Faema is an Italian manufacturer of professional espresso machines, founded in 1945 in Milan by Carlo Ernesto Valente under the name Fabbrica Apparecchiature Elettro Meccaniche e Affini (FAEMA — Factory for Electromechanical Apparatus and Related Products). Today Faema is part of Gruppo Cimbali, one of the world's leading groups for professional coffee machines and café equipment; the headquarters is located in Binasco (Province of Milan), complemented by three further plants in Lombardy. The company controls around 25% of the international market for professional espresso machines and distributes through a network of 700 dealers and branches in Italy, the UK, France, Germany, Spain, Portugal, the USA and China. The founding principle of the founder — innovation must always be reconciled with ease of use and quality in the cup — shapes the entire product philosophy to this day. Faema's commitment to espresso culture also manifests in the MUMAC (Museo della Macchina da Caffè), the world's first and largest espresso machine museum, opened in 2012 in Binasco.
Milestone product: E61 (1961) — the world's first semi-automatic espresso machine with a volumetric pump and constant 9-bar pressure without a manual lever; it replaced the boiler with a heat exchanger and revolutionised barista culture. The E61 group head remains the industry standard to this day. Italy's best-selling coffee machine of the 1960s — and still in production. Further milestones: first mass-produced automatic office coffee machines, first domestic coffee machines. Designers: Ettore Sottsass, Gianfranco Salvemini, Giorgetto Giugiaro (E91 — two/three groups, semi- and fully automatic; Emblema — aeronautically inspired modular design, Good Design Award 2010 Kitchen/Appliances category). Latest development: Faemina (2025, design ItalDesign), first high-performance machine for the residential market, small offices and boutique hotels. Sports sponsorship history: Treviso Rugby, cycling (1960s/70s).
For architects, interior designers and hospitality specialists seeking for gastronomy, hotel and high-end office projects a Milanese espresso machine tradition that began in 1945 and in 1961 with the E61 revolutionised the entire barista culture — whose group head remains the industry standard to this day —, is today part of Gruppo Cimbali, is globally present with 25% international market share and 700 dealers, and with the MUMAC operates the world's first institution for espresso machine culture — Faema is a good address in the segment of historically significant professional espresso machine manufacturing.