1943.
Italy, barely, tried to get out of a war that had weakened the economy and left rubble everywhere. Catanzaro and Calabria had paid a high price to the cause of the World War and the future seemed anything but rosy.
With the impoverished people who could only rely on their desire for redemption, the chances that someone would give life to an increasingly solid and loved business, seemed very few. But, almost as if it were a fable, those times so hard and uncertain were the best soil on which Guglielmo’s coffee could grow and take root. Thanks to the passion, the heart and the desire to show that the future could be brilliant that Guglielmo Papaleo lavished, day by day, in building his dream. A dream started in 1935 when Guglielmo Papaleo began as a salesman in a grocery shop in the historic center of Catanzaro. But after 8 years of employee work, he decided that it was time to give life to his creature, so, in the same city, he opened a shop on Corso Mazzini, inside which he placed a small coffee machine.
Between sacrifices and difficulties, Guglielmo Papaleo continues his idea with stubbornness and in 1947 he begins the real activity of production, sale and tasting of coffee, until, ten years later, he manages to start the first roasting, in Catanzaro in the Sala district . It was an establishment composed of customs warehouses, production department and administrative offices. Caffè Guglielmo also began to launch the first advertising campaigns.
The path is full of satisfactions, all based on the quality of the product offered and on the image of the self that the company has been able to build over time. Thus, in 1972, the new factory was inaugurated to mark a turning point in the production of coffee in Calabria thanks to the use of modern machinery.
Today, in every cup of Caffè Guglielmo, there are all 70 years of history that have seen three generations of the family of Guglielmo Papaleo dedicate themselves to coffee roasting with innate passion and always new stimuli in the care of the product and the customer.
Caffè Guglielmo is born looking at the wonderful sea of Calabria, in a factory of over 10,000 square meters overlooking the picturesque Gulf of Squillace, in the exclusive Copanello, a few kilometers from the capital of the Calabria region, Catanzaro.
Guglielmo Caffè is today one of the biggest entrepreneurial companies in the South. Roasting offers an image halfway between avant-garde and tradition. It is not a common company but a large family and represents an extraordinary example of efficiency and production capacity thanks to the daily commitment of about 60 employees between the production department and the administrative area.
To stay close to our customers, we decided to look at both consumer markets and then sell our coffee both in the domestic sector and the Ho.Re.Ca.
In over 70 years of history, we have developed a specific know-how of which we are particularly proud. It is made of ancient knowledge but always updated by the new methodologies: the right mix of tradition and innovation turns into a great attention for the end customer, to whom we always want to guarantee the highest quality standards and the maintenance of those costs. organoleptic requirements that make a cup of Guglielmo coffee unique and easily recognizable.
The production offers a choice of six lines of coffee, ground and beans: 5 Stars, Classic Espresso, Gold Espresso, Extra Bar, Coffee Shop and the Silver can, to which are added those related to Decaffeinated, Organic and Coffee Capsules. A separate chapter is the production dedicated to the Bar, which culminates in the precious Club 99, the result of research that has led to the creation of a unique coffee with a full-bodied and velvety taste, and in the 1970 blend of coffee beans.