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New Coffee Venture
The 20-year-old Lake Zurich-based company, makes coffee brewers, dispensers, coffee grinders, and hot-water dispensers.
Two men had a longstanding disdain for that bitter, stale taste of coffee sitting too long on the burner, Instead of putting up with it, they decided to do something about it.
Ziggy Lassota and Christopher Nowak, immigrants from Poland, are owners of FETCO of Lake Zurich, which is marking its 20th anniversary this year.
"Coffee is perishable and it deteriorates after it is brewed. After 20 minutes, the process is accelerated," Lassota said.
The two men, both coffee connoisseurs, worked for a coffee machine company in Chicago -- Lassota as a designer and Nowak in quality control -- for years before they started their venture.
They created an innovative coffee brewing system that extracted not only the best possible cup of coffee, but also held it at serving temperature without heating it.
Their answer was an insulated thermal dispenser, an industry first. Their coffee machines, grinders and unique dispensers have been granted 42 U.S. and foreign patents. Another 25 patents are pending. Their products, however, are geared toward the commercial market, not to consumers who, of course, are the ultimate users.
Until they started their company in 1987, there were no insulated dispensers in the coffee industry, Nowak said.
Starbucks uses their products. Others include big hotel chains like Sheridan, Marriott and Nikko. Their coffee machines, depending on model and capacity, can brew from 4 cups to a whopping 60 gallons.
Lassota and Nowak first set up shop in a 2,000-square-foot facility in Glenview. Steadily outgrowing their space, they moved to a larger facility in Glenview and then to Lincolnshire before building a 200,000-square-foot corporate headquarters and manufacturing plant two years ago on Rose Road in Lake Zurich. About 200 people are employed there.
Meanwhile, they also went back to their roots, opening a 100,000-square-foot facility near Warsaw, Poland, which employs 100 people.
"In addition to manufacturing, we have product testing and research at both locations," Lassota said.
"We are working continuously to improve our products," Nowak said.
One of their newest is the award-winning Luxus thermal dispensers, which offer "exceptional" thermal-holding technology, the company says. They also come with a built-in drip tray, volume indicator and freshness timer.
To celebrate FETCO's 20th anniversary, the company is holding a contest to find the oldest machine FETCO made that is still in use. It is called CBS-52H. CBS, by the way, stands for coffee brewing system and 52H is the model number.
The winner will get an expense-paid trip for two to the Specialty Coffee Association trade show May 4-7 Long Beach, Calif. The winner will also receive a replacement coffee machine.
suburbanchicagonews.com
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