Bringing Lavazza’s 1895 Signature Coffee Story to Life With Michelin Star Chef Yannick Alléno

Cristiano Portis, Yannick Alléno and Diego Bermúdez tasting coffee at Finca El Paraíso.

Cristiano Portis has a pretty adventurous job. He travels the globe in search of the world’s finest coffee beans, visiting farms in remote regions of Brazil, Colombia, and Vietnam that are steeped in coffee tradition.

As the lead Coffee Designer for 1895, a specialty coffee brand created by Italian roaster Lavazza, Portis identifies high-quality beans and develops unique roasts with notes of cacao, red plum, or tropical fruits, adding new possibilities to consumers’ palates.

The 1895 brand is growing steadily in Lavazza's home country of Italy and other parts of Europe, as people seek new ways of consuming coffee that go beyond the intense and bitter flavor of an espresso.

Portis says there is still a lot of work to do to create greater awareness about coffee and educate consumers about all the options available to them.

“The majority of people have no idea this drink comes from a cherry,” he says in an interview from his office in the Italian city of Turin. “We need to create more awareness about coffee, so that people can relate to this product, like they relate to olive oil or wine.”

Portis and Lavazza’s 1895 brand has recently partnered with WhereNext to further educate consumers about the origins and possibilities of coffee.

The alliance was centered around a specialty coffee blend that 1895 launched last year with Yannick Alléno, a celebrity chef from France, who has won 17 Michelin stars, and is famous for experimenting with fermented ingredients in his sauces.

The Yannick Alléno 1895 Signature Blend is a dark roast with notes of dried plums and cacao, crafted from fermented coffee beans sourced from Colombia, Guatemala, and Brazil.

1895 Coffee Designers by Lavazza embarked on a journey to Colombia to discover the finest coffee and celebrate the expertise of the growers who bring it to life.

To promote the blend and teach customers about its origins, Alleno travelled to the Finca El Paraíso in Colombia’s Cauca province, where coffee grower Diego Bermudez has been experimenting with fermentation techniques for years.

WhereNext documented Chef Alleno’s trip to Colombia and produced a short film about his encounter with Bermudez and the farm workers.

A series of short, vertical videos and still photos was also produced for 1895’s Instagram account, introducing viewers to Finca El Paraíso and showcasing how coffee is grown, tested, and prepared before being shipped to 1895’s roasting facility in Turin, helping to deepen appreciation for the brand.

Hero video of the video series produced by WhereNext for 1895 Coffee Designers by Lavazza.

Sandra Eichmann, WhereNext’s General Manager, said that filming Chef Alleno’s visit to Finca El Paraíso was a “challenging” assignment because the team only had two days in the field to work with the busy chef. However, it was a project that also showcased WhereNext's "capability to deliver a quality product, while working with brands and people that are known around the world.” 

The videos feature drone shots, interviews, and high-resolution footage of the coffee-growing process, which helps transport viewers to Finca El Paraíso.

WhereNext captured this journey with cinematic storytelling, bringing to life stories behind Yannick Alléno Signature Blend.

Eichmann said WhereNext drew on over a decade of experience producing cinematic assets for leading international brands, including Abercrombie & Kent, Nescafe, and Christian Dior, to quickly assemble a team capable of capturing the story behind the 1895 Signature Blend. Rather than focusing on consumer education, the film centered on the encounter between Chef Yannick Alléno and coffee innovator Diego Bermúdez, as well as the creative vision of Cristiano Portis, the lead coffee designer of 1895.

“Whether you are talking about a chef from France or a coffee grower from Colombia, we are able to capture their essence and show what drives them to do what they do”

— Eichmann said

In projects like The Birders or Inmense Orinoquia, a series about environmental defenders produced for the World Wildlife Fund, WhereNext has also developed the expertise to create stories centered around interesting personalities.

Cristiano Portis, the Lavazza Coffeeelier, said that the videos of chef Alleno’s trip to Finca El Paraíso align neatly with his company’s goal of educating consumers about coffee.

He envisions a future where customers in Europe can discern between the different types of beans and blends on the market and make purchasing decisions that are not just based on price, but also on quality. “For us, it's very important to describe who the producer is, the terroir, and the community behind the coffee,” Portis said.

He added that he would like to produce more documentary-style videos about the coffee growers that Lavazza works with, so that people can understand where coffee comes from, just as they understand how wine is made. And to distinguish a Geisha from a Bourbon coffee, just as easily as they recognize the difference between a Merlot and a Cabernet Sauvignon.

He said that videos of places like Finca El Paraíso are an asset not just for Lavazza, but for the coffee industry as a whole.

“It’s something that also benefits the small roaster,” Portis said. “We have the ability to send the message and to reach more people, but the small roaster also benefits from more discerning customers.”