The Café Affetto is a fully automatic bean-to-cup espresso machine designed with a compact 7" wide footprint and smart home capabilities to ensure seamless integration into the modern kitchen environment. WiFi connectivity with drink customization technology allows users to sync the machine with the SmartHQ app – and adapt preferences by coffee style, volume and strength. A built-in conical burr grinder with adjustable grind size delivers consistency, with five levels from coarse to fine. Beans are stored in a built-in bean hopper and are extracted using gradually increasing pressure to ensure a balanced flavor profile. With one touch brew, the machine dispenses espresso, americano, a customizable 'my cup', or hot water in 90 seconds – and features a built-in milk frother for lattes and macchiatos. Its clean modern design features seamless, organic rounded edges finished in matte white, black or silver – with signature brushed copper accents on the base and spout cylinder.

INNOVATION: The innovation of Café Affetto is in its integration of smart home connectivity with the professional-level capabilities of a traditional espresso machine. The result is a machine that enables users to make any coffee shop drink at home – with one-touch simplicity, refined contemporary design, and a 7" compact footprint. Built-in WiFi allows the user to connect the machine to the smart home app, and change the machine's settings on their phone to curate their perfect coffee. The built-in stainless steel grinder enables them to choose from five precise settings and customize their optimum grind consistency. 20 BARs of pressure for bean extraction is the industry gold standard for optimal flavor profile. Together, the machine's smart home capabilities and the rigorous functionality of the grinder, bean hopper and intuitive pressurizer bring quality espresso to the modern home.

BENEFIT TO USER: People turned to at-home espresso during the pandemic. The benefit of the Café Affetto is that it brings barista-quality coffee and the coffee shop experience to the home, in a time where users are spending more time there than ever. Users can customize both the design of the machine and the style of their coffee, and find convenience in its one-touch brewing functionality. Using the machine's built-in WiFi, they can connect it to the smart home app on their phone and express their coffee preferences in a tailored way – from the type of drink, to the consistency of the espresso bean grind. The built-in frother makes it simple for users to make lattes, cappuccinos and macchiatos. At a compact 7" wide, the machine minimizes countertop clutter and its smooth curvilinear form integrates effortlessly into a range of kitchen environments. Users can choose from three premium matte metallic finishes – black, white or silver – to tailor their machine to their interior style.

BENEFIT TO BRAND: The Café brand designs major appliances that are performance-led and tailorable to the consumers' personal style – encompassing traditional and contemporary kitchen. The sleek yet professional finish of the Café Affetto fits perfectly in both, and extends the aesthetic of Café's major kitchen appliances to the countertop. Its design draws on the copper detailing found in traditional professional espresso machines, as well as their precise bean extraction and pressurizer capabilities. The result is a compact countertop appliance that home-owner consumers can pair with any Café product. For renters and a younger audience, the machine is an accessible entry-point into the Café brand and has helped to build brand awareness within these demographics.

BENEFIT TO SOCIETY: From a social perspective, the pandemic stripped away many of the small daily rituals that bring pleasure to people's lives. For many, coffee is one of these rituals. The Café Affetto makes barista coffee accessible in the home, allowing people to conveniently maintain their rituals and take back some control of their day-to-day. The Café Affetto is also environmentally conscious. It avoids the waste-producing nature of disposable espresso pods in favor of the quality and sustainability of bean-to-cup coffee production.

AESTHETICS: The Café Affetto's modern yet timeless designs allows it to easily fit into a variety of kitchen aesthetics, as well as seamlessly align with all Café appliances. Its copper accents are found across the brand's major appliances, while fluted details on the copper spout nod to heritage Italian espresso machines. Available in three premium finishes, the machine is designed to complement a variety of kitchen environments.

Married with sleek touch controls and integrated smart home connectivity, the machine strikes a perfect balance between artisanal and technological. The touch controls are featured on the top of the machine for useability, and the interface is simple and intuitive. Further drink customization is available via the app, where it's simpler for users to interact with modifiers. This also keeps the machine's interface simple by minimizing its number of controls. The water tank, bean storage and waste disposal tray are integrated within the machine to maintain a clean, tailored appearance. At 7" wide, the Café Affetto is designed to save space and avoid clutter on the countertop.