Founded in 1919 by Alfonso Bialetti in Crusinallo, a small town in Italy’s Piedmont region, Bialetti began as a workshop specializing in aluminum semi-finished products. Originally called Alfonso Bialetti & Co., the company laid the foundation for a brand that would become a global icon of Italian design and innovation.

The company’s pivotal moment came in 1933 with the invention of the Moka Express, designed by Alfonso Bialetti to bring the quality of café coffee into Italian homes. Named after the Yemeni city of Mocha, historically renowned for its coffee trade, its octagonal aluminum shape and ingenious design made it easy to use and affordable, to the point it revolutionized coffee preparation.