In Naples, in the poor south of Italy, it has been a well-known phenomenon for generations: people order more cups of coffee in a pub or coffee bar than they drink themselves. The extra coffee is intended for someone who cannot or can barely afford it. ‘Caffe sospeso’ is the name of this sympathetic form of compassion, postponed coffee. Recently, this phenomenon has taken off enormously via the internet, also in the Netherlands.
The origin of caffè sospeso
Naples, just after the Second World War. Italy is struggling with the consequences of a lost war. There is a lot of poverty. Nevertheless, coffee in this city is not seen as a luxury item, but as a necessity of life. That is why the few wealthy fellow citizens make it a habit to order two cups of coffee instead of one. The second cup is for those who cannot afford it. The bartender knows these people, and when they accidentally walk into his café, he asks them if they would like a cup of coffee. There are also sources that claim that caffè sospeso is more than a hundred years old.
New life thanks to the euro crisis
Nowadays, at least in Naples, it is still quite normal for people to pay for coffee for others in this way. Aurelio De Laurentiis, president of football club SSC Napoli, is known to order ten caffè sospeso in a Neapolitan bar after every victory of his club. The Italian writer Luciano De Crescenzo wrote a number of articles about it in 2008, at the beginning of the euro crisis. In short, attention increased, and eventually the initiative spread to other countries.
Active in Ukraine, Russia and Bulgaria
As of 2012, it is possible to order this coffee for someone else in twenty cafes in the Ukrainian capital Kyev. A large sign shows whether there are still cups available, under the motto Give if you want. Take if you want . Everyone in Russia is now also familiar with this method of charity.
In Bulgaria, currently perhaps the poorest country in Europe, one hundred and fifty cafés from all over the country took the initiative in March 2013 to revive this Neapolitan coffee tradition in their country.
Bread and books
There are of course more goods or foods that are extremely suitable for purchasing for others in this way. In Bulgaria, some bakers and greengrocers now also cooperate, so that it is also possible to buy bread for someone else. And at a book fair in Moscow at the end of 2011 there were two stands where visitors could buy a book for needy fellow human beings who could not afford it themselves.
Delayed coffee in the Netherlands
In the Netherlands, the Coffee Company probably organized the first postponed coffee promotion. Customers buy a caffè sospeso for fifty cents around New Year’s Eve 2009/2010, and every New Year’s Eve since then. The Coffee Company itself adds fifty cents each time. More than twenty thousand cups of coffee are donated every year. With this enormous number, the Coffee Company provides the ten drop-in centers for the homeless of De Regenboog Groep with free coffee for almost a year.
List of participating companies
Surprisingly, Niburu in the Netherlands, an organization/website that normally deals with the recognition of extraterrestrial life, has taken the initiative to play host to delayed coffee. Interested companies can register via their website to create a list of all places where you can order and drink a delayed coffee. Naturally, the Netherlands does not sit still when it comes to tweeting and Facebooking, which means that awareness of this phenomenon has skyrocketed since Easter 2013.