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BUNN X Lavazza
Success Story
At BUNN, supporting customers means helping them solve challenges, strengthen their business and move forward with confidence. These customer success stories share real-world examples of how that support comes to life every day - from operators facing real challenges like scaling a menu, cutting complexity and keeping up with what consumers want next. What they found wasn't just equipment, but a solution they could actually build on. That's what partnership with BUNN looks like in practice.
August, 2026
What you guys did was brilliant. You created a brewer that can produce ready-to-drink cold brew in 12 minutes - something that normally would take 18 hours.
That's Frank LaRusso talking. As Director of Training, BU Americas at Lavazza Group and with more than 30 years in the coffee industry, LaRusso isn't easily impressed. But the BUNN Infusion Series Platinum Pro® stopped him in his tracks.
The Challenge: Cold at Scale,
Without the Complexity
Cold beverages are reshaping the coffee industry, and nobody knows that better than Lavazza. Founded in Turin in 1895, the family-owned roaster operates the world's largest international coffee training network, with a presence in more than 55 countries. At their North American Coffee Design laboratory, teams develop new products, experiment with flavor, and design tools for coffee preparation and service.
"I try to stay ahead of all the trends," LaRusso says. "There's just no question, cold is huge."
But executing cold brew at scale with consistent quality and without adding operational complexity had been a real constraint. Traditional cold brew methods require up to 18 hours. That's not a viable window for most operators.
The Result: Cold Brew in Minutes
By automating the brewing process with precise temperature control, Platinum Pro® allows operators to produce ready-to-drink cold brew in minutes instead of hours, helping simplify preparation while maintaining beverage quality and consistency.
"I have people tell me it's the best cold brew they've ever had when everything is dialed in."
For LaRusso, one of the biggest advantages of Platinum Pro is operational simplicity without sacrificing beverage quality. The ability to use the same coffee across both hot and cold applications helps operators reduce complexity while expanding beverage offerings.
"I think the home run is, I'm using the exact same ground coffee to make hot coffee to make cold coffee in the same system, while taking up less space. There's no extra inventory," LaRusso explains. "It really is an easy way to get into cold brew. And you have a brewer that can be on and used all the time, while still taking up less space."
A Real-World Example: Cold Brew at Scale
During Lavazza's annual Associates' Day event, where more than 400 employees gather at the company's North American headquarters, Platinum Pro proved its versatility in a high-volume environment.
"Here's an example of how magical this is," he says. "I had to serve cold brew to 400-plus employees outside. I made it in one hour on the Platinum Pro - enough for the entire event. I couldn't do that with (our old brewing method)."
The ability to switch seamlessly between hot and low-temperature brewing from the same platform helps operators expand menu offerings while streamlining workflow and getting consistent beverage quality from batch to batch. "You can go from having no cold brew to competing in hand-to-hand with every single chain," LaRusso explains.
Built for What's Next
For LaRusso, the Platinum Pro isn't just a faster brewer. It's a flavor tool. Full control over brewing variables throughout the brew cycle means the team can develop and fine-tune cold brew recipes with a level of precision most operators have never had access to.
"What the Platinum Pro is doing for us is unlocking flavors from cold brew that we haven't had before. If we say you're going to get notes of red fruit, grapefruit, and honey, you're going to taste it. And they do."
When LaRusso first encountered the machine, he admits he "literally fell in love with it." The reason comes down to what it represents: a traditional brewing platform rethought for where the industry is going.
"Cold is not going away. We have to find ways to make it easy to execute."
If he had to describe the Platinum Pro in two words? "Cold easy."