Jesús Ascaso, the founding father of today’s Ascaso, was born in a humble mountain town in the north section of Spain. He was a man with an entrepreneurial spirit which included integrity and good old fashion hard work. Since his small town offered him very little opportunity, Jesús left for Barcelona with the equivalent of $30 in his pocket and a head full ideas.
In the 50’s, espresso started to become popular in Spain, and in Barcelona, espresso popularity led to a flourishing industry. In 1950, Jesús Ascaso began to work for a espresso machine spare parts supplier. His main task was chrome-plating parts. Between 1952-1962, Jesús worked on the production line at Gaggia making espresso parts for consumer espresso machines throughout the world. In 1962, Jesús opened his own espresso machine spare parts supply company in Barcelona, Spain. Today, Ascaso sells it spare parts in more than 50 countries in the world.
José Luis Ascaso, son of Jesús, has been the current leader in the diversification of Ascaso in the last 10 years. He created an espresso machine factory to unify his knowledge of espresso components and design and espresso culture. “For coffee lovers” was born.
Today, Jesús Ascaso works in his factory about 18 hours per day for six months of the year. For the remainder of the year, he lives in the town he left over 50 years ago – taking care of his tomatoes and honey.
1st-line Equipment had the opportunity to evaluate sample models circa 2003. To make an interesting story short, 1st-line Equipment did not like the sample machines in terms of internal design and performance for the United States. Our voice fell on deaf ears as another potential importer did not make the demands, and the other importer seemed to Ascaso as an easier company to deal with. Approximately four importers and four years later, Ascaso came back to 1st-line and inquired again about import ship. Our first question was is the changes we requested were made. We received an astounding yes! 1st-line Equipment, LLC and Ascaso work hand-in-hand to bring about high-quality home and office espresso machines.
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