Abstract:

It’s not easy to identify and define the role of design in the extremely liquid society in which we are living. It should assume the politic role of mediator between different fields and cultures, stressing ever more the importance of using lateral thinking to solve problems and find solutions instead of a horizontal one. Moreover, design should help people to open their minds, looking for links and connections invisible at first sight.

In this phase of the 21st century characterized by several changes in people’s lifestyles, jobs, and working modalities, we are witnessing an incredible growth in the desired quality and consideration people give to what they eat and drink. In fact, Food Design is now recognized as one of the main design sectors almost equal to Industrial and Interior branches. Whole grain products for food and gourmet coffees for beverages are becoming new standards in the culinary world.

But what is design doing in this field? On the one hand, it is already used in several applications like Design With Food, Design For Food or Eating Design if we consider the design of food itself, the design of products useful to cook or the design of unusual eating situations. On the other one, it is backing the creation and expansion of new forms of drinks by using young people as first promoters and consumers. More specifically, design is paying particular attention to the changing trend from hot to cold coffee all over the world: Food, Industrial and Interior Design merge together for the recreation of the whole coffee beverage experience. The analysis of processes, modalities, and environments where foodstuffs and beverages -with a deep focus on cappuccino- are elaborated, distributed and consumed has led to the creation of new formats of alimentary products characterized by new aesthetic, communicative and representative values.


The following paper wants to show the evolution and spread in cold coffee consumption around the world by investigating which are the new social and inclusive spaces that can be considered as new focal points to drink specialty coffees. From the United States to Asia Pacific and Europe: the future coffee will not be the same that we are used to drink today.

Nowadays coffee is not only a prime morning necessity, a whim or a habit, but it’s a real pretext for have a dialogue and a possible reason for discussing. In recent years, several new key drivers are changing people’s perception about one of the most popular and consumed drinks in the world: geographical context, seasonality and quality emerged as new pillars that users consider in coffee selection. At the same time, the places in which this beverage is consumed are changing too: the borders among bars, hotels and restaurants are disappearing.

This study is based on a deep analysis conducted at the Design School of the Politecnico di Milano (Italy) which involved also two leader companies in coffee machines and technical components production. The convergence of interdisciplinary and transversal skills coming from management, engineering and design fields helped in the modeling of a research methodology that specifically investigated the cold cappuccino sector from a completely different perspective. This kind of approach encourages and supports strategic innovations, through which it’s possible to imagine the cappuccino more like a spectacular cocktail than a simple drink.

Keywords:

Innovation, beverage design, cappuccino, knowledge network, new format.