What is a caffè sospeso? Thanks for asking!

Caffè sospeso literally translates to English as a ‘suspended coffee’. It’s an Italian tradition whereby cafe customers pay for an extra coffee that will be put aside, for a poor person to claim at a later time. The caffè sospeso idea can be extended to other types of food, and it’s seen a revival in popularity during the Covid-19 pandemic. It’s believed the caffè sospeso tradition was born in Naples’ historic Gambrinus café, around the start of the 20th century. The idea was simple: if a person felt like they had had a lucky day, they would pay for two coffees instead of one. The second ‘suspended’ coffee would later be given to the first poor person who asked for one. And by the way, you can suspend other items too, the concept is not just limited to coffee. It could be a sandwich, bottle of water or pastry for example.

Nice idea! Is it only the Italians who are big on solidarity then?

A similar principle has existed in Turkish bakeries for centuries, relating to bread. A customer asks for two loaves of bread, and tells the baker the second one is askida ekmek, translating to “bread on a hanger”, or “suspended bread”. Back in Naples and Italy, the tradition slowly became less common, perhaps due to the postwar economic boom, globalisation and ever-expanding tourism. That was the case at least until 2011, when the Mayor of Naples called for a return of the tradition, by creating a dedicated day called the Giornata del caffè sospeso. This development created a buzz on social media, and the practice of ‘paying it forward’ became known in other countries. Many appreciated this show of solidarity. From then onwards, other types of businesses picked up on this in Europe, North America and Asia.

So how do we know for sure that what we pay forward actually gets given out to a person in need? In under 3 minutes, we answer your questions!

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