produttori — Rovereto · Trentino-Alto Adige
In Rovereto, in the Trentino that looks toward the Mediterranean of spices and historic trade, a torrefazione (coffee roastery) founded in 1790 has stayed true to itself: artisanal, family-run, recognised as the oldest in Italy.
On Vicolo del Messaggero, in the historic heart of Rovereto, the work bench is the first witness to a production that has never stopped being manual. The beans arrive raw, are weighed, selected: every batch is worked by hand according to techniques handed down through generations, because technical progress has never replaced the judgement of those who have known coffee for generations.
The gesture has been the same since 1790: Carlo Bontadi started it all as a merchant, and later his great-great-grandson Oddone introduced the first roasting machines, still preserved today in the company museum. Over 230 years of unbroken family history, in which every handover has passed on not just a recipe, but a precise way of standing before the fire.
On the shelf, Bontadi's choices are laid out: the bar line and the home line, single-origin pods, the special reserve and the certified organic lines, also available through the online shop. A range built up over time, not to widen the catalogue, but to answer different palates without giving up the artisanal quality that marks every batch.
The CoBo museum, the Accademia del Caffè (Coffee Academy) and the bottega on Vicolo del Messaggero await those who want to meet this story up close.
