Cafezal, a Roastery and Café Concept Raises 700,000 in a Week

A few days after the launch of its equity crowdfunding campaign on Mamacrowd, Cafezal, a roasting and café concept focused on Specialty Coffee, has already raised over 700,000 euros, more than half of the maximum target of 1.2 million euros. In the first 24 hours the collection had exceeded the threshold of 400,000 euros, the minimum objective of the campaign

The new resources will be allocated to the development of an expansion plan which involves the opening of new premises in some of the main regions of Central and Northern Italy and the start of the climb abroad starting from Lisbon.

Currently Cafezal Specialty Coffee Roasters is an urban business that includes three shops in Milan: the shop in via Solferino 27, the large Coffee Hub in Viale Premuda 14 and the location in Corso Magenta 96.

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The story of Cafezal

The first store was opened in 2017 in Milan in via Solferino (Brera area). The idea of ​​offering the Milanese a Specialty Coffee venue came from Carlos Bitencourt, a Brazilian industrial engineer who, after 15 years traveling around the world for important consultancy companies, thanks to his great experience in industrial and financial operations, decided to stop in Italy – where he arrived and worked for 6 years for Boston Consulting Group – to dedicate himself to his passion for high quality coffee.

“I wanted to create a modern concept with the potential for expansion in Italy and abroad starting from Milan, the city which is the Italian epicenter of business and attracts an international nightlife – explains the CEO of Cafezal – Ours is a business of niche that previously practically did not exist in the food retail sector. I belong to the world of specialty coffee shops, but I have always been fascinated by the design, style and above all aesthetics of the Italian coffee shop. In my opinion, the specialty coffee shop, combined with these aspects, has an international growth potential, emerging from the niche and becoming an avant-garde model.”

In the spring of 2022 Bitencourt launched the new Coffee Hub on viale Premuda which, in addition to the modern coffee shop and the restaurant for breakfast service, also hosts the new Cafezal roastery, a Coffee Academy area (courses for coffee enthusiasts and professionals sector), a co-working space and also a Members Club, an exclusive “speakeasy” dedicated to coffee enthusiasts.

In May 2023, Cafezal opened its third shop in Corso Magenta, one of the most prestigious areas of the city. “Here the idea – explained the founder of Cafezal – was to combine the excellence and sustainability of a modern coffee shop with the aesthetics of an ancient Milanese café. The Cafezal brand is not ‘closed’, always the same, but adapts to the contexts where it opens.”

In the meantime, the group has also become a supplier of high quality coffee for over 30 important companies in the HoReCa sector, in Italy and abroad, among which the Giacomo Milano group stands out which, in its 8 locations, only serves Specialty Coffees from Cafezal.

Despite not easy years for the catering world, the turnover has grown exponentially from 2 million euros in December 2021, to 4.7 in February 2023 up to the current 6.75.

Why “modern coffee shop”

Cafezal works only with Specialty Coffee, but above all interprets the modern coffee shop as a lifestyle proposal for all coffee lovers, thanks to the attention to the use of high-tech machines and tools with great energy efficiency, and to partnerships with design for the creation of environments and furnishings capable of enhancing the tasting experience.

The partnership with suppliers is also very attentive to compliance with healthiness requirements, the availability of zero kilometer products and for special diets. The relationship with the specialty coffee producers at the origin is direct, with Carlos Bitencourt himself going in person to choose the beans on the plantations and the producers coming to Milan to tell and explain their reality.

The ambition is to bring Cafezal out of the Lombardy capital to make it a reference company on an international level, particularly in the Latin world (Southern Europe and South America).

A new opening is already planned in Lisbon, the first planned stage of international expansion, historically a gateway for goods from South America (therefore also coffee beans) to Europe.

Bitencourt explained: “ I am from an Italian family, but born and raised in Porto Alegre, Brazil. However, I have built my career in Europe for 16 years and certainly these experiences abroad give me the natural push to want to see Cafezal international.”

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(Featured image by ClaroCafe via Pixabay)

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