Caffè sospeso facts for kids

A special container in a cafe in Naples, where people can leave a receipt for a coffee they've paid for but didn't drink. Someone else can then claim it for free!

A caffè sospeso (pronounced "kaf-FEH sso-SPEH-zoh") means "suspended coffee" or "pending coffee" in Italian. It's a kind act where someone pays for an extra cup of coffee in advance. This extra coffee isn't for them, but for someone else who might need it later, like an anonymous act of kindness.

This special tradition started in the busy cafes of Naples, a city in Italy. Imagine someone having a really good day or feeling lucky. They would order a sospeso. This meant they paid for two coffees but only drank one. Later, if a person who was struggling asked if there was a sospeso available, they would get a free coffee. Today, cafes in many other countries have started doing this too. It helps them sell more coffee and also spreads kindness and caring in the community.

History of Suspended Coffee

The idea of caffè sospeso is quite old, possibly over 100 years! However, it became less common after World War II, when Italy's economy grew stronger. For a while, it was mostly seen around Christmas time. Some reports from 2008 even said the tradition had almost disappeared in Naples.

But some people kept the tradition alive! For example, Aurelio De Laurentiis, who is the boss of the S.S.C. Napoli football club, is known to pay for ten sospesi every time his team wins a game.

A famous writer from Naples, Luciano De Crescenzo, wrote a book in 2008 called Il caffe sospeso: Saggezza quotidiana in piccoli sorsi. This book helped make the sospeso tradition famous all over Italy. Soon, the idea spread to cafes in many other countries, including Bulgaria, Ukraine, Australia, Canada, Romania, Russia, Spain, Argentina, the United States, and Costa Rica.

In 2011, the sospeso idea got a big boost in Italy. Several small festivals joined together to create a "Suspended Coffee Network." They wanted to encourage people to help each other, especially because of cuts to cultural funding. In December 2011, the city of Naples even declared an annual "Suspended Coffee Day" to celebrate this kind act.

In March 2013, a person named John Sweeney started a Facebook page called "Suspended Coffees." This page became very popular. By 2015, it had helped people buy over 15 million suspended coffees in 34 different countries!

Even big coffee chains joined in. In April 2013, the UK part of Starbucks started a charity program based on the suspended coffee idea. They promised to donate money to the Oasis Trust charity for every suspended coffee bought. Other coffee shops in the UK also started offering suspended coffees around this time.

On a Tuesday in July 2013, something amazing happened in Edmonton, Canada. An unknown customer at a Tim Hortons coffee shop paid for 500 large coffees! This kind act quickly spread, and soon, over 10,000 cups of coffee were paid for by generous donors at 30 different Tim Hortons locations.

Another incredible act of kindness happened on a Friday in September 2021, in Istanbul, Turkey. An anonymous customer at a food chain called Dönerci Metin Usta paid for 501 Turkish coffees. This was the largest suspended coffee donation ever recorded in 100 years!

During the 2020 COVID-19 lockdown, when many people faced financial difficulties, the sospeso tradition became popular again in southern Italy. It wasn't just for coffee anymore; people started paying for other things too, to help those in need.

What Suspended Coffee Means

The caffè sospeso is more than just a free coffee. It's a powerful symbol of people helping each other from the ground up. It shows how small acts of kindness can make a big difference in a community. When the world faced tough economic times, like the 2008 recession and the financial crisis in Europe, the idea of sospeso became popular again as a way for people to show support for one another.

Charities have also used this idea. In 2004, a charity called Ronde della carità announced a "national suspended day" around Easter. In 2011, a "Suspended Coffee Day" was planned to happen on Human Rights Day in December. A group of Italian arts festivals that focused on helping others came together in 2010 under the name "Rete del Caffè Sospeso," which means "Suspended Coffee Network." There's even an Italian fundraising website called 1caffe.org, which uses the idea of one coffee to help others.

See also

In Spanish: Café pendiente para niños