Seattle Espresso Pathfinder Synesso Acquired by Middleby Corporation

An early Synesso S200 machine in all white. Photo courtesy of Synesso.

Elgin, Illinois-based foodservice equipment company Middleby Corporation has announced its acquisition of the pioneering espresso machine manufacturer Synesso.

The companies have not announced the financial terms of the acquisition, although Middleby noted in a press release that Synesso has “quickly grown to $10 million in revenues.”

In suburban Chicago with manufacturing and distribution properties all over the world, Middleby boasts a wide range of commercial foodservice equipment products, home kitchen products, refrigeration products and industrial processing products through more than 75 brands.

A 3-group Synesso MVP Hydra at the newly opened Elementary Coffee location in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Photo courtesy of Elementary Coffee.

In the commercial beverage realm, the company has already acquired brewing systems maker Ss Brewtech, nitro cold brew dispenser brand JoeTap, and fully automatic hot beverage dispenser brand Concordia.

“Synesso is a highly innovative brand and further expands our coffee and beverage platform. Middleby is well-positioned within the beverage category offering some of the most advanced equipment in today’s fast-growing coffee market,” said Tim FitzGerald, CEO of Middleby. “Our Seattle-based coffee companies are able to provide operators with a variety of sought-after options including automated bean to cup, cold brew, nitro brew, traditional carafe and now semi-automatic espresso.”

Over the past 15 years, Synesso has proven to be an influential player in the latter category. Founded by former La Marzocco engineer Mark Barnett in Seattle in 2004, Synesso is one of a small handful of espresso equipment manufacturers born in the United States — along with fellow notable peers La Marzocco USA and Slayer Espresso, which both also happen to be based in Seattle.

A green Synesso MVP Hydra at Voyager Coffee in San Jose, California. Photo by Anshu Bhusal, courtesy of Voyager Coffee.

Synesso built its reputation through its popular Cyncra and Hydra machines, designed to offer superior temperature stabilization through PID controls. In 2015, the company introduced its MVP line of variable, programmable machines; and most recently, Synesso launched its S series of volumetric machines. Co-owned by Barnett and Sandy Schneiter, Synesso has a staff of more than two dozen at its Seattle headquarters.

In the past few months alone, we’ve seen new Synesso machines find their way to new coffee bars such as Press Coffee in Phoenix, Superthing Coffee in Austin (Texas), The Modern Times Invigatorium in San Diego, and Elementary Coffee in Harrisburg (Pennsylvania), among others.

“The Synesso brand will continue to operate as it has — hand building each machine here at our Seattle headquarters — with our same personnel,” Synesso stated in an Instagram post today. “We are confident that this will allow us even more opportunity to innovate, respond to market needs and better support our partners around the world. The best is yet to come!”