Here at Rocco, we find it hard to represent who are we, what we do, and why we do what we do across to you on our website. And with Gino being super busy delivering coffee machines to the Isle of Arran this week, maintaining the hundreds of machines we have out to customers and helping Claire manage the day-to-day running of the business, we decided to ask Gino some questions that he could quickly reply to.

We hope you enjoy Part One and we will do more soon, permitting we’re able to clone Gino.

Hi, Gino! What made you start a business within the coffee industry? And how long have you been serving coffee machines and coffee beans to Scotland?

Now I think about it, it’s been nearly 15 years. Rocco grew from my passion for providing an excellent product and an individually tailored solution to deliver this. Customers I was engaging with were being let down by poor quality and empty promises from large suppliers. My frustration at customers disappointment time and time again was grating so, along with my wife Claire we decided to take the plunge and go it alone. It’s been a journey we’ve really enjoyed and continues to be driven by the customer experience.

We see more and more different types of businesses offer coffee to their customers. Do you have examples of that?

Our largest growth area just now is by far the modern office and we have really established ourselves in this market. It’s quite amazing and exciting that we are installing more and more traditional espresso machines as well as bean to cup machines in offices. This allows us to deliver barista training to the discerning coffee drinker in the workplace ensuring the best performance out their equipment and selection of beans. Second to that is leisure industry whether that be high-end salons or indeed sports complexes – it is now expected that your coffee offering is superior to the days gone by.

Let’s say you have the best machine and the best barista making your coffee, it’s still not going to taste great if you don’t have the best coffee beans, is that right?

You can be a racing driver and have a Ferrari, but if you don’t use the best quality tyres then the car won’t perform well – coffee is no different. It’s such a false economy to use lesser quality beans that have sat in a warehouse for goodness knows how long, been affected by temperature variations etc. With reasonable equipment and fantastic fresh coffee, you can really produce an exceptional drink. Rocco worked with our customers and have developed 4 unique blends of beans for our customers to choose from, all roasted each month so your delivery is as fresh as it can possibly be. And roasted here in Scotland for you, importantly saving on our carbon footprint!

Thanks, Gino!