the brand in the specialty coffee marketplace – offering customers a diverse range of unique coffees. Their state-of-the-art training facility and the fact that they have a full-time barista trainer mean that they are able to reinforce this by having their coffee served by the best trained baristas around.
“We have also been running domestic training courses for people who want to learn how to make great coffee at home (or simply develop a better appreciation for the brew) and these have been amazingly popular,” continues Tim. “At the moment they are booked out for a month in advance.”
Apart from Coffee, Rio, because of it’s great reputation and respect, now also distribute several other key hospitality industry brands – Sanpellegrino, Acqua Panna, Fever-Tree, Zuegg and ACF cups.
“The concept here was to establish Rio as more than just a coffee company – a business that could provide customers with everything they would need to run a successful café/restaurant, all in the one place. While most coffee roasters can provide cups, sugar sticks and all the basics, Rio’s aim is to offer just that little bit extra.”
Rio has always had a strong public image. How could it not with an owner like the effervescent Fulvio.
“Did I ever tell you about the time back in May 1958 when Australia played Blackpool and I squared off against the one and only Stanley Mathews - 18,000 people in Adelaide, then 23,000 in Melbourne. What an amazing memory,” he says, back on his beloved football.
The Rio showroom is open six days a week and stocks a wide variety of products. There is always someone on hand to talk to customers about choosing an espresso machine/grinder for home or to recommend a coffee. They stock over 800 imported and local gourmet lines – pastas, oils, biscuits, confectionary, homewares, giftware and kitchen products. The public can purchase specialty lines direct. They also have barista demonstrations every weekend run by Tim.
All this represents the shift in customer expectations and coffee quality that has happened in the Australian market. Fulvio has been witness to many changes over the years, especially of late with the move to single origins and alternate brewing methods. So, they have adapted and cater for the palates of customers that are becoming more demanding.
“Looking to the future is paramount, and learning from the past is key. Never lose focus of your plan,” advises Fulvio
One irresistible question though is why the name Rio?
“That’s easy. It was my idea, back when we started it all up. Rio is a famous city in Brazil and Brazil to this day supplies most of the world’s coffee. So, it was a no brainer to pay homage to the modern home of coffee and name our company after such an amazing city,” Fulvio says.
