First published in NZBusiness
La Marzocco has transformed Aotearoa New Zealand's aging café equipment challenge into a thriving repair and refurbishment opportunity.
The Italian espresso machine manufacturer built its reputation on durable coffee equipment, but market saturation forced a strategic change in the way it was doing business.
"There's a natural ceiling to how many new machines can enter the market," says La Marzocco’s Managing Director, Tom Handiside.
"That's when we saw a clear need and opportunity for refurbishment. Once we changed our mindset, we saw immense benefit both in terms of sustainability and business resilience.”
La Marzocco launched its refurbishment programme in 2018. Machines are completely disassembled, components cleaned and tested, functional parts reused and electronics replaced, where necessary.
Refurbished units meet the same standards as new machines, use only genuine La Marzocco parts, and come with the same warranty. This dedication has created an unexpected challenge. Demand for refurbished machines has grown and waiting lists now extend up to six months.
“That surge has validated our ongoing investment in this area and embedded refurbishment as a core part of our long-term operation,” says Tom.
Supporting the right to repair
La Marzocco's repair-first philosophy puts it in a good position to comply with New Zealand's proposed Right to Repair legislation. If passed into law, manufacturers will be required to ensure that spare parts, repair facilities, technical manuals and tools are available so their products can be fixed by them, the customer or a third-party repairer.
"The Bill would help formalise what responsible manufacturers are already doing, offering clearer expectations and protections under the Consumer Guarantees Act.
"If anything, it would validate the approach we've already taken and give us further momentum to expand.”
La Marzocco already stocks genuine spare parts, provides public access to technical manuals and actively avoids planned obsolescence when introducing new technologies.
Tom says the key to making repair mainstream lies in investing in the pipeline of repair professionals through skills development, training opportunities and elevating the status of technical work across industries.
“We’re actively building a broader network of technical support across Aotearoa, and we see enormous potential for growth. The industry is hungry for repair-minded talent.
“We’re strong believers in empowering local repair networks, especially in regions where our team can’t easily reach. It’s all part of our ‘repair-first, replace-last’ philosophy.
"New Zealand has the chance to be a global leader in this space, showing how high-quality repairability can drive sustainability, economic opportunity, and innovation all at once.
“For us, that's the future and we're proud to be contributing to it."
Building customer and team loyalty
The repair-focused approach has strengthened customer relationships. La Marzocco's brand promise—'Built to last. Supported for life’—resonates well with sustainability-conscious customers.
“Customers recognise the authenticity behind our approach and that builds long-term trust and strong relationships."
The programme also has benefits for the team.
"Our technicians are gaining new skills and purpose. They're vocal about how rewarding it is to work on something that aligns with their values. For us, that's invaluable. It helps us attract and retain great people who believe in what we do."
The Consumer Guarantees Act (Right to Repair) Amendment Bill is currently with the select committee for consideration. Read the open letter to the members of parliament, co-authored by the Right to Repair Coalition.
La Marzocco is part of the Sustainable Business Network and is included in our Next 95 list of innovators and visionaries.