A Unic Aura machine. Unic photo.
Swedish appliance giant Electrolux has acquired French espresso machine manufacturer Unic, bringing a full suite of espresso equipment to its Electrolux Professional division for the global foodservice and hospitality sectors.
The acquisition comes as Unic is celebrating the 100th anniversary of the design of its original machine, the Idrotermica, created by Italian Mario Levi. In 1929, Levi established the Unic manufacturing company in France, where it has been based ever since.
The financial terms of the acquisition have not been disclosed.
While an enduring brand globally in the automatic and semiautomatic espresso segments, Unic’s bell cow line has been its Stella Di Cafe. This year, the company introduced the Stella Epic as its new flagship line designed for specialty coffee shops.
“Through Electrolux’s global platform and network, we will be able to expand our product offering and accelerate our international growth within the coffee espresso segment, a significant and fast-growing part of the foodservice business,” Unic CEO Jean-Pierre Levi said in a joint announcement from the companies. “We share and embrace Electrolux Professional’s strategy for growth and are excited to contribute to the ‘OnE platform’ concept by offering quality, experience and comprehensive technology in coffee equipment within the hospitality sector.”
Behind Whirlpool (United States), Electrolux is the world’s second largest home appliance maker. Bolstered by numerous acquisitions over the past decades, its Electrolux Professional division offers a wide range of appliances and other commercial machine systems for a wide range of foodservice applications.
In 2017, the company made its first major play in the coffee industry by acquiring U.S.-based Grindmaster-Cecilware.
Nick Brown
Nick Brown is the editor of Daily Coffee News by Roast Magazine.
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