COMPANY PROFILE

Established in 1895, the Turin-based company has been owned by the Lavazza family for four generations. Lavazza is one of the most important roasters in the world, a leader in Italy with a share of the retail market in value of about 48% (source: Nielsen). Lavazza is present with its distributors and subsidiaries in over 90 countries around the world. With a turnover exceeding 1.2 billion in 2011, the company operates worldwide in the Home and Away-from-Home segments. The history of Lavazza started with a little grocery store opened by Luigi Lavazza in the historic district of Turin, back in 1895: the small shop specialised in roasting and selling coffee, and in 1927 it became what is now known as Luigi Lavazza S.p.A. It was Luigi Lavazza who first invented the concept of the blend, the art of mixing coffee of different origins. In the early Sixties, Lavazza was the first company in Italy to introduce vacuumpacked ground coffee, an innovation that was nothing short of revolutionary. Also during this period, Lavazza began to take its first steps in the world of communications in collaboration with Armando Testa. The companys TV commercials broadcast in Italy starring the characters of Caballero and Carmencita are memorable, and the slogans uttered by actor Nino Manfredi are unforgettable, particularly the famous Lavazza Coffee: the more of it you down, the more it picks you up. Photography plays an important role in the companys communications, with the Lavazza Calendar, which has been produced since 1992 in collaboration with world-famous artists, and in 2012 has celebrated its twentieth anniversary together with the masters of photography who helped to make the Calendar such a success over the years: Annie Leibovitz, Elliott Erwitt, David LaChapelle, Erwin Olaf, Thierry Le Gous, Miles Aldridge, Marino Parisotto, Eugenio Recuenco, Finlay MacKay, Mark Seliger, Albert Watson and Ellen von Unwerth. Lavazza is distinguished, above all, by quality and innovation. Therefore, it has created the Training Center Network, an international network of over 45 training centres around the world, where about 30,000 users each year such as customers, journalists and opinion leaders can learn how to make an excellent espresso and study everything there is to know about coffee on a broader level. Furthermore, Lavazza signed an important five-year agreement with the Turin Polytechnic Institute for research and development activities and, in October 2010, inaugurated the Innovation Center, a new area created in the historic Settimo Torinese plant. It houses three Departments: Research & Development, Machine and System Design & Engineering, and the Training Center. In order to consolidate its ties with its homeland, the company has launched an ambitious architectural project for the new Executive Centre which will be inaugurated in Turin in 2015.

The company has a 20 year-long tradition in the production and sale of portioned coffee systems and products, through Espresso Point and Blue for the Office Coffee Service, Vending and Food Service channels and A Modo Mio, expressly aimed at the home market. In 2010 Lavazza acquired a 6% stake in Green Mountain Coffee Roaster Inc. (GMCR), a leading coffee company headquartered in Waterbury, Vermont (USA), and signed a multiyear agreement for development and distribution in the USA and Canada with the Keurig one cup coffee makers division. Under the agreement, Keurig shall be the exclusive distributor of the new Lavazza-Keurig brewers to be marketed by the end of 2012, which will be based on the Lavazza A Modo Mio capsule system and will be targeted to the household market. Lavazza also owns 100% of Ercom S.p.A., a leading Italian purveyor of premium hot beverages and mixes for sorbets and cold creams marketed under the Eraclea, Dulcimea and Whittington brands. Ercoms excellent products and effective sales force significantly complemented the range of products and services available to Lavazzas customers. Lavazza has 4 production plants in Italy: two coffee roasting plants in Turin and Verrs (Val dAosta), a capsule plant in Gattinara (Vercelli) and a decaffeination plant in Pozzilli. The company produces 1 million quintals of roasted coffee and more than 2 billion capsules each year. Lavazzas Board of Directors is composed by Alberto Lavazza, President, Giuseppe Lavazza and Marco Lavazza, Vice Presidents, Francesca Lavazza and Antonella Lavazza, Board Members. Antonio Baravalle is the Companys Chief Executive Officer. Pietro Boroli, Gabriele Galateri di Genola and Antonio Marcegaglia are also Members of the Board of Directors. In January 2012, Eleuterio Quagliarini and Daniele DAmuri joined the Group as Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer, respectively.