The opening of a shop was the beginning of La Genovese.
It was 1936 when Dario Valle opened a small roasting shop with no other “frills”, coffee was the only product. The shop in via Mazzini in Albenga, which served as both a shop, a laboratory, and a warehouse, was dedicated to retail sales. Right from the start, however, the roasting company also began to sell to bars and restaurants on the Ligurian Riviera and delivering coffee on a bicycle.
Since then, despite four generations having passed, the philosophy of La Genovese has not changed. We roast our coffee by hand trying to maintain a direct relationship with customers also through the presence of a shop in our area.
Of course, there have been changes over the years, since 1949 when Giuseppe Borea bought the first van, a FIAT Topolino, and the coffee distribution business reached the entire Riviera.
And then in the sixties the first change. From the 60 square meters of the first small shop, to little for the business, it has gone to 170 square meters in via Vittorio Veneto. Even the shop is transformed and begins to sell, in addition to coffee, other colonial products such as chocolate and candies. But everything stays together: roasting, warehouse and retail.
In 2003 another change. And again, for reasons of space. The roasting company moves to the industrial area of Albenga and the shop takes over all the space in Via Vittorio Veneto and transforms itself into “Caffé e Dintorni”. The new store, always dedicated to selling all our blends, ground and in grains, expands the range of colonial products alongside confectionery products of the highest quality.
And let’s get to today…
In the last twenty years the world of coffee has changed dramatically.
Consumer demand for high quality coffee and blends has increased. Single-origin, specialty coffee and sustainable fair coffee are increasingly part of our daily life, as are the new extraction methods. The community of coffee lovers has grown thanks to social media and coffees are sold online. The La Genovese market has also gone beyond the borders of the Riviera and is now present on most European markets, in Asia and in the United States.
For all these reasons, Caffè e Dintorni ends its journey, to be reborn in the next few months in something new.
Times have changed, coffee ideas are in constant motion and our way of relating to our territory also needs to innovate. In the name of the aroma of roasted coffee.