In 1933, company founder Alfredo Bialetti invented an octagonal coffee pot, known as a moka, which whistles on the stove like a teapot.
Germany’s economy has grown 31% since the euro’s creation, Italy’s 7%. Residents of Piedmont, the northern Italian region where Bialetti was founded, were until recently richer than their German counterparts in North-Rhine Westphalia, where Zwilling is based. Today, the opposite is true. Household incomes in North-Rhine Westphalia have risen by 18% since 2007, to €25,700 per inhabitant, while in Piedmont incomes have fallen by 5%, to €21,300 per inhabitant, according to the European Union’s statistics agency.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/a-tale-of-two-companiesand-two-countries-11547994123