Welcome to the Votice roastery!
Roastery in a natural setting and with tradition
Where did Marila come from?
The convoluted history of the Marila brand begins in 1929. The company’s iconic product, which has borne the Marila brand longest, is Standard coffee. During the decades-long totalitarian era in Czechoslovakia, the company succeeded in maintaining the quality of imported coffee beans, thanks to which this popular coffee became a true quality standard in the good sense of the word.
The production of Standard coffee moved to Votice during the wild years of privatization in the 1990s, when the company passed through the hands of several owners. The situation settled down in 2009, when the company was taken over by Mokate Czech with a clear aim – to follow in the footsteps of the brand’s success and build on the tradition, respect for customers, and skills of its predecessors. In addition to the traditional Standard coffee, premium coffee beans including single-origin specialities thus gradually appeared on the market under the Marila brand.
A significant milestone occurred in 2019
A significant milestone occurred in 2019, when a brand-new roasting facility was put into operation. The result, among other things, is a line of unique craft coffees that master roasters in Votice can fine-tune precisely to the tastes of demanding customers. Czech consumers now thus have an outstanding alternative on the coffee market, which is dominated by global giants, with one unique advantage characterized by the brand’s new slogan: “World-class coffee, Czech hands”.
Votice
Get to know our people
Pavel Halátek
Production managerSometimes I envy our master roasters: their effort to achieve a result in the form of excellent coffee is already evident after twenty minutes of roasting. My role, as a production manager, involves the comprehensive interconnection of many elements, which has a much longer-term impact. But one that's that much sweeter when I see good results.
Markéta Hatalová
Technologist/master roasterTo me my work isn't just a job where I punch in and punch out. Rather, I see it as a trade, where I can improve my skills every day and learn something more about coffee. And I really love coffee, so I'm really glad to be doing what I'm doing.
Truck, conveyor
Green coffee travels from European ports to Marila in jute sacks. Their contents are poured into a hopper and moved by conveyors to storage silos, where each coffee bean patiently waits its turn.
Mini Coffed 3 kg
It could seem that it is tiny and unimportant. But it is precisely its small capacity that allows our master roasters to experiment and try out new coffee variations.
Coffed 60
This roaster is use to produce small-batch coffees that require extra care. Master roasters carefully monitor the production of our craft coffees and coffee specialities.
Probat
The largest and most modern roaster we have in Votice. It can roast up to 320 kilos of Standard coffee or other popular coffees in the Marila portfolio at once.
A bit about roasting
The entire process begins, of course, with green coffee beans being poured into the hot drum of a roaster. Its temperature is regulated based on the chosen roasting profile. A different profile means a completely different result. As soon as the coffee has the right colour and the profile is at the required temperature, the roasting process is terminated with cooling. This is achieved either using water or air.
Cooler
This is the most beautiful part of the roasting process. This is an open container that looks like a large pot, into which the freshly roasted coffee is poured from the roasting drum. A metal wand rotates in the centre of the cooler, mixing the coffee so that each bean cools down precisely as it should. As soon as the coffee beans are at the right temperature, a jet of air transports them for packaging.
Packaging
The final phase of the process. After roasting, coffee has to be packaged as quickly as possible into airtight bags so it doesn't lose any of its beautiful aroma. Perhaps you've occasionally noticed a small opening in the package that emits beautiful coffee aroma after you squeeze the bag. However, it's primary purpose is to regulate pressure inside the bag, because freshly roasted coffee releases carbon dioxide. Without a safety valve, the bag would gradually inflate like a balloon, and could even burst.
