Illy takes on Starbucks

[keno]

An interesting article from the NY Times: "Coffeehouses as Fashion Boutiques; Selling Cachet by the Cup"
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/26/business/worldbusiness/26eurocoffee.html

While I think Illy is crazy to try to restrict the term 'espresso' to Italian espresso makers, I do agree with this quote:

Still, Mr. Illy is annoyed when companies like Starbucks call their drinks espresso, latte, or hybrid Italian names like frappuccino, and refer to their employees as barista.

Cheers,
Ken

[CH]

The French seem fond of Illy's coffee particularly, but three and a half Euro for a cappuccino? Even in the tonier parts of Rome or Florence one can get one for half that or less.

[CH]

Is the term "barista" even strictly applicable to one who only makes coffee drinks? It basically means "bartender" in its native Italian.

[keno]

The latest news is that Italy has now officially certified what constitutes a cappuccino as an attempt to ward off Starbucks style drinks. Purists can read about it here:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/italy/s...0,,1980914,00.html

Cheers,
Ken

[BelAirSteve]

The French seem fond of Illy's coffee particularly, but three and a half Euro for a cappuccino? Even in the tonier parts of Rome or Florence one can get one for half that or less.

You are correct about that. Wife and I were in Florence in October and paid 1.30 Euro.

[another_jim]

Some of what the Italians are doing has to be taken with a large grain of salt. From their point of view, they'd love to regulate the term so that only shots from Italian blends, grinders, machines and baristas could be called espresso. In other words, it's to some extent a move to trademark the term "espresso."

On the other hand, they are also defining what espresso means in terms of its constituents and preparation. In these aspects, they are pretty close to what the WBC or top cafes use in their definitions here. The big differences hark back to the trademark style issues. Illy in particular does not want to specify coffee freshness, but does want a definition that includes pods but excludes SOs or untraditional blends. The INEI spec thoroughly waffles what constitutes an "Espresso Italiano" blend, probably reflecting a lot of internal disagreements.

In any case, Hollywood and Silicone Valley opened up a huge can of worms when they started to play the intellectual property game. Everyone's joining in, trying to trademark or otherwise protect just about every word in the dictionary. It'll be a lot of fun eating popcorn and watching these spats unfold.

[Psyd]

Hollywood and Silicone Valley opened up a huge can of worms

The phrase "can of worms" is a term my grandfather used to use in reference to my grandmother, describing arguing with her as futile as opening a can of worms on a rocking boat and hoping to get them all on a hook, eventually. This phrase is in the process of being trademarked and copywritten, er, righted, er, well, you know what I mean. I'll have my lawyers call your people.