The Moccamaster story begins with Dutch industrial engineer Gerard Clement Smit’s passion for invention and love of coffee. Early in his career, Mr. Smit provided industrial design services for other firms, but he always knew that he wanted to forge his own way and go into business for himself. In 1964, that vision became a reality when he founded his own company called Technivorm.
At the onset, Technivorm’s origins were not in the coffee industry at all— they were initially known for producing step ladders and shelving systems designed by Smit. In 1965, Technivorm made its mark on the coffee world with the invention of a revolutionary coffee grinder designed for home use— something that previously had been unavailable to the general consumer. This new aerodynamic grinding system solved the problem of coffee beans heating during the grinding process (thus affecting their flavor) and caught the eye of legendary Dutch coffee brand Douwe Egberts, who partnered with Technivorm for the grinder’s distribution.
Encouraged by the innovation and success of the home grinder, Douwe Egberts partnered with Mr. Smit to create a home brewing system that would produce the same quality of coffee brewers in commercial environments. Tasked with this challenge, Mr. Smit set out on his journey to not only design the first home coffee brewer, but to design a machine that would brew the best tasting cup of coffee while demonstrating a quality in craftsmanship that would last a lifetime. After several years of research and development, and expanding the factory to work on the brewer, the vision became a reality and the Moccamaster 68 coffee brewer was introduced to the Dutch market in 1969.
This Dutch coffee maker was received with great acclaim and success. As the distributor, Douwe Egberts thought they could sell 150,000 brewers over a 6-year span but to their delight, they ended up selling all 150,000 within the first year! Word of this innovative brewer got out and Moccamaster reputation quickly grew. In 1971, Moccamaster was introduced to the Scandinavia market (the Nordic region drinks more coffee per capita than anywhere in the world) and to this day, Moccamaster remains the market leader in the Nordic region. But Mr. Smit did not rest on the laurels of his early success.
Continuing the collaboration with Douwe Egberts and the industry experts at the Norwegian Coffee Association, Mr. Smit’s research into what makes the perfect cup of coffee led him to refine the design of the original Moccamaster. In 1976, Technivorm debuted the KB 741— the iconic Moccamaster coffee brewer beloved by specialty coffee enthusiasts and known for its precise engineering and unique design. Building off of its predecessor’s strong reputation, the launch of the Moccamaster KB was so successful that the Technivorm factory, located in Amerongen, Netherlands, was redirected to focus exclusively on producing Moccamaster brewers to keep up with the growing demand. With minimal changes to the original design, the Moccamaster KB is still in production today, handmade in the Technivorm factory, and enjoyed by millions around the world.
