Sigep, held in Rimini from 20 to 24 January, is the leading international trade fair for artisan gelato, pastry, bakery and coffee. Now in its thirty-ninth edition, the fair aims to showcase Italian and global excellence, offering a preview of innovations across the four sectors in terms of raw materials, ingredients, plant and equipment, furnishings and services. Sigep is therefore a kind of crystal ball in which to glimpse the near future of some of the most important sectors of Italian made-in-Italy production, and sustainability is naturally part of that picture. It is precisely under the banner of environmental and social sustainability that the partnership between Lavazza and LifeGate was forged, taking shape in the LifeGate Café project. This collaboration was discussed on 23 January at the Lavazza stand at Sigep.

Lavazza's sense of sustainability

Stepping into the stand, which covers a surface area of over two hundred square metres, one immediately senses the commitment to environmental protection and social responsibility that defines Lavazza. The star of the show is Alteco, the first 100 per cent organic blend produced by the historic Turin-based company, while the photographs from the 2018 calendar "2030 What are you doing?", dedicated to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, are also on display.

Alteco, the organic coffee that stands by communities

Alteco, whose name means "height" in Esperanto, was created to meet the growing demand for organic products among consumers. This coffee is grown in accordance with the principles of organic farming and contributes to the development of local communities. Alteco is also packaged, stored and shipped in line with the standards of certification body Utz for organic blends. Alteco is a blend dedicated exclusively to the professional channel.

What LifeGate and Lavazza are doing together

Sustainability is one of the key areas of development for Lavazza, which wants to step up its commitment in this direction. To do so, the company is firmly convinced that partnerships are essential. "We believe it is a shared responsibility towards society," explained Veronica Rossi, CSR specialist at Lavazza. "That is why partnerships play an important role for Lavazza. Today we are here to talk about a successful partnership — the one with LifeGate that gave rise to the LifeGate Café project."

What LifeGate Café is

LifeGate developed the LifeGate Café project with the aim of creating a select network of venues that share the ideal of quality of life in harmony with the environment. "The focus on sustainability is constantly growing," said Fabio Merafino, business development manager at LifeGate. "We set out to create a network of venues that can offer customers the opportunity to enjoy Lavazza Alteco organic coffee, and that possess a range of characteristics ranging from a sustainable food offering to the use of renewable energy, while also being engaged in social and environmental activities in their local area."

The climate is changing and coffee is under threat

Coffee consumption is on the rise, yet climate change is threatening its production. As a result of rising global temperatures, the cultivable areas dedicated to production could be halved as early as 2050. The heat could also encourage the spread of diseases affecting the plant. "Global warming is certainly a major threat to coffee production," confirmed Veronica Rossi. "The goal of the Lavazza Foundation's projects is to teach producers to be resilient to climate change and to cope with the consequences of rising temperatures."

Taking a lesson in resilience from Lavazza

Lavazza's technicians teach farmers sustainable cultivation techniques and how to manage their crops efficiently. "Sometimes the techniques for countering the effects of global warming can be basic yet highly effective — for example, spreading chalk around the base of a coffee plant encourages deeper rooting, so that in the event of drought the plant can more easily reach a water table," explained Lavazza's CSR specialist. "Or there is what is known as intercropping, which involves growing two or more crops simultaneously. Tall trees are planted between the rows of coffee plants to protect them from prolonged sun or heavy rainfall." Lavazza has therefore chosen to focus not on charitable giving, but on training, developing the entrepreneurial skills of small producers to enable them to become self-sufficient on their own terms.