Caffitaly's €100M recapitalization gives CEO Zocchi a relaunch plan (interview)

In an interview with Italian trade daily Comunicaffe International published on 30 September 2025, on the eve of HostMilano, Caffitaly CEO Andrea Zocchi laid out how the coffee-machine and capsule maker — Italy's seventh-largest roaster by revenue — closed a recapitalization on 12 September after more than 18 months of financial difficulty. The company used the Italian "composizione negoziata della crisi" negotiated crisis-settlement procedure to shield itself from creditors while the deal was put together.

Belgian holding company CNP, the majority shareholder, and Italy's Alpha Group put in €37 million of equity and persuaded creditor banks to convert half of their loans into financial participation instruments worth roughly €60 million, for a total equity improvement of about €100 million. Debt now stands at just over 3.5 times EBITDA, Zocchi said. He had joined as CFO and COO in early 2024, when leverage pressure was severe, and took over as CEO on 1 July 2025.

The three-year industrial plan targets 10% annual growth, lifting revenue from €130 million to over €200 million and EBITDA to at least 15% of sales. Levers include investing in the roughly 100 single-brand stores, expanding office coffee service, raising capsule output 150% and machine output 40% by 2026 at the 55,000-square-metre Capriate plant, and launching three coffee-and-milk machines developed with Costa Coffee for the British chain.

Equity improved by ~€100M: €37M new money from CNP and Alpha Group plus ~€60M of bank loans converted; debt now just over 3.5x EBITDA (self-reported in interview).

Debt built on steady-growth assumptions turned unserviceable once the business plans were missed and cash generation fell short, Zocchi said.

Italy's negotiated crisis-settlement procedure shielded the company from creditors while a relaunch deal was assembled over 18 months.

Fresh equity alone would not have restored the balance sheet; converting half the bank loans into participation instruments cut debt materially.

The plan leans on channels the domestic-first company barely served — office coffee service and retail expansion — to justify the new capital structure.

A negotiated crisis procedure buys protection, but the reset only holds when new equity is paired with debt conversion and an operating plan run by a manager who knows the numbers.

The deal closed on 12 September 2025 and Zocchi presented the plan at HostMilano 2025. The company keeps its eight-gram capsule standard despite rising green coffee costs, accepting lower short-term margins; 98% of plastic capsules are recyclable and an industrial-compostable version exists, with aluminium under evaluation. The first of three Costa Coffee machines was unveiled in September 2025. Zocchi targets more than €30 million of value creation and a company attractive to new investors.