It is worth about 5 billion euros, employs almost 10 thousand people and consumes 3 billion cups a day. These are just some of the numbers of the espresso coffee supply chain, increasingly Italian excellence now a candidate for Unesco heritage.
The Minister of Agricultural, Food and Forestry Policies Stefano Patuanelli has in fact announced the presentation of the candidacies for intangible cultural heritage of humanity of the ritual of traditional Italian espresso coffee, which is also a real art, and that of the culture of Neapolitan coffee, a reality between ritual and sociality.
The preliminary investigation of the proposals for candidatures which led the Rite of Traditional Italian Espresso and the Culture of Neapolitan Espresso Coffee to be already included in the Inventory of Italian Agri-food Products (INPAI) was concluded today.
The Unesco Working Group of the Mipaaf has unanimously decided to propose the candidacies and to send the documentation to the National Commission of Unesco which will have to decide the start of the procedure for the inclusion in the intangible heritage of humanity of an element that has important cultural, social, historical and traditional implications. And after the deadline for the submission of candidatures, scheduled for March 31st, Unesco will be asked to decide on the candidacy proposal.
On March 1st, an appeal was launched by the main players in the espresso coffee supply chain to the new minister Patuanelli for the Rite of Italian Espresso Coffee as an Intangible Heritage of Humanity. We are talking about the Consortium for the Protection of Traditional Italian Espresso Coffee, the Italian Coffee Committee of Unione Italiana Food, the IEI – Italian Espresso Institute, Fipe-Confcommercio, the Italian Federation of Public Shops, the Italian Coffee Roaster Group, the Coffee Association Trieste and the Torrefattori Consortium of the Tre Venezie. Then the candidacy was promoted for further registration in the national inventory of the Italian agri-food heritage, as requested by Unesco.
Coffee marks a growing success year after year, so much so that, according to the latest data released by the Italian Espresso Institute (Iei), a consumption of 3 billion cups per day has been recorded in the world. In Italy, experts explain, it is one of the most brilliant sectors of food & beverage. In fact, according to the data provided, the espresso coffee supply chain is worth about 5 billion euros with almost 10 thousand employees. Just to give a few more numbers, in the coffee sector, there are over 800 roasting companies with about 7,000 employees. And, according to analysts, Italy is the third country in the world, after Germany and Belgium, for export volumes of coffee in all its forms. (HANDLE).
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