Salimbene Coffee

Caffè Salimbene - Italian Espresso from Naples since 1933

Gennaro Salimbene founded the company in 1933, focusing on the import of green coffee. This was rather an exclusive business in those days. Thanks to his extraordinary entrepreneurial skills and his flair for good coffee, Salimbene reaches a considerable size already in the early forties.

The preparation for the tasting was done with the Caffettiera Napoletana, the Neapolitan filter coffee machine. In Naples, they say cuccumella. By the way, this invention is even older than the famous Bialetti stovetop pot. A beautiful traditional way to prepare coffee in times when an electric coffee machine for the home was still a long way off.

Gennaro Salimbene always tries and creates new blends and prepares them personally with the Cuccumella. A test group consisting of various company employees, trade partners, representatives, and regular customers tastes the coffee.

In addition to the opinions of the testers, his own sense of taste and individual experience with coffee are incorporated into his evaluation for each new blend. 

Recipes of the typical Neapolitan coffees

This is how the recipes of the typical Neapolitan coffees were born, handed down from generation to generation and still found in Salimbene coffees today.

In 2001, at the age of 96, Gennaro died and there were major disputes in the family over the continued management of the company. This power vacuum does the roastery no good. The once so successful company is more or less without leadership and falls into disarray. Employees are laid off and insolvency soon seems inevitable.

That's when Gennaro's grandson decides to take the helm. Carlo Grenci, a passionate sailor, manages to get the roastery back on course. Cliffs are avoided and the old coffee brand Salimbene shines again in new splendor. Charismatic like his famous grandfather, Grenci sees himself as the guardian of the family tradition.