Love is ALL

Coffee Flavor

by Alessandra Cenna

SALONE DEGLI INCANTI

- Trieste - Italy

from September 9 to October 22, 2023

“ Hausbrand and Trieste:

Culture and Commerce in Central Europe 1892-2023 “

Hausbrandt poster 1990 © Hausbrandt

Hausbrandt poster © Hausbrandt

Hausbrandt poster © Hausbrandt

Hausbrandt advertising 1960s © Hausbrandt

Trieste, the Italian capital of the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region, lies at the intersection of Latin, Slavic, Germanic and Greek culture.

Belonging to the Habsburg monarchy from 1312 to 1918, little Vienna on the sea, as it was nicknamed, is a mix of cosmopolitan civilizations, religions, flavors and languages.

Trieste is also the city of coffee. Import free port from the 18th century, thanks to its access to the Adriatic, the city very quickly became the starting point for all trade in the Mediterranean.

Several sources indicate that from 1570, coffee appeared in Venice. Known initially as a medicine, it was used by pharmacists and herbalists. Around 1645, in the city of the Doges, the very first café was opened to offer this pleasant drink. The craze spread quickly in France and Austria and quickly became a cult drink.

In 1892 the Hausbrandt brand founded its roasting unit in Trieste. Today its coffee is exported to 90 countries around the world.

From the start, its packaging and original metal containers have been the strong points of its dynamic communication.

Slogans and advertisements quickly contributed to its notoriety thanks to its very unusual and innovative advertising program for the time.

Thus, Hausbrandt succeeds in associating the image of the café with scenes from everyday life. His now famous “vecchietti”, the little old people, ensured his rapid success and opened a most innovative era of communication.

Hausbrandt Poster Caffè © Hausbrandt

The brand logo has undergone several modifications depending on requirements and fashions, but also thanks to the talent of artists like Leopoldo Metlicovitz, founder of billboard art, Luciano Biban and Robilant Associati.

The exhibition presents the evolution of the brand deeply linked to the city of Trieste. This long love story has lasted for 130 years and it illustrates the changes in styles and rites as well as graphic choices. The journey begins with the creation of the company with its first slogan created at the end of the 19th century, “Hausbrandt Coffee Specialty”. This underlines the quality of the product by highlighting its manufacturing, its large bags of coffee, its coffee machines and grinders.

Trieste contributed to the creation and expansion of the iconic drink and today has numerous literary cafés which were the meeting places of great novelists like James Joyce, Italo Svevo and Umberto Saba.

Coffee remains an essential ritual today and its aroma makes Italy sing and warms the whole world.

“Hausbrand and Trieste: Culture and Commerce in Central Europe 1892-2023” Salone degli Incanti - Trieste - Italy

from September 9 to October 22, 2023

www.hausbrandt.it www.salonedeglincanti.comune.trieste.it