As well bodied as the Bugattis, luxurious cars assembled barely a handful of kilometers away, the Reneka professional coffee machines are designed with cutting-edge technologies and assembled by hand in the small village of Rosheim, near Strasbourg. Centennial, the company which once also manufactured chrome-plating parts for the prestigious automobile firm Bugatti, has supplied roasters and distributors around the world for almost ninety years.
The only designer and manufacturer of professional coffee machines in France, Reneka is recognized by professionals for its reliability, its ease of use, but also for its technical innovations such as the steam lance or its percolator. More than coffee machines, they are true manually crafted works of art that professionals love to see in their establishment. Metal, wood, chrome, counters, etc.
Some foreign customers have even let themselves go and gone beyond the options offered, although they were already numerous, to ask for gold cladding or laser-cut and luminous signage… Manufacturing with very French know-how and registered patents which allow for the small Alsatian company to resist in a very competitive market, occupied mainly by Italian professional machines, or Swiss for those for individuals with Nespresso.
“Show your know-how”
If the Alsatian company achieves 79% of its sales internationally, it does not intend to see its future in France in coffee grounds and is taking the lead. “The French market is mainly based on the rental of machines from roasters,” analyzes Shir Hermeche, communications manager at Reneka. We pay less attention to the equipment when it is rental, so this mode is perhaps not very favorable to our high-end machines,” says Reneka. Regardless, the company with a turnover of 5.6 million in 2022 (including one million in France) wants to “reconquer the French market and make Alsatians proud to have high-end coffee machines”, announces Shir Hermeche.
Driven by a sharp increase in international coffee consumption, around 3.3% in 2022-2023 according to Reneka, the company, which has less than thirty employees, is also developing its sector for individuals, with a smaller model : the Family Home. A niche which “contributes to making the brand known to the general French public and by extension to professionals as well”, rejoices Shir Hermeche.
For the moment, the company manufactures on average around 2,000 machines each year, without having to manage stocks, because it is made to order. “Expand yes, but in a network that is holy,” emphasizes Shir Hermeche. A network that respects our methodology, our traditional way of working. Conquer new markets yes, but while remaining on a human scale. » The secret, certainly, of this Alsatian success.