Doram
What a bizarre take. He seems to have completely ignored the fact that the very existence of the âthird waveâ and subsequently the reason a lot of us are even discussing this hobby is because there was a desire to move away from automation.
Over 10 years ago, the âsecond waveâ (Starbucks) moved from La Marzocco to more automated and efficient processes, the independent artisan shops popped up to service the appetite for craft and quality, at the cost of some convenience and price.
Automated machines have been around for decades, if these shops really wanted to âmove away from the craftâ theyâve had many years to do it.
Take almost any industry and there will always be a market for efficient and low cost and then an artisanal higher end. Cars, clothes, musical instruments, computing⌠coffee.
Just like weâve always had the choice of getting a Nespresso or DeLonghi bean to cup, this isnât a new âtrendâ.
My guess as before is just that DeLonghi want to include some kind of âPowered by La Marzoccoâ badge on their machines and to be fair I can see why theyâd pay an enormous premium to be able to put one of the most prestigious names in coffee on their products.
Itâs happening in other industries. The Swatch group putting the Omega or Blancpain name on lower-end watches, charging a premium and watching customers flock in huge numbers.
For La Marzocco, we can hope itâs just a big payday and they continue as theyâve said, to operate independently. As above, the Omega Moonswatch hasnât cheapened the Speedmaster, if anything itâs probably opened the door for future watch enthusiasts to save for the ÂŁ6k watch.