The Consortium for the Development and Protection of the Standard E.S.E. is truly unique as it unites leading coffee roasters and coffee machine manufacturers who actively compete on the global market while collaborating within the Consortium to develop new offerings and strengthen the single-servings coffee “system” (machines and paper pods).
The Consortium for the Development and Protection of the Standard E.S.E. (Easy Serving Espresso) was established on 23 February 1998, in accordance with the wishes of seven founding members (companies in the coffee roasting and espresso machine manufacturing sectors).
The Consortium is a non-profit organization that owns, manages, and promotes the E.S.E. (*) collective mark and the homonymous international industry standard by:
- raising the consumers and sector operators’ awareness of the E.S.E. collective mark and brand name products marketed by each member company;
- controls and protects the mark from being used by companies not associated with the Consortium;
- implements communication activities across different sectors.
With the support of its members (listed below), whom partake in all strategic choices, the Consortium E.S.E. has consolidated its role and the position of the Standard E.S.E. as a global reference point for espresso market stakeholders world-wide.
The Consortium was founded and established the E.S.E. mark – now recognized in many different countries – within a newly emerging market characterized by great confusion both in terms of the roles and goals of its stakeholders.
The Consortium E.S.E. seeks to stimulate and foster an open, frank and constructive debate among different players in the single-servings coffee market (pods and capsules in paper, plastic and aluminium), especially in view of:
- its being the only platform where national and international market-leading coffee roasters, coffee machine manufacturers and retailers can meet and interact;
- its wealth of technical knowledge and market experience;
- its intent to promote “coopetition” (cooperative competition) among different operators and systems.
(*) The E.S.E. collective mark is registered in more than 100 Countries (list available upon request). The Consortium provides Members with the means by which to use the E.S.E. mark on their packaging and for communication and promotional initiatives, in addition to stimulating ideas and opportunities for cross-marketing and co-operative advertising. The Consortium is an intermediation platform as well as the “institutional voice” for the advantages of the system; as such it does not “sell the E.S.E. product” but advocates and facilitates its distribution.