International Coffee Day is an occasion that is used to promote and celebrate coffee as a beverage, with events now occurring in places across the world. The first official date was 1 October 2015, as agreed by the International Coffee Organization^[1] and was launched in Milan.^[2] This day is also used to promote fair trade coffee and to raise awareness for the plight of the coffee growers.^[3] On this day, many businesses offer free or discounted cups of coffee.^[4] Some businesses share coupons and special deals with their loyal followers via social networking.^[5] Some greeting card companies sell National Coffee Day greeting cards as well as free e-cards.^[6][7][8]

History

At a meeting on 3–7 March 2014,^[9] a decision was taken by the International Coffee Organization to launch the first official International Coffee Day in Milan as part of Expo 2015.^[10]

Various events have been held, called Coffee Day or National Coffee Day, with many of these on or around September 29.^[11]

The exact origin of International Coffee Day is unknown. An event was first promoted in Japan in 1983 by The All Japan Coffee Association (全日本コーヒー協会).^[12][13][14] In the United States "National Coffee Day" was mentioned publicly as early as 2005.^[15] The name "International Coffee Day" was first used by the Southern Food and Beverage Museum, which called a press conference on October 3, 2009 to celebrate it and to announce the first New Orleans Coffee Festival.^[16] It was promoted in China by the International Coffee Organization, first celebrated in 1997, and made into an annual celebration in early April 2001.^[17] Taiwan first celebrated International Coffee Day in 2009.^[18] Nepal first celebrated National Coffee Day on November 17, 2005.^[19] Indonesia, which first celebrated National Coffee Day on August 17, 2006, celebrates it on the same day as Indonesia's Independence Day.^[20]

National coffee days

Further reading

• International Coffee Day