Coffee, wine and olive oil, worlds connected by passion, love for the land and respect for the raw material, each one featured at “Palermo Coffee Festival”, the first event in Italy dedicated to the sustainable industries and to biodiversity, scheduled on Sunday, June 18th and Monday, June 19th, from 10am to 6pm.
The event is organized by Morettino, in collaboration with Palermo’s Botanical Garden and CoopCulture.
A one-of-a-kind event: two days of tastings, debates, live shows, masterclasses and detailed presentations to explore the uniqueness of the three worlds that are extremely connected, but still divided by degrees of perception and awareness that are clearly different.
In fact, the goal of Palermo Coffee festival is to create and spread the culture of coffee, a popular drink in Italy, of which little is known and undervalued, comparing it to wine and olive oil, industries that – thanks to the work of brave and knowledgeable producers who believed in our territory – were able to create great awareness around their products over time.
There are many similarities between the world of coffee, in particular the one of Specialty Coffees, and those of wine and olive oil, which will be at the center of the festival, with a common vision of an integrated industry that starts from the territories they come from to the final product.
There will be a particular attention to the sensory aspects, to the importance of the terroir origin, to the distinctiveness of the cultivation and production, and to the subject matter of environmental sustainability able to add value to the raw material and the territory.
Arturo Morettino always believed that there can’t be flavor without knowledge, and the Palermo Coffee Festival will be a moment for sharing and discussing, to encourage the curiosity that is necessary to value and promote the uniqueness of the raw materials.
The festival was added to the official calendar of the Botanical Garden and CoopCulture, which created a special event ticket priced at 5 euro, a reduced price compared to the general entry fee to the Botanical Garden, granting access to the event and a chance to visit the beautiful gardens.
“We dedicate this first one-of-a-kind festival to Palermo, as a testimony to our love for the city. The event represents a new significant step of our journey in publicity and regeneration, starting from our territory and our community – Andrea Morettino explains – We believe that promoting our land, not only involves its historical and cultural beauties, but also the storytelling of our extraordinary biodiversity and creating authentic experiences made of aromas, flavors and emotions”.
“Ours, is a land to be discovered, lived and its story needs to be told, but it also needs to generate curiosity, cohesion and enthusiasm – Andrea Morettino continues – Palermo Coffee Festival will be an event that opens the city to new perspectives: during the event we will discuss our identity, alongside other producers and friends, through didactic tasting experiences, while having fun discovering new alternative coffee extraction techniques with all the enthusiasts, families, tourists visiting the island and the professionals from the sector. Our ambition needs to be to aim at intercepting a new flow of tourists with a higher added value and interested in our content, and to do so, we need to continue investing in awareness, education and new skills. A heartfelt thanks goes to those who believed from the beginning to creating this event, from the regional and city administrations to the University of Palermo, to the Botanical Garden, CoopCulture and Palermo Mediterranea, and most importantly to all the producers who were on the front line with the Morettino family”.
“Behind products such as coffee, there aren’t only normal daily habits, but also stories, traditions, culture – Palermo’s mayor Roberto Lagalla states – Palermo Coffee Festival will allow visitors to discover these aspects, fundamental to fully understand the journey many local entrepreneurs have made and continue to do so. The world is evolving, and the festival will focus on two current themes, such as sustainability and biodiversity, which characterize other industries, not only coffee, but olive oil and wine as well. I’m proud, and for this I thank those who believed and organized the Palermo Coffee Festival, that this unique festival will take place in our city”.
THE FESTIVAL
Ten micro roasteries, ten wineries and ten producers of EVO oil, besides chocolate artisans from Modica, flour producers who use ancient wheat varieties and producers of spirits, for the first time will come together to share ideas, projects and visions in a natural theater of incredible beauty such as the Botanical Garden.
Present at the festival, there will also be leading figures from the world of coffee, such as the world champions of Latte Art 2022 and 2019 Carmen Clemente and Manuela Fensore, and filter coffee experts such as Jessica Sartiani, who will perform live shows on Latte Art and Brewing.
At the same time, there will be a program of masterclasses that will explore the sensory similarities between coffee, wine and olive oil through unique tasting experiences, planned for the first time in Italy. The masterclasses will be held by some of the leading wine experts in Sicily: Luigi Salvo, AIS Sommelier and judge on international competitions, Gianni Giardina, oenologist and international taster, and Federico Latteri, wine expert and Wine writer for Cronache di gusto. The masterclasses on olive oil and coffee will be led by the journalist Maria Antonietta Pioppo, wine master sommerlier and official taster of EVO oil. The masterclasses will be hosted as well by Andrej Godina, one of the leading experts of Specialty Coffees in Italy and curator of the Guida del Camaleonte.
Palermo Coffee Festival will also host two masterclasses dedicated to Water, sponsored by Brita and guided by the only certified water Sommelier in Italy, Elena Scordamaglia.
Attendance to the masterclasses is free but reserved to a limited number of people; therefore, reservations can be made by sending an email to [email protected]. A confirmation email will be sent for reservations.
There will also be events for the younger visitors with the Orto Capovolto labs on Sunday, June 18th from 11am to 4pm, designed to teach children how to draw using coffee and how to grow carrots using coffee grounds.
THE STORY OF BIODIVERSITY ACCORDING TO THE THREE INDUSTRIES
Biodiversity and sustainability in the food industries, from the plant to the consumer, will be the main themes of the first edition of the Palermo Coffee Festival.
In a historical moment in which climate change is revolutionizing world agriculture, research on production and means of consumption with a reduced environmental impact are becoming a necessity. The experimental project of cultivating a native Sicilian coffee comes from this vision, conducted by Morettino with the collaboration of Palermo’s Botanical Garden and the Department of Agriculture of the University of Palermo, which will be one of the themes treated during the event.
Sustainable agriculture, biodiversity and similarities, even concerning the generational change, between the world of coffee and wine will be discussed during the debates scheduled on Sunday and Monday morning in the Lanza Hall, with some of the leading experts in Sicily on botany, agriculture and climate change, Assovini Sicilia and the Next Generation of Assovini and Sostain.
THE BOTANICAL GARDEN
Icon of Palermo’s historical and cultural heritage, the Botanical Garden is unique. Ten hectares of tropical gardens in the heart of the city, with over 12-thousand botanical species from all over the world, which over time have been able to adapt to the Sicilian climate. Here, at the beginning of the 20th century, is where the first coffee plant was planted and it also provided the seeds that started Morettino’s experimental coffee plantation project in Palermo, 30 years ago. Today, Palermo’s Botanical Garden, with the collaboration of the University of Palermo, is at the forefront with Morettino in the experimental coffee cultivation in Sicily.
THE PROGRAM
SUNDAY JUNE 18th
LANZA HALL
▪ 10:00am | Welcome and institutional greetings. Participation by Roberto Lagalla (Mayor of Palermo), Michelangelo Gruttadauria (President of the University Museum System, Univeristy of Palermo), Paolo Inglese (Rector’s Delegate for the promotion of the cultural, historical and monumental heritage, and of the brand Unipa), Massimiliano Lombardo (Regional Manager Sicilia CoopCulture), and Arturo Morettino.
▪ 10:30am | “Coffee and wine, worlds and generations compared”. Debate with Andrea Morettino, Andrej Godina (Expert and curator of Guida del Camaleonte), Bernard de la Gatinias (President of Assovini Sicilia), the Next Generation of Assovini Sicilia, Dario Nepoti (Palermo Mediterranea). Moderated by the journalist Nino Amadore. Followed by the screening of the docufilm “Coffee & Wine” by Andrej Godina and Mauro Illiano.
TASTING TABLES
▪ 10:00am-6:00pm | Walk around tasting in the areas of Coffee, wine, olive oil and other culinary delights
▪ 12:00pm | Carmen Clemente (World champion of latte art 2022) “Using vegan milk in Latte Art”.
▪ 3:00pm | Manuela Fensore (World champion of latte art 2019) and Jessica Sartiani (Brand Ambassador Anfim & DM Italia) “The barista’s touch and maintenance of the espresso machines”.
FICUS MAGNOLIA AREA
▪ 11:30am | Masterclass on Coffee and Olive Oil compared: Blind tasting of EVO oil and Specialty Coffees. Tasting by Maria Antonietta Pioppo (Wine Master sommelier, Sommelier and official taster of EVO oils).
▪ 4:00pm| Masterclass on Coffee and wine compared: Sensory tasting by AIS Sicilia and Andrej Godina.
▪ 5:00pm | Masterclass on Water: Sensory tasting of various types of water by Brita. Hosted by Elena Scordamaglia (Brita Water Sommelier)
EDUCATIONAL CLASSROOM
▪ 11:00am | Lab for children by Orto Capovolto: Coffee Painting. Artistic-creative lab to create watercolors using coffee grounds (ages 2+)
▪ 4:00pm | Lab for children by Orto Capovolto: Making a vegetable garden… Creative horticulture lab to learn how to grow carrots thanks to the benefits of coffee grounds (ages 5+)
TALEA SPACE
▪ 4:30pm-6:00pm | COFFEE MIXOLOGY – Windows with a Drink list by Nicola Battista.
MONDAY JUNE 19th
TASTING TABLES
▪ 10:00am-6:00pm | Walk around tasting in the areas of Coffee, wine, olive oil and other culinary delights
▪ 10:30am | Carmen Clemente (World champion of latte art 2022) “Using vegan milk in Latte Art”.
▪ 12:00pm | Manuela Fensore (World champion of latte art 2019) and Jessica Sartiani (Brand Ambassador Anfim & DM Italia) “The barista’s touch and maintenance of the espresso machines”.
▪ 4:00pm | Live Show Antonio Cappadonia: The traditional coffee-flavored granita prepared using the ancient ice-house method
LANZA HALL
▪ 10:30am | “Biodiversity in Sicily: from climate tropicalization and new paths for sustainable agriculture”. Debate with Rosario Schicchi (Director of Palermo’s Botanical Garden), Dario Cartabellotta (GM Regional Department of Agriculture), Vittorio Farina (Professor of tropical and subtropical fruit farming at the University of Palermo), Christian Mulder (Professor of Ecology at the University of Catania), Fondazione SOStain, Giuseppe Giardina (Manager Irritec for agronomic research and development), Arturo Morettino. Moderated by the journalist Mario Pintagro.
FICUS MAGNOLIA AREA
▪ 10:30am | Masterclass on Water: Sensory tasting of various types of water by Brita. Hosted by Elena Scordamaglia (Brita Water Sommelier)
▪ 12:00pm | Masterclass on Coffee and wine compared: Hosted by Federico Latteri (Cronache di Gusto) and Andrej Godina.
▪ 3:00pm | Masterclass on Coffee and Olive Oil compared: Blind tasting of EVO oil and Specialty Coffees. Tasting by Maria Antonietta Pioppo.
▪ 4:30pm | Masterclass on Coffee and wine compared: Hosted by Gianni Giardina (Oenologist and Expert wine taster) and Arturo Morettino, with Jessica Sartiani (Brand ambassador DM Italia)
▪ 5:00pm | Masterclass on Water: Sensory tasting of various types of water by Brita. Hosted by Elena Scordamaglia (Brita Water Sommelier)
