Ten years on from the launch of La Marzocco Australia, Managing Director Barry Moore reflects on the brand’s journey and shares its future vision for the world’s most iconic coffee market.
La Marzocco is one of the coffee industry’s most prominent brands. Walk into a specialty coffee shop in any city in the world and there’s a good chance there’ll be a Linea model on the bench. People who love coffee but have never given the industry a second thought recognise the brand’s heraldic lion logo guarding each machine, often snapping pictures of kaleidoscopic custom editions for the perfect coffee shop aesthetic.
It’s not all about looks, though. The Italian manufacturer is celebrated for its quality, longevity and performance, making it well-respected by baristas, café owners, roasters, and coffee aficionados around the world.
At its Australian headquarters in Melbourne, every machine imported from the La Marzocco factory in Florence is meticulously tested to ensure it’s working at full capacity before it makes its way to its new home, whether in a café, a business, or, increasingly, a coffee lover’s kitchen.
According to La Marzocco Australia Managing Director Barry Moore, the brand’s success in Australia is down, in part, to a series of serendipitous events.
“The story starts with the adoption of La Marzocco by Starbucks in the United States (US) during the 1980s through Kent Bakke, La Marzocco’s former CEO, who was building machines in Seattle to support the rapid growth of the chain,” says Barry.
“A few years later, while visiting Florence, Michael Allpress convinced our then-President Piero Bambi to sell him a machine when founding the Allpress Espresso coffee business in New Zealand. Michael was so passionate about the quality of the machinery that Allpress acted as a La Marzocco distributor in Australia and New Zealand for many years.
Although unrelated, Barry believes these two key events drove La Marzocco’s continued journey of innovation and partnership.
“La Marzocco perfected building resilient twin-boiler machinery that could deliver high-volume coffee and steamed milk at scale in the US, while also working with New Zealand and Australia’s passionate artisan coffee pioneers to refine espresso and milk-based coffee drinks originally introduced to the region by Italian migrants in the 1950s,” he says.
Coffee-focussed businesses in Australia benefitted from this established model of support and access to technicians and spare parts, which ensured they could serve customers without downtime. Coffee quickly evolved from traditional Italian-style espresso and cappuccino drinks to the Australian flat white, now enjoyed in cafés around the world.
It wasn’t just the functionality and reliability of the machines gaining the brand traction: the design was also turning heads across Australia, underpinned by an enthusiasm for building life-long relationships and listening to the coffee community.
Barry believes the brand’s roots in Italy set a benchmark for its relationship-driven culture, coupled with its iconic designs.
“The Bambi brothers who founded La Marzocco were born and raised in Florence – one of the most beautiful places on Earth – and this environment had a huge influence on them. Piero Bambi studied textile design before pivoting into espresso machines, so he always had an incredible eye for design,” he says.
The look of the machines struck a note here as they complemented what is now the iconic Australian coffee shop aesthetic. Café owners were designing spaces that appealed visually, and a La Marzocco on the bench continues to be part of many successful venues’ must-haves.
In the early 2010s, the espresso machines were proving so successful in the region that the Italian head office decided to establish a local branch office. In 2014, La Marzocco Australia opened on the corner of Nicholson Street in Abbotsford, Melbourne – the same venue the team operate out of today.
Since the launch of the branch office, La Marzocco Australia has grown from a sales, marketing, and distribution hub into a sophisticated 360-degree service provider to support the local coffee industry.
“The space is multifaceted, with areas for bench testing our machines, training technicians, dispatching spare parts, demonstrating new technologies, and hosting the local coffee community,” Barry says.
Over the past 10 years, La Marzocco’s global purpose has remained the same: to build relationships that enrich people’s lives through the manufacturing of high-quality specialty coffee equipment. Locally, the team has expanded to open a Sydney space and, in 2020, partnered with service company Brewtech to provide national servicing.
Barry says one of the most prominent shifts in the industry has been the growth of the home market following the pandemic. To adapt to the home coffee boom, La Marzocco now has a home retail area in both destinations, where coffee lovers can road-test models such as the flagship Linea Mini, the petite Linea Micra, and the newly released Pico home grinder.
“When the Australian office opened, there was a huge surge in the specialty market in the café sector. Now, quality coffee has gone mainstream and people expect to find it everywhere, not just in cafés – from leading workplaces and sporting venues to luxury car showrooms and retail stores,” he says.
Looking to the future of the business, sustainability is a priority.
“We truly stand by our ‘built to last, supported for life’ commitment. Over time, we have focused on creating a truly sustainable circular solution, so that our partners can get the absolute most out of our machinery, in a way that sustains our industry and our environment,” says Barry.
The Australian team believes that buying second-hand, or revitalising older machinery, isn’t a compromise. Through sister company Brewtech, machines can be refurbished – inside and out – to keep them out in the field for a lifetime.
Barry emphasises that this green model also creates more jobs for technicians, a segment of the industry he believes is often overlooked and undervalued.
“Along with rightly celebrating the amazing skills of roasters and baristas, technicians are also heroes of our industry. Without them, cafés couldn’t continue to function,” he says.
“Through Brewtech we are creating structured career pathways for those who love the mechanical side of the machines as much as the coffee.”
Alongside a circular economy focus, La Marzocco will continue to innovate with new products to serve the evolving needs of the coffee sector.
“Via Internet of Things (IoT) capability within our machines, La Marzocco is currently testing a connected machinery system, which gives different stakeholders across the community the ability to see what’s going on via the cloud, all in the name of a better cup of coffee,” says Barry.
Data-driven insights from equipment analytics give roasters and service providers the ability to monitor their fleet remotely and ensure everything is running smoothly. The aim is to increase consistency and quality, while spotting potential issues early to reduce downtime and get a technician to site more efficiently.
Early testing indicates time-saving opportunities for roasters, which allow them to invest time where it’s needed most in their business.
More broadly, Barry is committed to ensuring La Marzocco Australia remains ingrained in the coffee community.
“Above all, we are here to support our partners. Our spaces in Melbourne and Sydney are community spaces where they can host events, trial machinery configurations, and train their café partners,” he says.
“As a manufacturer, to have a connection to the coffee community in a market like this is something very special. We feel privileged to be part of it and are ready for what the next decade brings.”
For more information, visit au.lamarzocco.com
This article appears in the February/March 2025 edition of BeanScene. Subscribe HERE.
