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- Blogs • Posted by Gareth • 25th September 2020
Locally made machines for locally roasted coffee
Fracino – The UK’s only manufacturer of cappuccino and espresso coffee machines.
The powerful success story of a multi-award-winning, third-generation family business.
At Two Chimps Coffee Roasters, we strongly believe in supporting small, local & family-run businesses as we know how important they are for the community. As we grow and look to expand our business, we’re always looking for new small businesses to work with.
We’ve recently added a new string to our bow. We are now able to offer espresso machines & coffee grinders both for rent or to purchase to customers who need coffee making equipment.
So, when researching machines and what we’d like to offer, we discovered Fracino. The only UK manufacturers of espresso machines.
Introducing… Fracino
Their story begins in Italy.
On a family holiday in 1962, machine tool designer Frank Maxwell – hailed as ‘the godfather of espresso’ – purchased and stripped down a second-hand coffee machine.
1 year later, Fracino was born in a shed in Frank’s back garden. This is where he started to import and supply coffee machines to retail outlets all over Britain.
It wasn’t until 1990 that the shed born company began trading under the name Fracino. They are now based on the Wyrley Trading Estate in Birmingham, just a few hours drive from us at Two Chimps HQ.
Fracino’s 60 plus product portfolio is well known and enjoyed worldwide.
Fracino make espresso machines tailored to suit all budgets, with customised equipment meeting technical and aesthetic requirements too.
The team have got a range of accolades and awards including lifetime achievement awards for Frank.
They created a bespoke machine for fast-food chain Subway and they supply machines to Pizza Express. Also, they’ve made multiple TV appearances and funded apprenticeships for young engineers. All while they continue to grow as a business!
The more we read about them the more we liked them. So we arranged to pay them a visit!
Meeting the team at Fracino
Vic met Harry at Fracino and was instantly wowed by the new shiny machines in the showroom.
Unfortunately, due to Covid-19 restrictions, we weren’t allowed in the factory for our tour.
However, we did get a sneak peek through the back door to see the machines being crafted right there.
Up to 90% of the espresso machines and their components are made on the same road! The other 10% are imported from Italy.
Their Espresso Machines
There is a huge range of machines to choose from. This includes domestic compact machines such as the Piccino, for example. This machine incorporates the engineering skills of a professional barista machine but for your home.
At the other end is the Romano PID with digital display. This has 3 individual boilers to enable you to make coffees at 3 different temperatures and F.A.S.T steam technology! It basically does the job for you!
We are impressed with all the machines and the quality of them too. They also make these fairly local to us and are almost solely made of UK parts.
In addition, they offer next day delivery on traditional machines. If you want something extra special, you can have a bespoke machine made especially for you. For example; it can even have your company logo on it!
Thinking of starting a business and need a new coffee machine?
Or would you like to replace an older machine?
Either way, don’t hesitate to get in touch with us to find out more!
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