Milantoast was founded in Milan in 1948 as “EGI” by Mr. Mario Egi and Andrea Ivo Novi. Both were active in manufacturing of fully automatic coffee machines in Milan. The company was born as a manufacturer of components for espresso coffee machines. In 1958 the trademark with the EGI shield was registered. The identity of the company and its history, born and raised in the heart of Milan, is closely linked to the social and economic development of our city.
The economic boom of the 1950s gave birth to a new lifestyle throughout Italy. On weekdays, people no longer took the time for an extended lunch break, but just ordered a quick bite to eat before an espresso at the bar and soon returned to work.
The door to a new culinary tradition was opened, the Italian answer to street-food: the Italian “toast” consisting of 2 slices of toasted “pancarrè” with “prosciutto” and cheese, still offered nowadays in every bar in Italy.
Mario Egi and Ivan Novi recognized this trend immediately and in 1962 built the iconic toaster with sandwich tongs, the “Milantoast”. Suddenly the product was in every bar and its name increasingly identified the company. For this reason the brand name Milantoast was registered that same year and is still in use today. This change was a milestone in the company’s history.
Originally intended as a pure catering device, the model conquered Italian households and is still an integral part of everyday life today. So it is not surprising that the classic sandwich toaster can still be found in the range today in an almost unchanged form.
A few years passed before the first “Paninoteca” opened in Milan. Meanwhile the bars in Italy expanded their menus and asked for new equipment that could make many crunchy panini in bars and cafes.
And for the second time in the history Milantoast was a pioneer.
In 1981 the first contact grill in Italy was developed by Milantoast, significantly expanding the range of cooking options. In addition to perfect toasts, panini, focaccia and piadina, it could be used to grill a lot of other italian specialties, steaks, fish and vegetables.
In 1998 the rotary toasters for breakfast rooms were introduced, the very first model to come into production in Italy, followed by the contact grill with glass ceramic plates;
In 1999, the current website was published online.
After 70 years of experience, all our products are still designed and hand-made only in our factory in Milan, Italy. Our loyalty to our customers is what makes us who we are.
And it’s because of the quality and reliability of our products that we are able to continue and improve what we can do best: making your kitchen a beautiful place to cook.