The Caffè Vergnano Academy, between the past and the future to be built

The Vergnano Coffee Academy, in Chieri near Turin, a high-level training school where theoretical and practical courses are held for baristas, is a cross between an alchemical laboratory and a refined one maison French with portraits and antique advertisements on the walls and fresh flowers in vases, in an Art Nouveau villa with a neo-Gothic tower. In an outbuilding in the courtyard are displayed the bags of coffee, those of 60 kilos, made of jute, where the beans are traditionally transported from their countries of origin. A majolica vase from the old grocery with roasting stands out, which is nearby, in via Vittorio Emanuele II in the center of Chieri, where it all began, exactly 140 years ago by the will of Domenico Vergnano.

We should start from here the discovery of one of those family-run companies that bring the Italian style to the world. In this case, the inimitable, how much secret and jealously guarded by every roaster, recipe of the blend, the basis of Italian espresso. «We decided to create the Academy in 2018 in the family villa, where the aunts lived and the company boards were held on Sundays. Because here there is advanced training with very technical courses, but we also wanted to conceive it as a home, warm and welcoming, with a kitchen and a large convivial table. So when Polish or American customers arrive, we can welcome them with a plate of pasta ”, explains Carolina Vergnano, who with Pietro and Enrico belongs to the fourth generation and is CEO of Caffè Vergnano.

In reality, he tells us, coffee is a business (which, to understand us, in the “difficult” 2021 ended with a total turnover of 92 million euros, of which 22.4 million of exports, almost equalizing 2019 ) developed by the grandsons of Domenico, Carlo and Franco still in the company. In the 1970s they decided to focus on the less developed part of the family business, which ranged from wooden plywood to textiles to mechanics “because the future is uncertain but, whatever happens, you always continue to drink coffee”.

We knew that coffee is not a trivial product, to be treated or to be tasted, but Fosca Vezzulli, PHD Student at the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart of Piacenza and the youngest of only 30 Italian Q Graders, took care of all doubts. , a title that is for coffee a bit like the Master Sommelier is for wine. She guided us in a sensory experience and a tasting of two coffee origins, one Arabica from Ethiopia and one from Peru, urging us to identify the notes of chocolate and jasmine, citrus and spices.

At the exit from the Academy, around the corner, the grocery store built by Domenico Vergnano has become a cafeteria. The part dedicated to the sale overlooks a courtyard shared with De Gustibus, a restaurant where the young chef Davide Cristaldi proposes a creative cuisine, attentive and respectful of the ingredients, especially vegetables.
The company, the real one, is located outside the city, in Santena, and today has two factories. Here four large roasters churn out 300 kilos of beans every quarter of an hour, spreading the unmistakable aroma of coffee which, Fosca reminds us, is almost odorless before roasting. From here the beans pass to a snake of belts and machines that degasify, grind, encapsulate and package, in a continuous and mesmerizing cycle. «Here we deal with 15 different origins, mainly Brazil and Vietnam, and in each blend they range from four to seven», Enrico, who is in charge of production, has a degree in economics, tells us «but in retrospect I should have been an engineer».

A third plant, 40 thousand square meters between warehouse and logistics, will be built in an area of ​​100 thousand meters “like 15 football fields”, he tells us. 2022 will be a year of celebrations, events and surprises for Vergnano. There will be a limited edition of the company’s iconic products that for the occasion will wear gold and a journey to bring Vergnano espresso throughout Italy. A 140-year history is celebrated, the longest among the Italian national roasting companies, which for the new generations will be a springboard towards future expansions. Because “tomorrow is still all to be built together”, says Carolina Vergnano. And in these times it’s nice to hear that remembered.