Italy has lengthy been a bastion of conventional espresso tradition. Due to the appearance of the espresso machine within the Eighties, many Italians have held agency to the assumption that espresso must be inexpensive, fast, and roasted darkish.
Though Italy is the second-largest client of espresso in Europe, its deeply ingrained mindset about espresso has stalled the expansion of the nation’s specialty espresso market. Conventional coffeehouses have lengthy outnumbered specialty espresso outlets and roasters, and historic laws have saved espresso costs unrealistically low.
File arabica futures over the past yr, nonetheless, are forcing Italians to reexamine their preconceptions of espresso – and specialty espresso is on the forefront of this cultural shift.
I spoke with Dario Fociani, Dafne Spadavecchia, and Zach Romanow at Faro, Aliena Espresso Roasters, and Luna by Faro in Rome to find out how they’re difficult the established order within the Italian espresso market.
You may additionally like our article on why espresso is so fashionable in Italy.
Why custom holds its roots in Italian espresso tradition
Espresso has been a quintessential a part of Italian tradition for the reason that invention of the espresso machine. Italy’s Ministry of Agricultural, Meals, and Forestry Insurance policies has even submitted a number of UNESCO purposes to protect espresso’s Italian roots – though none have up to now been profitable.
The nation drinks round 14 billion espressos yearly, reaffirming the long-standing custom of ingesting quick, low-cost espresso shortly, typically whereas standing on the bar in a standard coffeehouse.
To compensate for the upper consumption of brief, small drinks like espresso, many Italians choose daring, intense, and bitter dark-roasted espresso. Whereas some could assert it’s a mere style desire, Italy’s penchant for conventional espresso has restricted the maturation of its espresso market.
“For over fifty years, many old-school roasteries have unfold misinformation, shaping a slim concept of high quality based mostly on depth, bitterness, and routine,” says Dario Fociani, the co-founder of Faro, Rome’s first-ever specialty espresso store, which was not too long ago voted the twenty sixth greatest espresso store on the earth.
“Most Italians decide espresso not by its style, however by the way it makes them really feel – robust, quick, acquainted. It’s a cultural reflex, virtually unconscious,” he provides.
The darker the roast profile, the simpler it’s to masks defects and low-quality beans, too. When roasters and coffeehouses really feel incentivised to purchase low-quality and low-cost inexperienced espresso, it’s inherently on the expense of sustainability.
“Italy’s espresso tradition started – and stagnated – with a harmful mindset that undervalues espresso as merely transactional as a substitute of a delicacy,” says Dafne Spadavecchia, the co-founder and normal supervisor of Faro and Aliena Espresso Roasters, a specialty espresso roastery opened by Faro in 2021.
“Our habits as Romans are very robust and deep-rooted,” she provides. “The Italian espresso sector is sort of immune to critique and alter.”
Concurrently, many Italians conflate specialty espresso with unreasonably excessive costs.
Within the 1910s, Italian authorities enforced a most worth for sure “requirements”, together with espresso, reinforcing extensively held beliefs that espresso must be low-cost.
Right this moment, many shoppers, enterprise homeowners, and baristas alike resist the rising value of their typical €1 espresso, thereby permitting some café and roastery operators to proceed sourcing low-quality, robusta-heavy darkish roast blends.
Specialty espresso is defying the norms in Italy
Espresso is undeniably central to Italian tradition; but, the long-standing custom of quick, cheap espresso is slowly fading as specialty espresso begins to achieve traction.
Nearly zero specialty espresso manufacturers existed in Italy a decade in the past; now, there are greater than 100. One of many first to open in 2016, Faro has since spearheaded the regular progress of Italy’s specialty espresso scene.
“The Italian espresso market could be very late to the specialty pattern, and entrepreneurs have been sluggish to enter as a result of they imagine Italy is a really conventional market that will likely be tough to interrupt into,” says Zach Romanow, a associate at Luna by Faro, a brand new multi-functional specialty café and restaurant opened in April 2025, that emphasises a concentrate on the 5 senses to boost appreciation of high-quality food and drinks.
“However the truth that it’s not straightforward additionally means there’s lots of room for a newcomer to face aside and provide a degree of high quality that basically surprises folks, and that is what the crew at Faro and Luna has accomplished so properly,” he provides.
Providing mild and medium roast profiles that spotlight acidity, sweetness, and sophisticated flavour notes, slightly than bitterness and “roastiness”, specialty espresso is difficult conventional flavour palettes and reshaping the buyer mindset about espresso high quality and pricing.
“We didn’t simply need to serve totally different espresso – we needed to alter the dialog,” Dario says. “By revealing that espresso could be clear, fragrant, and deeply expressive of its origin, it shifts the main focus from behavior to curiosity.”
Conventional Italian espresso tradition continues to cater to a fast stint standing on the bar and sipping espresso with little consideration paid in direction of its origin, processing, or distinctive attributes.
By initiating conversations about clear sourcing and high quality, espresso outlets like Faro and Luna by Faro have grow to be some extent of reference for Italians searching for a deeper understanding of their day by day espresso.
“Specialty espresso invitations folks to query what they suppose they know,” Dario says. “It brings traceability, terroir, and craftsmanship right into a world that has lengthy been standardised and industrialised.”
Difficult an “old-fashioned” mindset
Regardless of the Roman specialty espresso scene taking off, espresso tradition is progressing quicker within the north of Italy than within the south. Shifting such long-standing practices nationwide will certainly require persistence.
Though many Italian industries produce luxurious items and Italian shoppers are sometimes prepared to pay extra for higher-quality merchandise, this mindset doesn’t normally prolong to espresso.
“As a substitute, many individuals see espresso as ‘simply’ espresso,” Dafne explains.
Educating shoppers that specialty espresso is a luxurious good is the primary and highest hurdle, given the nation’s conventional café tradition. This has grow to be an much more pertinent dialog as espresso costs proceed to stay excessive and unstable, forcing many Italian espresso shoppers to rethink their perceptions of how a lot an espresso “ought to” value.
“It’s typically essential to coach prospects about what a top quality cup of espresso means and why it must value greater than €1,” Zach says.
The onus, due to this fact, falls on the Italian espresso business as an entire to normalise larger costs.
“The toughest problem is to substitute and substitute the phrase ‘excessive’ with’ honest,’” Dafne says. “If a product has been underpriced for over ten years, you’ll be able to’t blame the buyer.”
Critically, the business should work in direction of elevating the underappreciated and undervalued career of the barista in Italy. Not solely can they exhibit the extent of craft throughout the complete speciality espresso worth chain, however additionally they often act as a bridge between the 2 ends of the availability chain, thereby deepening shoppers’ understanding of espresso manufacturing and, consequently, high quality.
The significance of small espresso manufacturers – conventional and specialty alike – collaborating in these academic efforts can’t be overstated. Rising menu costs pose a better danger to impartial cafés, that are up in opposition to massive chains with better capability to soak up prices.
Nevertheless, specialty espresso companies like Faro, Aliena, and Luna are in a uniquely place to reframe larger menu costs as a chance to boost their requirements for service and merchandise.
Rising espresso costs have opened up studying alternatives
As a result of Italians understand espresso worth hikes as extra drastic than in different markets, they’re extra urgently motivated to be taught why it’s occurring.
“By supporting curiosity and creating additional consciousness, we will encourage extra folks to drink higher high quality espresso,” Dafne says.
Not solely does specialty espresso broaden consciousness of high quality and flavour, but in addition of social and environmental components affecting the espresso business, from the impacts of C market volatility and local weather change on espresso farmers to the alternatives to construct clear and long-term relationships throughout the worth chain.
“Italians already recognise good agriculture on the subject of fruits, greens, olive oil, flour, cheese, or ethically-raised meat,” Dafne says. “Our mission is to assist them see espresso the identical method: as a tropical fruit, not a packaged commodity.”
Faro opened Luna to assist this motion, showcasing how effective eating and specialty espresso are complementary. The brand new café integrates specialty espresso with distinctive meals, artisanal baking, pure wine, and curated artwork to create an elevated degree of hospitality that pulls inspiration from the Sluggish Meals philosophy.
“Luna gives a deeper, extra immersive sensory expertise – one the place you’ll be able to interact all 5 senses, and the place folks open not simply to flavour, however to a deeper connection to their food and drinks,” Dario says. “With extra seating and no service counter, it distances itself from the standard fast-paced bar mannequin, bringing us nearer to our preferrred of what a espresso area could be.
“It’s not nearly espresso or meals – it’s about reminiscence, emotion, and notion.”
Regardless of Italy’s resistance to specialty espresso, corporations like Faro, Luna, and Aliena are proving that the nation’s espresso drinkers have an open thoughts to elevated experiences.
“Individuals have underestimated how open the Italian market is to appreciating the standard of substances, the craft of a extremely skilled barista, and all of the little particulars that go into making actually nice espresso,” Zach says.
Whereas espresso shoppers are gaining an appreciation for extra advanced and delicate flavour profiles, the damaging perspective in direction of costly espresso stays uncompromising. The hole between perceived and precise worth persists, as Italian shoppers have a protracted approach to go in understanding that moral sourcing and honest wages include related prices.
Critically, specialty espresso tradition can’t be framed as intimidating or unique.
“We educate with gentleness,” Dario says. “From how we describe tasting notes to how we clarify brewing strategies, every part is supposed to spark curiosity. Our crew is skilled to pay attention first, to not preach.
“The problem is to construct belief and tradition slowly, with consistency and integrity,” he provides. “Operators want to remain dedicated to high quality and training, whereas remaining open, affected person, and type.”
Italy’s espresso tradition finds itself at a crossroads. The nation’s conventional mindset about espresso is prone to prevail, however specialty espresso is reshaping the way forward for the Italian market.
“Specialty espresso outlets aren’t right here to interchange the outdated world – we’re right here to construct a brand new one,” Dario concludes. “One fabricated from gentleness, sensory consciousness, and a renewed reference to the land and people who domesticate it.”
Loved this? Then learn our article on the historical past of the espresso machine.
Photograph credit: Faro
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