Italy
Bialetti is an Italian company founded in 1919 and based near Brescia, famous above all for the Moka Express stovetop espresso pot that Alfonso Bialetti's son Renato turned into an icon. The eight-sided aluminium pot has been in near-continuous production since 1933, with well over 300 million sold, and it remains the most recognisable piece of Italian kitchenware in the world.
One ownership note: after financial difficulties, Bialetti was acquired in 2024 by NUO Capital, a Hong Kong-based investment group, and delisted from the Italian stock exchange, so it is no longer family-controlled. The original Moka is still made in Italy, alongside electric coffee machines, cookware and capsule espresso.