Lavazza, established in Turin, Italy in 1895, has been owned by the family of the same name for four generations. The world's seventh ranking coffee roaster, today Lavazza is the retail market leader in Italy with a market share by value of over 47% (source Nielsen), 2,700 employees and sales of 1,340 million euros (2013).

The company has six production sites, four in Italy and two abroad, and operates through associated companies and distributors in more than 90 countries. Lavazza exports 46% of its production today. Lavazza credits itself with inventing the concept of blending, "the art of combining different types of coffee from different geographical areas", in its early years and claims this as a distinctive feature of all its products.

The company also has 25 years of experience in the production and sale of portioned coffee systems. Today, through ongoing partnerships with an international network of universities and scientific research centers, Lavazza operates four platforms in this segment. In 1979 the company established the "Luigi Lavazza Centre for coffee research" which is "devoted to the study of espresso" and has evolved into the Lavazza Training Centre, a network of over 50 coffee schools worldwide, where 30 thousand people receive training each year.