A , ; in
Neapolitan
Neapolitan means of or pertaining to Naples, a city in Italy; or to:
Geography and history
* Province of Naples, a province in the Campania region of southern Italy that includes the city
* Duchy of Naples, in existence during the Early and Hig ...
) or pending coffee is a cup of
coffee
Coffee is a drink prepared from roasted coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulant, stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content. It is the most popular hot drink in the world.
S ...
paid for in advance as an anonymous act of
charity
Charity may refer to:
Giving
* Charitable organization or charity, a non-profit organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being of persons
* Charity (practice), the practice of being benevolent, giving and sharing
* Ch ...
. The tradition began in the working-class
cafés
A coffeehouse, coffee shop, or café is an establishment that primarily serves coffee of various types, notably espresso, latte, and cappuccino. Some coffeehouses may serve cold drinks, such as iced coffee and iced tea, as well as other non-caf ...
of
Naples
Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...
, 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
In Western usage, the phrase post-war era (or postwar era) usually refers to the time since the end of World War II. More broadly, a post-war period (or postwar period) is the interval immediately following the end of a war. A post-war period c ...
, so that it is mainly observed around Christmas time.
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.
Aurelio De Laurentiis
Aurelio De Laurentiis (born 24 May 1949) is an Italian film producer through his company, Filmauro, and the owner of Italian Association football, football clubs S.S.C. Napoli, Napoli (of which he is also chairman) and S.S.C. Bari, Bari.
He is ...
is reported to pay for ten ''sospesi'' after each victory by
S.S.C. Napoli
Società Sportiva Calcio Napoli, commonly referred to as Napoli (), is an Italian professional football club based in the city of Naples ( it, Napoli, nap, Napule), Campania that plays in Serie A, the top flight of Italian football. Napoli ha ...
, the football club of which he is chairman.
The ''sospeso'' gave the title to a 2008 journalism collection by Neapolitan
Luciano De Crescenzo
Luciano De Crescenzo (; 18 August 1928 – 18 July 2019) was an Italian writer, film actor, director and engineer.
Biography
Born in Naples, he grew up with actor Bud Spencer. De Crescenzo graduated in engineering and worked for IBM Italy un ...
, , which helped publicise the tradition throughout Italy.
The idea has been reported in cafés in
Bulgaria
Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...
,
Ukraine
Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...
,
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
,
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
,
Romania
Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...
,
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
,
Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, i ...
,
Argentina
Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...
, the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
, and
Costa Rica
Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the no ...
. 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. 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.
The UK arm of coffee chain
Starbucks
Starbucks Corporation is an American multinational chain of coffeehouses and roastery reserves headquartered in Seattle, Washington. It is the world's largest coffeehouse chain.
As of November 2021, the company had 33,833 stores in 80 c ...
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. The growth of the trend in other coffee shops in the UK also received media coverage around the same time.
On 22 July 2013, a Tuesday, an anonymous customer in
Edmonton
Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...
, Canada, paid for 500 large coffees at Canadian coffee chain
Tim Hortons
Tim Hortons Inc., commonly nicknamed Tim's, or Timmie's is a Canadian multinational coffeehouse and restaurant chain. Based in Toronto, Tim Hortons serves coffee, doughnuts, and other fast-food items. It is Canada's largest quick-service rest ...
. This started a trend that spread to a total of 30 locations with over 10,000 cups of coffee being paid for by donors.
On 10 September 2021, a Friday, an anonymous customer in
Istanbul
Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...
, 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
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...
lock-down.
Symbolism
The ''caffè sospeso'' has been identified as a symbol of grassroots social solidarity, prompting its revival in response to the
2008 recession
The Great Recession was a period of marked general decline, i.e. a recession, observed in national economies globally that occurred from late 2007 into 2009. The scale and timing of the recession varied from country to country (see map). At t ...
and
ensuing eurozone crisis.
In 2004, a ''giornata nazionale del sospeso'' at Easter was announced by the ''Ronde della carità'' charity. In 2011, a ''Giornata del Caffè Sospeso'' was scheduled to coincide with
Human Rights Day
Human Rights Day is celebrated annually around the world on 10 December every year.
The date was chosen to honor the United Nations General Assembly's adoption and proclamation, on 10 December 1948, of the Universal Declaration of Human Right ...
in December. A collection of Italian arts festivals emphasising social solidarity in 2010 came together under the umbrella "Rete del Caffè Sospeso". An Italian fundraising website started by Luca Argentero is called 1caffe.org.
See also
*
Suspended meal
A suspended meal or pending meal is a meal which people pay for in advance, to be provided to those that request it later. The extra meal that they purchase is suspended; that is, the restaurant will mark down the sum of money and ‘suspend’ t ...
*
References
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
Web page of the Suspended Coffee volunteer initiativein
Toronto Star
The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Caffe sospeso
Coffee culture
Coffee in Italy
Culture in Naples
Giving