At Pacorini Silocaf’s remarkable green coffee handling and storage plant in Vado Ligure, Italy, a groundbreaking extension project has been completed. Cimbria, as the general contractor for this ambitious endeavor, has successfully transformed an existing structure into a state-of-the-art cutting-edge facility. This contemporary plant is now able to handle different coffee batches separately and serve multiple customers at the same time. It is Europe’s largest green coffee facility and the second largest in the world after Pacorini Silocaf’s facility in New Orleans, USA, which is the world’s largest coffee facility. It seamlessly blends technology and excellence!
Pacorini Silocaf is a world-leading company within the green coffee market, dedicated to freight forwarding, handling, processing, and storage of coffee. Operating in many countries around the world, also in the two major coffee-producing countries, Brazil and Vietnam, which account for about 80% of the world’s coffee production. Additionally, they process green coffee locally, closer to the customer, in such countries as Northern Europe, Italy, Canada, and the United States.
Plant Features and Design
Spanning 40,000 square meters, the Pacorini Silocaf plant proudly houses 84 silos, collectively storing 40,000 tons of green coffee beans sourced from around the world. Standing at 40 meters high, these towering silos are seamlessly integrated into the facility’s design. They are efficiently served by 10 Cimbria Bucket Elevators, ensuring swift and gentle handling during the transporting coffee beans, while strategically placed decliners guide the beans into the silos, maintaining top quality. The thoughtful design prevents rough falls, safeguarding the quality of the beans. Cimbria Chain Conveyors are gently transporting the beans inside the plant and Cimbria Destoners remove impurities, ensuring only the finest beans are stored. Cimbria Chain Conveyors, Cimbria Destoners, Cimbria’s intake pits, Moduflex Loading Chutes, automatic sample takers and blending and packaging systems arranged intelligently across multiple levels complete the cutting-edge infrastructure.
Technological Innovation
Sophisticated systems ensure each coffee lot is stored, processed, and blended separately. Silos, elevators, and conveyors are fully emptied after each cycle by advanced cleaning solutions, eliminating cross-contamination risks. Sensors and PLCs closely monitor and optimize the entire production flow, minimizing human intervention and ensuring the full stock management.
Customers First
The design of the plant guarantees the utmost care for the precious green coffee beans entrusted to Pacorini Silocaf by their customers, preserving the distinctive smell and taste profiles of each batch of beans throughout the process in the plant - from receipt through cleaning and storage operations. Full traceability at every stage and flexibility in processing thousands of tons of imported green coffee underpin efficient fulfillment of client needs. With its industry-leading logistics model, the facility seamlessly integrates innovation, environmental stewardship, and customer focus. At this remarkable facility, the aroma of high-quality coffee beans goes hand in hand with customer satisfaction.
Leading the way forward
Pacorini Silocaf strategically chose Cimbria as the turnkey supplier for the expansion of their Vado Ligure facility. As a global leader, it was crucial for Pacorini Silocaf, to extend the capacity, flexibility, and efficiency of the facility to continue delivering best-in-class services to their customers. Furthermore, to fully tap into their market’s potential, they sought the capability to handle and processing different products and customers individually simultaneously. The new plant design has empowered the company to achieve just that, demonstrating not only long-term commitment to the industry, but also leading the way in innovation, sustainability, and a commitment to product quality.
As the general contractor, Cimbria assumed responsibility for a wide range of activities, including coordination with third-party suppliers. The facility incorporates all the necessary equipment, including coffee handling and transport systems within the silos. Additionally, the conveying system for loading 84 coffee-dedicated silos and the extraction of coffee from these cells, which is then shipped to various operators. “The facility is currently operating at full capacity, and we at, the Pacorini Group, are very satisfied with the results,” said Riccardo Marchesi, CEO, Pacorini Silocaf.
The plant design enables complete separation of individual coffee batches, preserving the unique blend of each product. This achievement is made possible through the implementation of advanced cleaning solutions, effectively eliminating the risk of contamination from other customers’ coffee batches. Furthermore, the plant’s design facilitates full traceability throughout each process.
This turnkey project demonstrates how the strong partnership between the Pacorini Silocaf Group and Cimbria can transform an ambitious vision into a reality to revolutionize the green coffee handling by designing a plant with enhanced capacity, flexibility, and efficiency, allowing the simultaneous processing of different products and for diverse customers. It’s a seamless blend of cutting-edge technology and excellent quality.
Read more about our Complete turnkey Green Coffee Processing here.
