A FORMER commercial pilot who took over his family’s coffee company has gone back to his previous career to promote the business.

Caffe Gabriele, which is based in Chester-le-Street and owned by former pilot Paul Gabriele and his business parther, Tullio Petrucci, has bought an aerobatic stunt plane and adorned it with the company’s brands and logos.

It will be used at events and airshows to promote the company, started by Mr Gabriele’s father in 1948, which supplies coffee and related equipment to the catering trade.

Mr Gabriele, 49, said: “I used to fly for Gill Airways, based at Newcastle airport, for about 12 or 13 years, then eventually returned to the coffee business. My original passion for flying was aerobatics.

“I was in the coffee business when I left school, then in my mid-20s I had the chance to fly commercially, having already held a private pilot’s licence since I was 20 years old, so I came out of the family business before returning parttime in 1995.”

Although Mr Gabriele will undertake some of the flying, the main pilot for displays will be Tom Cassells, the British Aerobatics Champion for the third time this year, who is a friend of Mr Gabriele’s.

As well as logos for its Caffe Gabriele brand of coffee, it will feature Caffe Bristot, a brand it sells on behalf of an Italian supplier and coffee machine manufacturer Wega.

Mr Gabriele said: “The business is going well at the moment.

We have purchased the airplane to market, promote and raise awareness of the brands and products, and will be doing this by attending and performing aerobatic displays at air shows across the UK and especially the North.

“The aircraft is going to have to earn its own keep. It has to earn money as well.”

He said he believed the plane would help the company, which is looking to expand and take on three more staff in the coming months, stand out in the market.

He said: “It is a very competitive market. I think Red Bull have used the planes to promote their brand through the extreme sports events.”

The Sukhoi acrobatic aircraft was originally used by the Russian military as a fighter pilot training aircraft, and is now widely used for aerobatic displays because of its manouvrebility.