The Italian coffee company Lavazza is bringing a new event format to the Austrian capital in early summer. From June 30th to July 2nd, 2026, the company will be hosting an event entitled "Casa di Luigi" at the Calienna Concept Store in Vienna's Neubaugasse.
The three-day brand event in Vienna's seventh district aims to bring the traditional North Italian coffeehouse atmosphere to the urban setting. Alongside coffee tastings, the event focuses on interaction with a service robot named Luigi, developed specifically for this campaign. Luigi will analyze coffee drinkers' consumption habits and explore the social aspect of coffee drinking.
The event serves as a platform for the long-established Turin-based family business to launch new products in the competitive capsule market. Visitors to the temporary experience area can sample two new flavored coffees for the first time, specially developed for the Nespresso Original system. With these so-called "flavored capsules," Lavazza aims to further expand its market share in the portioned coffee system sector in Austria, but explicitly emphasizes its legal independence from competitor Nestlé and its protected Nespresso brand in its consumer information. In addition to product tastings, the company offers on-site professional short workshops on coffee knowledge and barista preparation, which are open to visitors without prior registration.
With its experiential pop-up concept, the coffee brand is responding to the ongoing marketing trend of combining products with interactive elements and technological innovations. The use of the robot Luigi blends modern automation technology with traditional hospitality to appeal to a younger, tech-savvy target group in an urban setting. Vienna, with its rich coffeehouse heritage, is considered a demanding yet strategically important test market for international coffee brands. The temporary takeover of existing concept stores allows global consumer goods manufacturers to gather direct customer feedback on new products in brick-and-mortar retail without long-term leases.