Caffè sospeso
{{Short description|Coffee paid for in advance as charity}}
File:Caffè sospeso (suspended coffee) at Gran Caffè Gambrinus, Naples, Italy.jpg cafe, where customers can place a receipt for a second unserved coffee, for a later customer to retrieve and claim]]
A {{langnf|it|caffè sospeso|suspended coffee|paren=left}}, {{IPA|it|kafˈfɛ ssoˈspeːso|pron}}; in Neapolitan {{lang|nap|cafè suspiso}}) or pending coffee is a cup of coffee paid for in advance as an anonymous act of charity. The tradition began in the working-class cafés of Naples, where someone who had experienced good luck would order a sospeso, paying the price of two coffees but receiving and consuming only one. A poor person enquiring later whether there was a sospeso available would then be served a coffee for free. Coffee shops in other countries have adopted the sospeso to increase sales, and to promote kindness and caring.
History
One 2010 account claims the tradition was over 100 years old, but declined during the postwar economic boom, so that it is mainly observed around Christmas time.{{cite web|url=http://www.accessitaly.com/post/italian-coffee-break-part-1-e28094-paying-it-forward-in-naples.aspx|title=Italian Coffee Break part 1 — Paying it Forward in Naples|last=Scalzi|first=Mario|date=7 April 2010|work=Access Italy|access-date=2013-03-28|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130331040125/http://www.accessitaly.com/post/italian-coffee-break-part-1-e28094-paying-it-forward-in-naples.aspx|archive-date=31 March 2013}} A 2008 article reported the tradition was obsolete, the reporter having visited three bars where it had not been observed for at least 15 years.{{cite news|url=http://corrieredelmezzogiorno.corriere.it/campania/a_tavola/articoli/2008/10_Ottobre/06/caff%C3%A8_sospeso.shtml|title=Caffè sospeso, tradizione "sospesa" a un filo Rischia di scomparire la tazzulella benefica|last=W.|first=R.|work=Corriere del Mezzogiorno Campania|publisher=Corriere della Sera|language=it|access-date=2013-03-28}} Aurelio De Laurentiis is reported to pay for ten sospesi after each victory by S.S.C. Napoli, the football club of which he is chairman.{{cite web|url=http://www.italymag.co.uk/italy/napoli/buon-compleanno-gambrinus|title=Buon Compleanno, Gambrinus|last=Eggleton|first=Pat|date=4 May 2010|work=ITALY Magazine|publisher=istos srl|access-date=2013-03-28|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130126194015/http://italymag.co.uk/italy/napoli/buon-compleanno-gambrinus|archive-date=26 January 2013}}
The sospeso gave the title to a 2008 journalism collection by Neapolitan Luciano De Crescenzo, {{Lang|it|Il caffe sospeso: Saggezza quotidiana in piccoli sorsi}}, which helped publicise the tradition throughout Italy.{{cite news|url=http://www.sofiaecho.com/2012/02/21/1770809_free-coffee-anyone|title=Free coffee, anyone?|last=Zhuk|first=Alyona|date=21 February 2012|work=The Sofia Echo|access-date=2013-03-28}}{{cite book|title=Il caffè sospeso|last=Crescenzo|first=Luciano De|date=2010-10-07|publisher=Edizioni Mondadori|isbn=9788852014161|language=it}} The idea has been reported in cafés in Bulgaria,{{cite news|url=http://www.news24.com/World/News/Bulgarian-cafes-get-an-Italian-twist-20130325|title=Bulgarian cafés get an Italian twist|author=Agence France-Presse|date=25 March 2013|publisher=News24|access-date=2013-03-28}} Ukraine, Australia,{{cite news|url=http://www.theage.com.au/news/entertainment/epicure/espresso/2009/04/20/1240079594155.html|title=Espresso: Coffee goodness|last=Dubecki|first=Larissa|date=21 April 2009|work=The Age|access-date=2013-03-28}} Canada,{{cite web |url=http://www.lapresse.ca/le-soleil/vivre-ici/societe/201304/11/01-4640087-un-premier-cafe-en-attente-a-quebec.php |title=Un premier "café en attente" à Québec | Claudette Samson | Société |publisher=Lapresse.ca |access-date=2014-04-18 |archive-date=2016-03-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304081158/http://www.lapresse.ca/le-soleil/vivre-ici/societe/201304/11/01-4640087-un-premier-cafe-en-attente-a-quebec.php |url-status=dead }} Romania,{{cite web|url=https://www.getlokal.ro/en/page/suspended-coffee-romania|title=Suspended coffee in Romania|work=getlokal|access-date=2015-01-29|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150210022615/https://www.getlokal.ro/en/page/suspended-coffee-romania|archive-date=2015-02-10}} Russia,{{cite news|url=http://english.ruvr.ru/2012/01/07/63427265/|title=Coffee free of charge|last=Faustova|first=Milena|date=7 January 2012|work=Voice of Russia|access-date=2013-03-28|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130523041404/http://english.ruvr.ru/2012/01/07/63427265/|archive-date=2013-05-23}} Spain,{{cite web|url=http://cafespendientes.es/ |title=Cafés Pendientes | ¿Te sumas a la iniciativa del Café Pendiente? #CafesPendientes |publisher=Cafespendientes.es |date=2013-11-07 |access-date=2014-04-18}} Argentina,{{cite web |url=http://www.uncafependiente.com.ar/ |title=Cafe Pendiente |publisher=Uncafependiente.com.ar |access-date=2014-04-18 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170807121537/http://www.uncafependiente.com.ar/ |archive-date=2017-08-07 }} the United States,{{cite web|url=http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/steve_duin/index.ssf/2013/05/steve_duin_portland_joins_susp.html |title=Portland joins suspended coffee movement |publisher=OregonLive.com |access-date=2013-05-01}} and Costa Rica.{{cite web|url=http://www.nacion.com/nacional/ticos-aprenden-regalar-Cafe-Pendiente_0_1350864923.html |title=Los ticos aprenden el arte de regalar café sin mirar a quién con el Café Pendiente |date=30 June 2013 |publisher=Nacion.com |access-date=2014-04-18}} The idea received a revival in Italy in 2011 with several small Italian festivals forming a Suspended Coffee Network to encourage solidarity in response to cultural budget cuts, and a Dutch campaign at Christmas 2011 gave a discount on the price of the donated coffee.{{cite news|url=http://www.at5.nl/artikelen/73480/caffe-sospeso-voor-inloophuizen|title=Caffè Sospeso voor inloophuizen -|date=21 December 2011|work=AT5 Echt Amsterdams Nieuws|language=nl|access-date=2013-03-28}} In December 2011, Neapolitan authorities declared an annual "Suspended Coffee Day".
In March 2013, John Sweeney launched a Facebook page for "Suspended Coffees", which by 2015 had led to the purchase of over 15 million coffees in 34 countries.{{cite news|last1=Razavi|first1=Lauren|title=Movement To Pay It Forward With A Cup Of Coffee Spills Into U.S.|url=https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2015/12/17/460001377/movement-to-pay-it-forward-with-a-cup-of-coffee-spills-into-u-s|access-date=13 April 2017|work=NPR.org|date=17 December 2015|language=en}}
The UK arm of coffee chain Starbucks signed up for a charity initiative based on the suspended coffee concept in April 2013, in which it said it would match the value of each suspended coffee with a cash donation to the Oasis charity.{{cite web|last=Reynolds |first=John |url=http://www.marketingmagazine.co.uk/article/1177756/Starbucks-joins-Suspended-Coffee-homeless-initiative |title=Starbucks joins Suspended Coffee homeless initiative |publisher=Marketing Magazine |access-date=2014-04-18}} The growth of the trend in other coffee shops in the UK also received media coverage around the same time.{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-22267613 |title=BBC News - Would you buy a 'suspended coffee' for someone in need? |publisher=Bbc.co.uk |date=2013-04-24 |access-date=2014-04-18}}
On 22 July 2013, a Tuesday, an anonymous customer in Edmonton, Canada, paid for 500 large coffees at Canadian coffee chain Tim Hortons. This started a trend that spread to a total of 30 locations with over {{not a typo|10,000 cups}} of coffee being paid for by donors.{{cite news |last=Davidson |first=Janet |url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/are-we-hard-wired-to-buy-timmies-for-hundreds-of-strangers-1.1403205 |title=Are we hard-wired to buy Timmies for hundreds of strangers? |publisher=CBC |date=2013-08-05}}
On 10 September 2021, a Friday, an anonymous customer in Istanbul, Turkey, paid for 501 Turkish coffees at Turkish food chain Dönerci Metin Usta, the largest suspended coffee donation ever recorded in 100 years.
There are accounts of the practice reviving in southern Italy, and not just for coffee, as a response to economic hardship caused by the 2020 COVID-19 lock-down.{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/07/opinion/italy-coronavirus-naples.html|title = Opinion | Italy is Sending Another Warning|newspaper = The New York Times|date = 7 April 2020|last1 = Jones|first1 = Bethan|last2 = Montale|first2 = Fabio}}
Symbolism
The caffè sospeso has been identified as a symbol of grassroots social solidarity, prompting its revival in response to the 2008 recession and ensuing eurozone crisis. In 2004, a giornata nazionale del sospeso at Easter was announced by the Ronde della carità charity.{{cite news|url=http://www.nove.firenze.it/vediarticolo.asp?id=a4.04.12.08.29|title=Oggi giornata nazionale del caffé "sospeso"|date=12 April 2004|work=Nove da Firenze|language=it|access-date=2013-03-28}} In 2011, a Giornata del Caffè Sospeso was scheduled to coincide with Human Rights Day in December.{{cite web|url=http://www.cinemaitaliano.info/news/10505/la-voce-del-corpo-di-luca-vullo-in-tour.html|title=La Voce del Corpo di Luca Vullo in tour|date=29 November 2011|work=CinemaItaliano.info|language=it|access-date=2013-03-28}} A collection of Italian arts festivals emphasising social solidarity in 2010 came together under the umbrella "Rete del Caffè Sospeso".{{cite web|url=http://www.retedelcaffesospeso.com/principi/|title=Principi|publisher=Rete del Caffè Sospeso|language=it|access-date=2013-03-28}} An Italian fundraising website started by Luca Argentero is called 1caffe.org.{{cite web|url=http://www.1caffe.org/|title=1 Caffè|language=it|access-date=2013-03-28}}{{cite news|url=http://www.greenews.info/rubriche/una-iena-piu-verde-che-nera-intervista-a-luca-argentero-20111223/|title=Una Iena più verde che nera. Intervista a Luca Argentero|last=Fradelloni|first=Francesca|date=23 December 2011|work=Greenews|language=it|access-date=2013-03-28}}
See also
- Suspended meal
- {{portal-inline|Coffee}}
References
{{reflist}}
Bibliography
- Author unknown (2013-04-22). Give if you wish, get if you want: Suzhou restaurant joins 'suspended meal' movement. Suzhou Daily, 22 April 2013. Retrieved on 2013-04-24 from https://web.archive.org/web/20160303221301/http://epaper.subaonet.com/sr/html/2013-04/22/content_311021.htm.
External links
- [https://suspendedcoffees.com/ Web page of the Suspended Coffee volunteer initiative]
- [http://thestar.com/life/2013/04/01/suspended_coffee_movement_comes_to_ontario.html 'Suspended Coffee' movement comes to Ontario] in Toronto Star
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{{Coffee in Italy}}
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