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Our deeply rooted history of technological innovation is the key to our success and ongoing development of the world’s finest roasting solutions. Because of our history and our dedication to improvement, we remain at the forefront of the industry.
The individual names “Probat” and “Burns” each signifies a long-standing dedication to perfecting the art of roasting. Founded on these combined histories, the Probat Burns company delivers the time-tested, continually refined equipment and technologies that allow roastmasters around the world to roast assured.
The History of Probat
Coffee had become quite popular in and beyond Europe by the middle of the 19th century, but the manual roasting process was an extremely tiresome and dirty job. In 1868 Alex van Gulpen, along with Johann Heinrich Lensing and Theodor von Gimborn, founded the Emmericher Maschinenfabrik & EisengieBerei company in Emmerich, Germany, with the goal of developing a more effective means of roasting and processing coffee.
There on the banks of the Rhine River, engineer Theodor von Gimborn designed and built the first “Emmericher” spherical coffee roaster, the godfather of all Probat roasters. The roaster was an immediate success, and Emmerich led the world in mass production of roasting machines.
The History of Burns
Jabez Burns was born in London in 1826 but spent most of his life in New York working for coffee and spice companies. In 1864, empowered by his vast knowledge of coffee production and trading, he designed and began producing an improved coffee roaster. Armed with this patented invention and his ongoing study of the trade, Burns became a coffee authority. He wrote articles for American Grocer and eventually launched the Spice Mill trade publication and other literary resources for the coffee industry. Burns’ influence is still evident in several of the roasters Probat Burns manufactures today.
Our People
Our knowledgeable engineers, specialists and salespeople offer you the expertise gained from more than 250 years of combined industry experience.
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The Probat Group
The Probat Group comprises eight manufacturing and technology companies dedicated to exceeding international industry standards of excellence.
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