The Italian coffee roaster has appointed Giuseppe Lavazza as Chairman and Alberto Lavazza as Honorary Chairman of the Group as part of a new Board of Directors, with Antonio Baravalle re-appointed as group CEO, a position he has held since 2011
Alberto Lavazza and Giuseppe Lavazza | Photo credit: Lavazza Group
Lavazza Group has appointed a new Board of Directors following the Shareholders’ Meeting of Luigi Lavazza S.p.A.
Giuseppe Lavazza was appointed Chairman, while Alberto Lavazza assumed the position of Honorary Chairman.
The Shareholders’ Meeting also reappointed Marco Lavazza as Vice Chairman (elected in 2011) and Antonella, Francesca and Manuela Lavazza as board directors, as well as Antonio Baravalle and Enrico Cavatorta as Lavazza Group CEO and CF&CO respectively.
Entering the family business in 1991, Giuseppe Lavazza was the company’s Strategic Marketing Director from 2005 to 2011. In 2008, he also took on the role of Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors of Luigi Lavazza S.p.A.
He is also on the Board of Directors of the Giuseppe e Pericle Lavazza Foundation, a non-profit organisation owned by the Lavazza family’s holding company Finlav S.p.A., and a member of the Steering Committee of International Coffee Partners, an organisation that promotes support programmes for coffee producers. In 2019, he was made a Knight of the Order of Merit for Labour by Italian President Sergio Mattarella.
“I intend to continue following our strategic growth path, consolidating the line charted over the last 15 years under Alberto Lavazza’s Chairmanship. We will continue to strengthen our presence in key segments and markets for the Group, looking carefully at new opportunities and continuing to invest in research and development”, said Giuseppe Lavazza, Lavazza Group Chairman.
In a press release, Lavazza highlighted Alberto Lavazza’s role as ‘the link between the generations of the post-war years, of the economic boom and of the new millennium’.
Alberto Lavazza is a member of the third generation of the Lavazza family and joined the business in 1962 after completing studies in Switzerland. After performing the roles of CEO and as Vice Chairman of the company, in 2008 he became Chairman of the Board of Directors of Luigi Lavazza S.p.A., a role he held until April 27, 2023.
“In my more than 60 years with the company, 15 of them as Chairman, I have had the opportunity to get to know and learn from the first generation of the family, but most importantly from the second, helping to chart out with my cousin Emilio some of the major changes that have seen Lavazza grow and evolve over the years. This has allowed me to communicate our family’s vision and heritage of values down through the generations, as well as a sense of responsible leadership that is open to new challenges and creates a bridge between the present, past and future of the company,” Alberto Lavazza said.
Completing the new Board of Directors, which has a total of 13 members, including five
independent directors, are the reappointed Robert Kunze-Concewitz, Campari Chief Executive
Officer, Nunzio Pulvirenti, Ferrero Advisory Board member, and Roberto Spada, Spada &
Partners Managing Partner.
Joining them on the Board of Directors are new independent members Silvia Candiani, Vice President Telecommunication at Microsoft, and Daniel Winteler, Managing Director Extraordinary Operations and Business Development at The European House Ambrosetti.
The outgoing members of Lavazza’s Board of Directors are Pietro Boroli, Vice Chairman at De
Agostini S.p.A., Gabriele Galateri di Genola e di Suniglia, Chairman at Istituto Italiano di
Tecnologia, Antonio Marcegaglia, Chairman at Marcegaglia Steel S.p.A., and Leonardo
Ferragamo, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the family-owned company.
Founded in 1895, Lavazza Group has a presence in more than 140 markets around the world. It also manages the French Carte Noire retail packaged coffee brand, Danish coffee roaster Merrild and Canadian coffee roaster Kicking Horse alongside its eponymous Lavazza brand.
Lavazza achieved
year-on-year sales growth of 17.6% to reach €2.7bn ($2.9bn) in 2022.