Impact case study database
The Coffee Historian: achieving impact through industry collaboration, education and public engagement
1. Summary of the impact
Jonathan Morris is an expert on the global history of coffee. His collaborations with international partners from the coffee industry on bespoke projects that draw upon his research expertise have enabled beneficiaries to develop new products, facilitate capacity building through staff development, and communicate with customers through the medium of history and heritage. He generates reach and significance through multiple education, engagement and dissemination activities that address both the coffee industry and broader public audiences. His research has achieved a documented media reach in excess of 13 million during the census period.
2. Underpinning research
Morris began his research into coffee at the University of Hertfordshire (UH) as Principle Investigator of The Cappuccino Conquests: A Transnational History of Italian Coffee (2004-2007) funded under the ESRC/AHRC Cultures of Consumption programme. The project analysed the commodity biography of Italian espresso, tracing the origins and evolution of the beverage from the 1880s to the present, the development of a distinctive Italian coffee culture and the industry that surrounded it, and the spread of what he termed the ‘Italian-style’ coffee beverages around the world. It highlighted the ways these were adopted and adapted to suit new markets and coffee shop formats, and the agents behind this ( 2008, 3.1).
The research distinguished between the much longer history of coffee in Italy, and the development of a distinctive Italian-style coffee culture based around espresso. Morris’s research analysed dictionaries, and health and cookery manuals to demonstrate, for example, that the term cappuccino, denoting a simple combination of coffee and milk, pre-dated the espresso, but subsequently became associated with a beverage that could only be produced using espresso equipment within the coffee bar. It expounded on the nature and reasons for the development of the espresso-brewing process, the utilisation of coffee by troops during World War 1 and the fraught relationship between coffee and Fascism. It showed how technical innovations introduced in the post-Second World War era transformed both the material characteristics of Italian coffee and the culture that surrounded it. A combination of internal migration, urbanisation and electrification, along with a distinctive regulatory regime promoted the rise of the neighbourhood coffee bar using high pressure machinery that produced espresso topped with crema, and the standardisation of the beverage parameters that now define Italian espresso. Italian coffee culture was therefore less a manifestation of tradition, and more an expression of modernity that rapidly became an icon of ‘Italian-ness’ ( 2010, 3.2).
Morris then explored the spread of espresso-style beverages into international markets since the 1950s, combining historical research into trade publications with extensive use of oral history. Morris adapted Peterson’s ‘production of culture’ model to point out that the diversification of coffee styles within European and US domestic markets was comparatively recent, suggesting this was connected to the emergence of large-scale ‘national’ roaster/retailers keen to protect their local market from external penetration. They promoted particular combinations of brewing styles, roasts and beverage preferences to create national coffee cultures that served as collective expression of banal nationalism. These were undermined, however, by a specialty coffee movement that sought to reposition coffee as a lifestyle product within key demographics, enabling it to be used as a prop for the fashioning of the self. Presenting Italian-style coffees as premium products whose value added was reflected in their non-reproducibility in the home, facilitated charging margins that supported the ‘experience’ offer embodied in the international coffee shop format. The brand personalities of coffee chains could themselves be used as an accessory for projecting individual identity ( 2013, 3.3).
Morris subsequently extended his research to explore the history of coffee more widely across the world ( 2013, 2017, 3.4, 3.5) culminating in his monograph Coffee: A Global History ( 2019, 3.6). Researched in archives and libraries attached to industry institutions such as the International Coffee Organisation, it brings together data from many sources, including significant numbers of previously unpublished images. Written for a broad audience, the volume introduces a new, five-stage periodisation of coffee history, located in what theorists will recognise as the ‘world systems’ created around coffee. Starting with an analysis of the Muslim coffee trade that developed around the Red Sea during the 15th century, the book analyses how each of these five eras represented a new stage in the evolution of the nature of coffee (Wine of Islam, Colonial Good, Industrial Product, Global Commodity, Specialty Beverage) and how each was characterised by a different set of dominant producers, labour regimes, intermediary agents, merchandise forms, brewing methods and service outlets. His work uses this developmental arc to interrogate key questions around the sustainability of the coffee sector today.
3. References to the research
Morris, J. (2008). Storia dell’Espresso in Italia e nel mondo (A Short History of Espresso in Italy and the World). In: Cociancich., M., ed., 100% Espresso Italiano, Trieste: Antorami. English version freely available, open access, at Academia.edu: https://bit.ly/3sQa6oI
Morris, J. (2010). Making Italian Espresso, Making Espresso Italian. Food and History, 8, 2, 155-83. https://doi.org/10.1484/J.FOOD.1.102222
Morris, J. (2013). Why Espresso? Explaining Changes in European Coffee Preferences from a Production of Culture Perspective. European Review of History / Revue européenne d’histoire, 20, 5, 881-901. https://doi.org/10.1080/13507486.2013.833717
Morris, J., Thurston, R. & Steiman, S., eds. (2013). Coffee: A Comprehensive Guide to the Bean, the Beverage and the Industry. Lansing: Rowman and Littlefield. ISBN 978-1442214408
Morris, J. (2017). We Consumers – Tastes, Rituals and Waves. In Folmer, B. ed., The Craft and Science of Coffee. Amsterdam: Elsevier Academic Press. pp.457-491. ISBN 978-0128035207
Morris, J. (2019). Coffee. A Global History (Edible History Series). London: Reaktion Books. Rights sold Arabic, Indonesian, Japanese, Turkish, Polish. ISBN 978-1789140026
Funding: 2004 – 2007 The Cappuccino Conquests: A Transnational History of Italian Coffee. ESRC/AHRB: Cultures of Consumption, RES-154-25-0015, £181,294.88
All outputs peer reviewed. 3.2, 3.3, 3.4 submitted REF2014; 3.6 to REF2021.
4. Details of the impact
Morris has achieved impact through: his work with the coffee industry; as an educator and influencer across the coffee sector; and through engaging with the public and media.
A) Industry Collaborations
Morris has worked with international partners across the coffee industry on bespoke projects that draw upon his research expertise. Three such collaborations are presented below.
1. Nestle-Nespresso, Lausanne, Switzerland
Nestle-Nespresso is the world’s largest producer of coffee capsule products. Morris has worked on four key projects with Nespresso supporting the company’s product range development and marketing, staff education and development, and corporate social responsibility activities. His work with Nespresso was recognised by Times Higher Education awards in 2018 when he was a finalist in the ‘Most Innovative Contribution to Business-University Collaboration’ category.
Morris’s collaboration with Nespresso began in 2017 when he wrote a chapter for an industry-defining volume funded by the company, The Craft and Science of Coffee. This chapter, ‘We Consumers – Tastes, Rituals and Waves’ [ 3.5], “ provides a broader social and human perspective to why we, as an industry, are where we are today,” according to Nespresso’s Regulatory and Scientific Affairs Manager who edited the book. All profits from the volume ($35,000 to date) are invested in the Nespresso AAA Farmer Future Program, the first ever retirement savings fund for Colombian coffee farmers [ 5.1].
Morris then collaborated with educational consultants at Nespresso to create an e-learning module on Coffee History for the company’s university-accredited diploma course in Coffee Excellence, which was launched in June 2018. The module covered the five eras of coffee history identified by Morris in Coffee. A Global History alongside material on the importance of rituals and routines developed in [ 3.5]. A first cohort of 30 Nespresso employees from 15 countries graduated in 2019, with a second cohort starting in 2020. The Head of Coffee at Nespresso reports that the module: “ is of great value to the students as it helps them to better understand the coffee industry today, and the role that Nespresso plays in it. When speaking to consumers or media, it is always important to place yourself in a bigger context” [ 5.1].
In 2018, Morris worked with Nespresso on their new ‘Ispirazione Italia’ range. He presented at a vision workshop drawing directly on his research into the history of Italian coffee to offer insights into the evolution of espresso in Italy, differences in regional tastes and cultures, and the particular role of cities in Italian coffee history. The range was launched in January 2020. A Senior Coffee Marketing Manager at Nespresso reports that “ Professor Morris helped Nespresso to create a coherent, credible and substantiated new segment storytelling, aiming at discovering the Italianess of the Nespresso blends” [ 5.1].
In 2019, Morris joined an internal working group at Nespresso on the development of a new range of capsules, World Explorations, inspired by different coffee drinking cultures around the world. Drawing directly upon his research into global coffee history, Morris helped to align blend characteristics with the traditional taste preferences of consumer communities and ensure that the historical rationale provided for creating these linkages would be authentic. Nespresso report that Morris’s work: supported the creation of the marketing story and communications for the global launch; provides the basis of FAQs for consumers; is provided to all Nespresso markets for regulatory purposes (e.g. to show compliance with consumer laws against misleading advertisement). A Senior Marketing Manager Coffee at Nespresso said: “ Professor Morris helped us to find the authentic coffee rituals and tastes, and the way they should be credibly communicated, which significantly impacted the way the range was structured and positioned for the final consumer” [5.1].
2. Gruppo Cimbali, Milan, Italy / Mulmar Foodservice Solutions, Hatfield, UK
Gruppo Cimbali is the largest manufacturer of commercial espresso machines in Italy, including the historic FAEMA brand. Mulmar Foodservice Solutions are the exclusive importers of FAEMA machines into the UK. Morris’s collaboration with Mulmar originally began when he interviewed the company as part of his research. Then in 2014, Mulmar commissioned the Heritage for Business unit at UH to create a business-to-business marketing video [ 5.2] that would use the company’s heritage and history to generate new commercial opportunity [ 5.3]. Morris drew upon his Cappuccino Conquests research to situate the company’s history within that of Anglo-Italian enterprises in the UK and the specialty coffee revolution. He directed the work of a photo-researcher, wrote the storyboard, briefed the video production company and was interviewed for the film. The video launched at the London Coffee Festival in 2015. It is embedded into the company web homepage and Mulmar report that clients have often viewed it before contacting them, and through it have gained an appreciation of the company’s role in the specialty coffee revolution in the UK. They also use it for induction and training of new staff to demonstrate the values of the company [ 5.3].
Through his involvement with Mulmar, Morris began work with their Italian partners, Gruppo Cimbali. In 2016, the company released their new FAEMA E-71 espresso machine. The name was chosen by the company to reflect their heritage machine, the E-61; Morris’s research had previously shown that it was the E61 that first established the brewing parameters now associated with the so-called ‘traditional Italian espresso’ in 1961 and facilitated the creation of the modern Italian coffee bar format with its distinctive consumption culture. Mulmar and Gruppo Cimbali worked with Morris on an integrated marketing strategy for the launch of the E71 which would leverage FAEMA’s heritage. Morris undertook further research in the company archives in Milan, creating a set of presentations with accompanying written materials illustrating the evolution of the machine and its legacy, dubbing it ‘ The Coffee Machine that Changed the World’, a name that has stuck. These were delivered at events targeting influencers in the coffee community, including masterclasses at the London Coffee Festival. Press packs containing materials written by Morris were distributed, and trade media channels published articles drawing upon these [ 5.3].
3. Ecocafe, Lausanne, Switzerland
In 2019, Morris was asked by Swiss coffee roaster and café operator Ecocafe to assist with their regulatory submission relating to a new product, Ice Cascara, a beverage made from the dried coffee cherry husk. Swiss food regulations required Ecocafe to demonstrate that cascara had been consumed in large quantity in at least one non-EU country prior to 1997. Morris supplied Ecocafe with an expert letter documenting the consumption of similar beverages in Yemen from at least 1558, including citations from original sources, drawing on his research into the origins of coffee beverages. The letter formed part of the documentation presented to the Swiss regulatory authorities who licensed the product in 2020. Ecocafe have since applied to the European Food Standards Authority to market Ice Cascara in the EU using a dossier containing Morris’s letter [ 5.4].
B) Education and engagement across the coffee sector
Morris has achieved further impact as an educator and influencer throughout the coffee sector. He engages with all sections of the coffee industry, making interventions drawing on his research from the origins of coffee drinking through to historical reflections on the current coffee price crisis and sustainability issues.
Morris regularly contributes to industry events. Examples include:
Advising the Specialty Coffee Association (SCA ), a global trade association, on an installation for HOST Milan 2017 (Europe’s largest hospitality trade show), including presenting seminars at the event, and authoring the accompanying brochure.
Featured panellist at the inaugural meeting of the Allegra Coffee Leader Network (ACLN ) in 2018, a gathering of industry leaders to discuss trends in British coffee culture over the last 20 years.
Presentations at international industry conferences such as the International Coffee Organisation Annual Conference 2018 [ 5.5].
Morris makes frequent appearances across all forms of the coffee media from print to podcasts. He has published opinion pieces in key industry journals such as Coffee and Cocoa International; Fifth Wave, and Café Life. [ 5.5]. He has appeared in six episodes of The Coffee Podcast, which have been downloaded a total of 70,000 times. The podcast’s host, Jesse Hartman, reports that Morris “ poetically and systematically teaches us something new about coffee with every conversation. … My listeners and I gain a new understanding of what history is, how to understand it, and where coffee fits” [ 5.6]. Ross Hindle, Managing Editor of Perfect Daily Grind, states that " Working with Jonathan brings exceptional value to the content we write. …Alongside using his existing published work to support research for articles on Perfect Daily Grind, we also interview him regularly for high-level thought leadership feature pieces … which together boast more than 80,000 page views” [ 5.7].
Morris’s work is featured in industry educational materials produced by Barista Hustle, an online training company in Australia whose courses have been accessed by over 1 million users worldwide. He is cited in six modules across four different courses. His research also forms the centre of two of the five elements in The Value of Coffee, a free taster online module offered by the Open University for which he was also interviewed; the course had 8,950 visitors in its first 2 years (2017-2019) [ 5.8].
C) Public reach and media
Morris is often called upon by media outlets to provide coffee history-related comment and content. He appeared in a December 2019 episode of BBC Radio 4s In Our Time on coffee history , with c.2,500,000 radio listeners and c.800,000 podcast listeners that month alone. His episode of In Our Time was streamed more than any other episode in 2020 [ 5.9]. He participated in a report on Italian espresso on The Current, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation’s top current event radio show (4,000,000+ listeners), in December 2019 [ 5.10]. In 2016 he appeared in, and provided script advice for, a 1-hour PBS documentary Coffee: The Drink that Changed America which was widely shown throughout the United States [ 5.11]. In January 2017 BBC TV and Radio utilised Morris as the expert commentator on research they had undertaken on the changing face of the high street. He recorded a television interview screened on BBC 1 and gave live interviews to Radio London and 10 other BBC local radio outlets. Coverage on other channels and print media has included The Independent, the Sun, The Sunday Times, Huffington Post and the Guardian [ 5.12].
5. Sources to corroborate the impact
5.1 Letter of testimony from Nespresso – provided by Nespresso’s Regulatory and Scientific Affairs Manager with input from the various quoted employees.
5.2 ‘Mulmar Moments’ video (on both Mulmar and UH pages): https://youtu.be/DxMKRD_FJGg; https://youtu.be/Q2h1jjiQiKs. Total views: 2,200+
5.3 Letter from Sales and Marketing Director and Commercial Director, Mulmar with appended information about FAEMA and collaboration.
5.4 Email from Head of Product Development, EcoCafé, with Morris’s Expert Statement appended. See also: https://www.icecascara.ch/en/casca-what/.
5.5 Compilation of documents corroborating impact on coffee industry events and coffee media.
5.6 Email from host of The Coffee Podcast
5.7 Email from Managing Editor of Perfect Daily Grind.
5.8 Corroboration from Open Media and Informal Learning team, Open University. (Course link: https://www.open.edu/openlearn/society-politics-law/the-value-coffee/content-section-0)
5.9 Email from Producer, In Our Time corroborating listening figures.
5.10 Email from CBC reporter corroborating Morris’s contribution and listening figures.
5.11 Link to full documentary: https://vimeopro.com/user13867822/the-story-of-coffee/video/151927590; production company page citing Morris’s involvement: https://www.pilotguides.com/tv-shows/the-story-of-food/the-story-of-series-1/the-story-of-coffee/
5.12 Compilation of media coverage with evidence showing combined reach of over 13 million.
Additional contextual information
Grant funding
| Grant number | Value of grant |
|---|---|
| 1 | £181,465 |