Together for a unique candidacy of Italian espresso. The national and Neapolitan delegations have found an agreement as desired by the Italian National Commission for Unesco and now we are proceeding with rapid steps towards the recognition of Italian espresso coffee between ritual, art, sociality and literature in 2022. It was held yesterday in Rome at the Ministry for Agricultural, Food and Forestry Policies the meeting between the delegation of the candidacy dossier of the Italian espresso coffee ritual and that of the Neapolitan coffee culture between ritual and sociality.

The president of the Unesco working group of Mipaaf, Giuseppe Ambrosio was commissioned in March by the Italian Unesco Commission to initiate a negotiation between the two parties to arrive at a single dossier for the candidacy of espresso coffee with the aim of presenting in March next year "a more solid and representative candidacy of the Italian cultural panorama, in order to further highlight the ritual, convivial and social elements".

"For some months we have started a dialogue with the Campania region, which has promoted the candidacy of the Neapolitan coffee ritual, also thanks to the important and effective mediation of the Ministry for agricultural policies", explains Giorgio Caballini di Sassoferrato, president of the Consortium of protection of traditional Italian espresso coffee, created with the aim of promoting national candidacy. "This allowed us to collaborate, obtaining the result we all hoped for: presenting a candidacy that represents all Italians in March 2022". President Caballini says he is satisfied "with the work done so far by both delegations who have been able to show that Italians know how to work as a team to safeguard our culture, our daily ritual of drinking an espresso at the bar, the sociability that this ritual entails and that is recognized and identifies us all over the world with pride".

Even the head of the Community of the Rite (art) of Italian espresso coffee, Luigi Morello, says he is pleased with what has happened in recent months "because we have worked with the utmost transparency, fairness and a spirit of collaboration", adding that "the candidacy is intended to represent all Italians. Our roots, our uses and customs, although different in our country, must be protected and promoted, as well as our more than one-hundred-year-old culture of espresso coffee, so that Italians are recognized for what is rightfully theirs".

The scientific representatives of the two dossiers are already working to present a shared dossier in September of this year. A few days ago the bars and restaurants have resumed their activity, making us perceive a return to normality. Because after this long period of impediments caused by the health emergency we need to recover our normality also made up of a good Italian espresso at the bar, a democratic and inclusive ritual, in every city and village of our beautiful Italy.