Coffee Service Group

Business partners

Kris Hillewaert & Patrick Hillewaere

Equity stake

Entry

2024

Website

http://www.hillewaert.com

April 2024 Hillewaert welcomed Sofindev as a strategic partner to support its strong position and ambitions in the professional coffee machine market in the Benelux. In July 2024 Espresso Service Dienst (ESD) joined forces with Hillewaert. The strategic partners continued their growth trajectory as Coffee Service Group (CSG).

Hillewaert was founded in 1997 by Kris Hillewaert, Patrick Hillewaere and their respective wives. Under the leadership of Kris Hillewaert and Patrick Hillewaere, the activities in sales and maintenance of professional coffee machines were set up.

In 1993, Peter Veerkamp founded ESD and started selling and servicing professional coffee machines. Soon after, Nico Klinkenberg also joined the company, who had gained prior experience in the coffee and service industry.

With more than 130 employees, 5 branches of which 2 in the Netherlands (Zeewolde and Purmerend) and 3 in Belgium (Knokke-Heist, Hasselt and Antwerp), and with premium brands such as Franke, Faema, Astoria and Yunio, the new CSG aspires to be and remain the leading supplier of coffee machines and service. In doing so, continuous innovation and 24h personal service are essential. In 2023 Hillewaert and ESD realized a turnover of respectively 30 million euros and 14 million euros.

For years Hillewaert has been the Benelux distributor of the leading brand Franke, which is a renowned manufacturer of high quality and smart fully automatic coffee machines. In addition, Hillewaert also distributes Faema manual espresso machines. Faema is Italian-made and the ideal machine for the sophisticated barista who wants to add a personal touch to his coffee creations.

For several years, Hillewaert has also been marketing its own fully automatic espresso machine under the Yunio brand, ideal for smaller offices, catering establishments or at home. This complete range of high-quality machines allows Hillewaert to quickly serve its customers a total offering. In terms of technology, reliability, capabilities and appearance, these brands are among the absolute best in the world.

ESD became part of Verdi Koffie Groep, a true family business with more than 60 employees, from technicians, planners, drivers, warehouse staff, internal and external sales teams to the finance and marketing departments. From a central office in Purmerend, North Holland, local customers and large (hotel) chains, caterers and wholesalers are supplied with machines and service.

ESD and Hillewaert already worked closely together in recent years in the distribution of Franke and its own fully automatic espresso machine brand, Yunio, for smaller offices and catering businesses. In addition, both companies share a similar vision and corporate culture.

The strong focus on quality, innovation, service, delivery speed and reliability and offering additional added value is part of the basis of CSGs success and rapid growth. Among other things, the company is committed to providing remote monitoring systems (IoT - Internet of Things) so that customer needs can be monitored even better and maintenance can be planned preventively. The majority of customers opt for a maintenance contract. This gives them the guarantee that a technician will arrive within 24 hours in case of failure and allows them to calculate their annual costs in advance. ESD's expertise in water systems will also be rolled out in the Benelux. More and more companies and families want to replace bottled water for ecological reasons. The partnership will also create additional opportunities for the employees of both companies.

Focus on innovation, technical service and reliability

Through its partnership with Sofindev, CSG wants to strengthen itself to continue and further accelerate its strong growth trajectory of the past years. This partnership underlines their ambition to further strengthen its position as market leader in the sale and maintenance of professional coffee machines in the Benelux, by focusing even more on innovation, technical service and reliability. This way, CSG wants to continue to offer its clients in the out-of-home coffee market, such as gas stations, small and large offices, airports, retailers, coffee shops, canteens and hospitals, an outstanding service in order to deliver an optimal coffee experience.