Coffee, 95 million cups per day are consumed in Italian bars
Around Trieste, capital of espresso coffee, a complex product chain
3' min read
3' min read
Trieste, the coffee capital. The eleventh edition of Triestespresso Expo 2024, the event organised by the Venezia Giulia Chamber of Commerce (through its in-house company Aries Scarl and in collaboration with the Associazione Caffé Trieste and the Municipality of Trieste) and dedicated to coffee 'in the cup', was held these days.
The exhibition is held at the Generali Convention Center inside the Old Port of Trieste and is the world's espresso coffee fair that this year will host international buyers expected from 48 countries.
Even the location is no coincidence. It is held at the Old Port of Trieste where everything actually began. In fact, if today Trieste boasts an articulated coffee processing chain it is precisely because since the 18th century coffee ships from Ethiopia (the name coffee derives from Mount Caffa in Ethiopia) arrived in the city through the free port. And so a coffee processing chain developed with internationally known brands (as well as a network of historic cafés in the city centre) that today produces for the domestic and export markets.
"In Trieste they come from all over the world," explained the president of the Chamber of Commerce Venezia Giulia, Antonio Paoletti, "for a fair that is even more important considering the historical moment and the regulation against deforestation to which we are dedicating a debate.
Particular attention will in fact be devoted this year to the EU regulation against deforestation that risks in the future blocking the import of agricultural raw materials from countries that do not respect EU standards on forest protection. We have asked the government," explained the president of the Trieste Caffè Association, Arianna Mingardi, "to promote in Europe a 12-month postponement of the entry into force of the regulation, which could block the influx of raw materials, creating difficulties for a supply chain that employs about 2,000 people in Trieste. The EU Parliament will decide in mid-November'.
It is also a virtuous supply chain that imports raw material as there is no national production (although some farmers in Sicily, thanks to climate change, are trying their hand at it with encouraging results) and processes the raw product, uses it for domestic consumption and above all re-exports finished products. And the turnover produced by exports actually repays what is spent on imports..
