Gift Shop > Handpresso
With the Handpresso concept, a whole industry has been challenged as the Handpresso brand has become the global leader in the market for mobile espresso coffee. While the whole industry was focusing on fully automatic machines or closed pod systems, Handpresso took the opposite direction by creating the world’s smallest espresso machine, which can be taken anywhere, much like a Swiss Army Knife (the inspiration behind the Handpresso design).
Handpresso's founder Henrik Nielsen loves good espresso, is a coffee-addict and travels a lot. At one point he was staying in a very exclusive hotel but still couldn’t drink a decent coffee in his room, so he started to think of a portable espresso machine that he could bring with him whenever he travelled. He decided that he wanted an espresso machine slightly larger than a Swiss army knife. Since he also loves bikes and had worked in that field too, the idea to build up the pressure of the espresso by pumping also came quite naturally. Hence, the bicycle pump was his second source of inspiration.
Having worked in the small appliance area, he noticed that Espresso machines were increasingly sophisticated and expensive. A modern espresso maker looks more like a nuclear power plant than a simple household product to be used by normal people. Most espresso machines are difficult to maintain, take up precious space on the table top and are also quite expensive. Nielsen chose to design the opposite way and instead looked for simplicity. He decided to make something simple, which can be easily stored away, which require zero maintenance, and which are also environmentally friendly!
Handpresso's motto has always been Leonardo da Vinci’s "Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication." This was applied to the Handpresso products to make the simplest espresso machine ever, with a minimum number of functions, only those required to make a good espresso. And what a success this design philosophy has been!
