La Cimbali UK duo complete Action for Children Suffolk Coast bike ride for charity

La Cimbali UK duo complete Action for Children Suffolk Coast bike ride for charity

La Cimbali UK’s Managing Director, Carl Bjorkstrand and Sales & Marketing Manager Matt Tuffee recently completed the Suffolk Coast bike ride. 

Starting and finishing at the elegant Elizabethan mansion of Glemham Hall, there’s a choice of two routes of 35 & 60 miles, plus brand new for this year – a 100 mile challenge.  All routes head north through pretty countryside and villages with breath-taking views out to sea before splitting at Sibton. The short route then heads towards Dunwich on the coast and the longer ones continue to Covehithe – joining up again on open heathland and finishing back at the start at Glenham Hall.

Both Carl and Matt and Carl’s son and his cousin decided on the 65 mile route but Matt managed to get lost and ended up completing nearer 100 miles!  Although there were very few hills, the last 10 miles were pretty hard work because they were cycling into the wind, and were feeling the effects of a stop on the beach for delicious fish and chips!  But the thought of a massage, refreshments, live music and a bar at the finish kept them going.  Matt found the ride particularly challenging as due to the recent birth of his twins he had not had much time to train or sleep much either!  However they all completed the course and the sense of achievement was immense.

Matt said ”Action for Children is a national charity working in local communities throughout the UK to protect and support the young and vulnerable as they grow up, and has been operating for over 145 years.  I am proud to say that the La Cimbali team raised over £200 to help support this worthy cause and we are hoping that this amount will rise.”

If you would like to donate please visit: http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/team/cimbalicyclists

Action for Children work directly with over 300,000 children, young people, parents and carers running 650 services across the UK, tackling issues such as child neglect and abuse.

If you would like to get involved with the Action for Children charity and help children in your local area, please visit: http://www.actionforchildren.org.uk/

La Cimbali reflect on the great coffee revolution of recent years

La Cimbali reflect on the great coffee revolution of recent years

2014 is a very different ‘coffee’ world than it was a few years ago.   Coffee shops have now taken over our high streets, supported by a never-ending supply of connoisseur addicts making the British coffee business boom!

According to Allegra Strategies market research company who specialise in the food and beverage sector, Britain's 16,500 coffee shops had a turnover of £6.2 billion in 2013, a rise of 6.4% on the previous year. There were also 5.7% more coffee shops at the end of the year than at the start.  Costa Coffee, Starbucks and Caffè Nero together saw sales rise 9.3%.  One in five of us now visit a coffee shop every day compared to one in nine in 2009.

At the top of the market are the independents, the "third wave" artisanal coffee shops, apparently soon to be superseded by an emerging "fourth wave", making what the Allegra report describes as "greater use of scientific principles to perfect the entire coffee-making process from bean to cup”.

So just how did Britain become a nation of coffee drinkers?  The first independent roaster opened way back in 1978, and was trading on its own for a very long time.  It wasn’t until the mid 1990s that better coffee became widely available. The first Starbucks opened on the Kings Road, London in 1998, and this coffee shop chain has had a huge impact on coffee drinking in the UK ever since.

In 2005, the flat white coffee arrived in Soho, to rival the Cappuccino, courtesy of the Australians and New Zealanders and the vibrant southern European immigrant.  Nowadays, coffee has become so fashionable, and helped along by great ‘all singing all dancing’ coffee machines, well trained skilled baristas, perfect roasting and coffee drinkers that expect just that little bit more from their drink, as well as being served with a big smile!

Around 60% of the world’s coffee is Arabica with Brazil still maintaining its status as the largest producer, and Vietnam the largest producer of Robusta. There are a many different varietals within the Genus Coffea, which can change the flavour of the drink, but that’s not the only thing that defines coffee.  Origin, specific plots on farms subject to different climatic soils and conditions, also make the difference.  The complex flavour of coffee can make it taste a whole heap of different ways to each person who tastes it – sweet, bright, fruity, caramel, needing milk, leaving it black.  But the most important thing is that, over the last few years the basic expectation of the minimum quality of coffee is changing, and coffee shops, cafes and restaurants want people to drink better coffee, and coffee lovers want to feel coffee is worth spending a little bit more on.

For more information, look at www.cimbaliuk.com

Cimbali UK say Good Bye to Jim Anderson

La Cimbali say good-bye to Jim Anderson who retires after 25 years service

Long-term La Cimbali employee Jim Anderson has recently retired after 25 years working at La Cimbali. 

Jim started working at Breakmain Limited back in 1988, during a time when the company’s main product range was refrigeration.

Following demand from their customers, the La Cimbali brand was added to the Breakmain product portfolio and Jim was instrumental in the introduction of the La Cimbali machine range into the UK.  After only a few days training in the La Cimbali factory, Jim developed the service, support and training infrastructure for the range.  

The super automatic ‘Dolce Vita’ range was the most advanced coffee machine of its time and with Jim’s help it became the benchmark for all super automatic coffee machines in the UK.  Consequently, Breakmain soon became La Cimbali’s most important distributor outside Italy, and in 2004 La Cimbali purchased Breakmain Ltd then 3 years after in 2007, opened a third office in Coventry.

Jim continued to give a significant contribution within the new organisation by running the Scottish office, providing training and technical support for all the UK engineers as well as being responsible for all Health and Safety matters of the business.

To celebrate Jim’s contribution to the success of La Cimbali in the UK, Mr Maurizio Cimbali (the grandson of the founder) invited Jim and his wife, Lynda, to visit the Head Quarters and enjoy a couple of days in Milan. The celebrations included a guided tour of the MUMAC coffee machine museum, which was opened in 2012 to mark 100 years since the beginning of Gruppo Cimbali.  Plus, they visited the factory to meet colleagues and Jim was presented with a medal by Maurizio Cimbali with many people present who have worked with Jim during his 25 years.

Everyone at La Cimbali would like to wish Jim a long, happy and healthy retirement.

Carl from Cimbali combines a week in Tuscany with great coffee!

Carl from Cimbali UK combines a week’s holiday in Tuscany with his love of Espresso coffee!

My recent holiday in Tuscany got me thinking about Italy and its love of coffee…..

Drinking coffee in Italy is a way of life and no more so than in the beautiful central region of Tuscany, covering an area of about 23,000 square kilometres.

When the first European coffee house opened in Venice in 1683 it served its coffee strong and short.  Five centuries later and not a lot has changed in Italy.  Espresso is still the most popular drink with the Italians consuming twice as much coffee per head than us in the UK.

Some Italian coffees maybe darker, shorter and slightly more bitter than we are used to London, but they fit perfectly into the Italian way of life. A coffee is seen as a necessity to be drank at certain occasions during the day with the addition of sugar making it a sweet treat.

Most Italians drink coffee standing up at the bar and the prices are significantly less at the bar compared to if you drink the same cup sitting at a table.  As you will see from the photos -  I enjoyed my Espressos sitting down! 

In Italy people drink an Espresso before they do anything else in the morning.  In the cities – life is so busy that many people drink their Espresso without anything else for breakfast. It then continues throughout the day (but no cappuccinos after lunch!)  – Coffee is a very social thing in Italy.

The Italian coffee tasted great each time I had one, and even better when surrounded by the fantastic views of Tuscany.

Cimbali know about coffee........we really do!

Cimbali learn that drinking Espresso coffee can help your eyesight

Cimbali say drinking Espresso coffee can help your eyesight!

If you are like a lot of people in the world, then it is likely that one of the first things that you do in the morning is drink a cup of coffee to wake yourself up! But Cimbali has found new research that has also shown that a daily Espresso fix may also be helping your eyesight.

Scientists claim that a chemical found in the drink prevents deteriorating eyesight and possible blindness from retinal degeneration due to Glaucoma, ageing and Diabetes.
Researchers at Cornell University in New York were looking at coffee's antioxidant effects when they made the discovery. Coffee contains 1% caffeine but between 7% and 9% chlorogenic acid (CLA) which is a strong antioxidant.

The study, which was published in the Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry, found that in mice this acid prevented retinal degeneration. The retina is a thin tissue layer on the inside back wall of the eye with millions of light-sensitive cells and other nerve cells that receive and organise visual information. It is also one of the most metabolically active tissues, demanding high levels of oxygen and making it prone to oxidative stress. The lack of oxygen and production of free radicals leads to tissue damage and loss if sight.

However it is not yet known whether or not drinking coffee delivers CLA directly to the retina the researchers stress, and further studies are being conducted to develop a special brew customised for retinal support, or CLA delivery via eye drops.

The study showed that functional or natural foods can have beneficial health effects. Coffee is now the most popular drink in the world and can have many health benefits and also cut the risk of such chronic diseases as Parkinson’s, Prostrate Cancer, Diabetes, Alzheimer’s and age related cognitive declines.

As with everything these days, there can be too much of a good thing. It is all about moderation – so ensure that your coffee drinking and other food and beverage pleasures in life are kept within sensible limits, and that way you will enjoy them all the more!

Cimbali investigates how to find the best coffee whilst on holiday!

Choose great Coffee on holiday - Cimbali investigates how!

With the UK holiday season about to start, for most travelers, embracing the local culture is important and that includes coffee!  But for those of you who don’t know your Cortados from your Café Bombons or a Flat White from a Café au Lait – we are here to help you.

Variety is the spice of life! And there is no better way of seeing how diverse the world is than by looking at how the locals take their coffees.

Coffee is big business in the US with more than half of over 18s drinking on average three cups a day.  When travelling to the US, there are four popular coffees, which includes Café Tobio – one part regular coffee and one part Espresso and Café Breve which is five parts milk foam, one part steamed half and half and one part Espresso.  And Seattle leads the way with ten times more coffee stores per person than the rest of the US!

When in Europe, Italy has the largest number of coffee bars per capita with 100,000 cafes and 60 million people with these bars designed for socialising and drinking coffee standing up.  One of the most popular coffees is an Epsresso Romano which is an Epsresso infused with a slice of lemon.

Drinking coffee in Italy is a way of life and no more so than in the beautiful central region of Tuscany, covering an area of about 23,000 square kilometres.

When the first European coffee house opened in Venice in 1683 it served its coffee strong and short.  Five centuries later and not a lot has changed in Italy.  Espresso is still the most popular drink with the Italians consuming twice as much coffee per head than us in the UK.

Some Italian coffees maybe darker, shorter and slightly more bitter than we are used to London, but they fit perfectly into the Italian way of life. A coffee is seen as a necessity to be drank at certain occasions during the day with the addition of sugar making it a sweet treat.

Most Italians drink coffee standing up at the bar and the prices are significantly less at the bar compared to if you drink the same cup sitting at a table.  

In Italy people drink an Espresso before they do anything else in the morning.  In the cities – life is so busy that many people drink their Espresso without anything else for breakfast. It then continues throughout the day (but no cappuccinos after lunch!)  – Coffee is a very social thing in Italy.

The Italian coffee tasted great each time I had one, and even better when surrounded by the fantastic views of Tuscany. 

While not far away in Spain, breakfast is usually a cup of coffee, choosing from a Cafe Bombon, one part Espresso, one part condensed milk, or a Cafe con Miel - cinnamon, steamed milk, shot of Espresso and honey.  But their neighbours in France generally opt for a Cafe au Lait, half milk and half Espresso, while in Germany they are partial to a Pharisaers, which is half Espresso, one sugar cube topped with whipped cream and two shots of rum!    

Happy holidays from all of us at La Cimbali UK.