The case of Sage and Breville is one of the most curious, not only in the coffee world but in commerce in general. Two brands that share the same name but are not the same. And to make it even more complicated, they have different names in other markets.
This is what has caused confusion, leading many people to believe the two brands are the same. The matter wouldn’t have much significance, but we are talking about the manufacturers of such iconic coffee machines as the Barista Express. The issue is intriguing, and in this article, I explain what this is all about.
Yes, Sage and Breville are the same brand, but…
Breville was founded in Australia in 1932 by Bill O’Brien and Harry Norville; the name Breville is a combination of their last names. The brand manufactured a range of kitchen appliances for decades, and in 2001, it was sold to Housewares International Limited, which, in 2008, changed the group’s name to Breville Group Limited.
Until then, Breville had been selling its products in Australia, New Zealand, the USA, Canada, and Hong Kong, but when expanding to other markets, it encountered a problem. In the United Kingdom, there was already a manufacturer called Breville, also of kitchen appliances.
So to sell in the United Kingdom, it had to invent another brand name: Sage. Breville also used it for the rest of Europe, since, with the United Kingdom in the EU, it could also have a conflict selling under the name Breville.
So far, so good, quite easy to understand. But the big mess comes because the other brand, Breville, which already existed in the United Kingdom and also has the same name, also sells coffee machines that are quite similar to those of the other Breville/Sage. Let’s talk about this other brand.
The “other Breville” and its sisters Oster and Sunbeam
As I was saying, the Australian Breville was forced to sell its products in Europe under the name Sage because there was already a Breville brand in the United Kingdom. In turn, this British Breville had been acquired by the Jarden group, which also owns the brands Oster and Sunbeam, both of which are kitchen appliance brands.
What happens? Jarden sells some of Breville’s products under these other brands because it encounters the same problem as its Australian counterpart: in Australia, Canada, and the USA, there is already another Breville. Thus, in North America, it distributes its products under the Sunbeam brand; in South America, under the Oster brand; and in Europe, under the Breville brand. In Amazon Spain, some can also be purchased under the name Oster, which adds even more confusion.
This British brand is responsible for one of the best-selling espresso machines with an integrated grinder in some countries: the Breville Barista Max. But this coffee machine has nothing to do with the Australian Breville, called Sage in Europe: if you look, neither on the Sage website (Europe) nor on the Breville website (USA) will you see this coffee machine, simply because it is from another manufacturer!
In turn, there are a few models that the Australian Breville does not sell in the European market. For example, the coffee machine in the image above—the Breville Infuser—is not in the Sage catalog.
Which brand is better, the Australian Breville or the British Breville?
Among the coffee machines from Australian Sage/Breville are already iconic models like the aforementioned Barista Express and Bambino Plus, as well as the Duo-Temp Pro, Barista Pro, Barista Touch, Dual Boiler, and Oracle and Oracle Touch models.
On the British side, Breville/Oster/Sunbeam, a very popular model in its day, was the Prima Latte in versions I, II, and III, and, of course, the Barista Mini, Barista Max, and the more recent Barista Signature, Classic, and Slim.
The ultimate trick to differentiate the two Brevilles: the logo
The next time you see a Breville brand coffee machine and don’t know which of the two brands it belongs to (the British or the Australian), you can look at the logo. Certainly, neither of the two brands has made it easy, because to make matters worse, both logos look similar, but just take a closer look and you’ll see that the logos are different: the one on the left is the logo of the “Australian” Breville, and the one on the right is the logo of the “British” Breville.
But at this point, one might ask: Is one of the two brands better than the other? Sage enjoys greater prestige in the coffee world, especially because it was one of the brands that first bet on what some call third-wave coffee or specialty coffee. Moreover, their coffee machines are of proven quality, and many professional baristas recommend them as the best home espresso machines.
The British Breville is a brand of less prestige, with a more limited catalog, and in general, its coffee machines are not as well regarded. These are some of the advantages of the Sage/Breville group coffee machines over Breville/Oster/Sunbeam:
- Better grinders: In 2020, Sage/Breville acquired the iconic grinder manufacturer Baratza and, from 2023, began introducing them across all its coffee machines. Thanks to this acquisition, the integrated grinders of their coffee machines are capable of grinding finer and more consistently.
- Better extraction: Sage/Breville coffee machines perform a pre-infusion at 3 bars, then start extraction at 9 bars —the recommended pressure for espresso extraction. The Breville/Oster group coffee machines feature a more basic pre-infusion and an unlimited extraction that can reach 13, 14, or 15 bars.
- More solid construction: Sage/Breville also uses more robust materials, with greater stainless steel content, while Breville/Oster coffee machines are more “plasticky”.
Does this mean that it is not worth buying any of the Breville/Oster group coffee machines? No, it is undeniable that models like the Barista Max have an excellent quality-to-price ratio—it costs half as much as the Sage/Breville Barista Express—and another model, like the Breville/Oster Barista Mini, has been among the best value-for-money espresso machines for years. But in general terms, Sage/Breville is a brand with more name recognition, more prestige, more available accessories, greater reliability, and more complete products.
