The Globalisation of Italian Espresso

di Jonathan Morris
in Memoria e Ricerca n.s. 23 (2006), p. 27

Italian style’ coffee beverages have become common throughout much of the developed and developing world in the last fifteen years. This article outlines five phases in the globalisation of Italian espresso – elite, exotic, ethnic, speciality, branded – linking these to the image and associations of the beverage. It shows how differing consumer needs in various markets were met through material adaptations to the beverages themselves, enabling them to be placed at the centre of a variety of consumption practices, and to sustain a variety of symbolic values that were be constructed around them