Island-based STRIX has entered into partnership with a leading Italian company to produce an electric version of the famous moka, the eight-sided coffee pot found on stove tops throughout Italy.

It is an agreement between market leaders - STRIX is the worlds biggest maker of kettle controls and Bialetti Industrie had produced more than 300 million moka pots since the 1950s.

The new machine, which will retail for around £30 - double the price of the traditional model, will be unveiled this month. It is aimed primarily at markets outside Italy, on the grounds that many non-Italians will more readily accept an electric coffee-maker than one that has to be put on a stove to boil.

Bialetti's moka maker, which passes hot water through coffee beans to provide sharp-tasting expresso, is known worldwide as an icon of Italian domestic life. It was invented in 1933 by Alfonso Bialetti, the company's founder. While Bialetti is not the only manufacturer of the pots, it says it produces 60 per cent of the 10 million sold every year.

The Italian company expects the electric model will boost exports to North America, Asia and northern Europe. A team of eight engineers drawn from STRIX and Bialetti, has spent the past six months perfecting the design of the pot. STRIX maintain the system gives a more consistent cup of coffee than the stove-top model. Also, because the electrical system switches itself off, it is safer.

Bialetti was not prepared to forecast sales but Eddie Davies, chairman of STRIX, hoped that in 2005 his company would sell 2-3 million elements and heating systems for the pot. That could add 10 per cent to last year's sales of £70 million.

STRIX, which is headquartered in Ronaldsway, has grown significantly in the last 10 years. Last year 97 per cent of its sales were outside the UK. It employs more than a thousand people worldwide. STRIX is a privately owned company. HSBC, through its venture capital arm, holds a stake of 40 per cent in the company which it paid £50 million for in 2000. The only other shareholders are Mr Davies and the company's founder, John Taylor.

STRIX expects to increase profits by 7 per cent in 2002. Pre-tax profits are not disclosed but are thought to be about 10 per cent of sales.

The company has operations throughout the world including South Africa, Australia, North America and Europe. Today around 60 per cent of STRIX's products are manufactured in China.

Mr Davies said: "We are in China for logistical reasons. Essentially the small domestic appliance industry has migrated to China. Whereas say five years ago there would have been something like five million kettles manufactured in the UK to supply to the UK ... now there are probably only about two million kettles manufactured in the UK. The other three million now come out of either eastern Europe or China." He identified Russia and China as the key growth areas.