ICO announces first-ever International Coffee Day

The International Coffee Organization (ICO) has announced today that countries from around the world will come together this year to celebrate the first-ever International Coffee Day on 1 October. With the support of 74 ICO Member States and 26 national coffee associations, the ICO said International Coffee Day is a celebration of the coffee sector’s diversity, quality and passion. The ICO will launch a website in August which will feature International Coffee Day events and promote different ways for coffee lovers to get involved. As part of the celebrations, the ICO has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Oxfam to raise money for smallholder farmers. The ICO and Oxfam’s Caffè Sospeso Against Poverty campaign is based on the concept of a ‘caffè sospeso’.  Caffè sospeso is an Italian tradition of paying for a second cup of coffee to be given to a person in need. The campaign will encourage coffee drinkers to go online and donate the value of a cup of coffee to Oxfam’s charity work. The first International Coffee Day coincides with the 115th Session of the International Coffee Council and the first Global Coffee Forum, which will take place during the six months of Expo Milan, running 1 May – 31 October. The Specialty Coffee Associations of Europe, America, Australia, as well as the National Coffee Association of the US are among the national groups, which have announced their support for the event.