“It’s safe to say Australian coffee is among the best in the world, and has been for some time,” says Pat Nourse, Chair of the Oceania voting panel for the World’s 50 Best Restaurants awards.
Vittoria Coffee Managing Director and third-generation coffee maker, Rolando Schirato, is keen to pounce on the growing demand for an Australian brew.
The United Kingdom has always been high on the company’s expansion list, as Vittoria has supplied the Australian-UK expatriate market and high-end hotels and cafés since the company began in 1947.
Now, with the signing of the Australia-UK Free Trade Agreement, Vittoria is planning further expansions.
These expansion plans in the UK include having a flagship showroom.
Here, the company says, it will create a unique Vittoria coffee experience, and is also planning to lock in the right ambassador to grow its brand.
“It doesn’t matter if you have that coffee in London or Los Angeles. You will have the same taste experience,” says Schirato.
To maintain this consistency and know-how, Vittoria plans to redeploy Australians into the UK market.
Schirato credits Austrade with assisting the business along the way.
“We have a long and valued relationship with Austrade,” Schirato says.
“When we launched into the US market, the Free Trade Agreement helped us connect with peer groups on the ground.”
It was also in the US that Schirato reached out to Al Pacino to become Vittoria’s brand ambassador.
The Oscar-winning actor rose to the challenge, adding, ‘Vittoria Coffee brand ambassador’ to his title, his first ever product endorsement, in 2010.
“Our business is focused on maintaining consistency from the largest and most technologically advanced coffee roasting facility in the Southern Hemisphere,” says Schirato.
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