BeanScene Magazine

As Fabio Cordovado wraps up his interview, he bashfully notes that his espresso machine distributor and servicing company Coffee Works Express doesn’t usually attract too much attention.

While roasters, machines, and nowadays baristas, regularly make the press, in comparison Fabio notes they’re a bit like “the forgotten baby in the background”. But make no mistake – as the authorised distributors of leading commercial espresso machines and grinders Wega, Franke Coffee Systems, BNZ commercial grinders, the infamous Slayer and ISOMAC semi-commercial espresso machines and grinders, Coffee Works Express are a vital component of the Australian coffee landscape. With seven technicians on the road keeping this equipment up and running, the day this company isn’t on top of their game is one that would be felt by coffee drinkers Australia-wide.

Fabio’s foray into the coffee industry was an incidental step, at a time was the Australian coffee scene was at its infancy. Working as an electronic technician, his company decided to try their hand at importing espresso machines, and he was asked to lead the division. Fabio welcomed the offer, as his Italian background had given him an appreciation for good coffee.

“Coffee has always been part of my life, being Italian you can’t get away from it,” he notes. “It is a ritual in our culture, from the morning espresso to the evening cup with relatives after a meal.”
Furthermore, it was a welcome change from his previous role working on scales and cash registers.

“This was a new and exciting industry,” he says. He notes that at the time only three brands of espresso machines were available to the Australian market: Boema, Bezzera and Astoria. “I remember when we started doing set-ups, even people who were really into coffee didn’t know much about the machines.”

Fabio soon decided to go into business on his own, and in 1998 he started Coffee Works Express. He started off focusing on technical service, and later expanded the business into the importation of espresso equipment. With limited technical knowledge of espresso machine equipment available in Australia, Fabio was sent to the CMA headquarters in Italy to learn about the machines, and travelled once again to train with the Illy team to learn more about coffee. Soon, regular trips to Milan became a part of his job.

At the start of his career, few companies roasted on Australian soil other than the “big boys” who dominated the coffee scene. In the almost decade and a half since Fabio started his business, he’s seen hundreds of new roasters of every scale pop up onto the scene. With many of these roasters operating on a relatively small scale, they have limited technical support, which Fabio notes has increased the need for servicing companies like his.

“We’re able to both supply the equipment and provide back-up for the products we provide,” he notes. “It would be a detriment for a company not to provide that kind of back-up.”
While some roasters choose to double as machines suppliers, Fabio has preferred to stick to the equipment part of the business. This follows his background as a technician, and his interest has always remained on the mechanical segment of the industry.

“I’ve always preferred to stay neutral and stick to what I know best, espresso equipment,” he says. “It’s simple – I’ve just wanted to provide quality espresso equipment solutions.
To this day, Fabio says the company has stuck to the same philosophy, keeping the focus on their original vision and being honest with their customers.

“It’s about relationships and service, not solely about moving equipment,” he says.

In this sense, the company’s  equipment selection has evolved in line with the trends Fabio has come across, and that he felt would best serve Australia’s growing industry. Coffee Works Express first started importing the Wega machine in 1999, and soon afterwards brought in the BNZ grinder in 2000. He says he discovered one of the grinders just “lying around” and saw that it had the potential to grow in popularity. In 2001, they started bringing in the Isomac as a domestic espresso solution, and in 2009 welcomed the introduction of Franke Coffee Systems, which offer automatic bean-to-cup solutions. In 2010 the company added the Slayer to their selection, an American designed and produced espresso machine that has started attracting an almost cult following among coffee connoisseurs.

“We try to constantly stay up-to-date with industry demands and trends,” he says. “Keeping up with demand has been the biggest challenge. The industry went through a massive growth three to four years ago.”

Quietly working behind the scenes, Fabio has integrated himself with this growing and vibrant coffee community.

“It’s a passionate industry, people are in it because they want to be and they believe in their product,” he notes. “I like the industry, the excitement, the buzz and also the strong sense of camaraderie. I’ve made lots of great lasting friendships over the years.”

Fabio notes that an increasingly discerning coffee drinker is a strong factor behind the industry’s growth. He notes that from this end user point of view, coffee drinkers these days are “talking and walking the streets with their favourite cup of coffee in hand”.

“People are looking for different blends and single origins, they know where their coffee comes from,” he notes. “It’s evolving along the lines of the wine industry.”

These evolving tastes are indirectly affecting the machinery end, in that cafés are increasingly looking for equipment that’s reliable and produces a quality cup, Fabio notes. He notes that consistency has continued to drive developments in the espresso machine industry. In the last few years, Fabio has observed some remarkable swings in the industry, with the advent of multi-boiler and PID systems.

The industry’s growth has also had its drawbacks, Fabio notes. He says that some companies looking to take advantage of the growth have scrambled to put machines together from various spare parts, rather than engineering them from the ground up. In his experience, Fabio says these machines can’t compare to the consistency of well-engineered machines, similar to the car industry.
“People can get carried away in the extremities of a machine,” Fabio says. “But you can’t get away from the basics… It all comes down to reliability, back-up, and the cost of spare parts. If something becomes not economical to maintain, then it’s not attractive.”

With the potential advent of a carbon tax, Fabio expects that cost considerations in terms of energy consumption will become a huge consideration in choosing an espresso machine. He’s already seen this trend in Europe, and expects it to hit Australian soil soon.

With the Wega in tow, Fabio is ready for the green wave and whatever else the industry brings on.

“Our ongoing plan as a company is to fine tune what we are currently doing and to continually get better at what we do,” he says. “Seeing the company grow and evolve has been extremely rewarding.”