Economy – Illy is getting ready for a “coffee war”. The Italian group, global leader in the coffee sector – the world’s press busy explains – is teaming up with Germany’s JAB with a licensing agreement aimed at making them competitive with Lavazza and Nestlè in the ambit of coffee pods (October 8 and 9 in Reuters – Illycaffe and JAB team up on Nespresso-compatible coffee pods; the Financial Times – Italian coffee company Illy strikes licensing deal with JAB*, Les Echos – La guerre du café bat son plein en Italie; Handelsblatt – Kaffeeröster Illy steigt bei Nespresso ein).
Other articles of a financial nature were about other made in Italy brands with the Wall Street Journal printing an interview with Remo Ruffini that explained how, as Manager, he is “reinventing” the Moncler label to make it more competitive in today’s fashion sector (October 8 – How CEO Remo Ruffini Is Reinventing Moncler for a Faster Fashion World*). Meanwhile Spain’s El País ran an article about Bottega Veneta, known for its luxury cosmetics and beauty products, that described an event designed to celebrate the “delicate work” carried out by its artisans (October 5 – La artesanía de Bottega Veneta se teje en Madrid).
Culture & tourism – As usual, there were several articles about these sectors this week, with the Wall Street Journal writing about the many new archaeological finds in Pompei (October 9 – Pompeii, Buried for Centuries, Yields New Finds*), whilst El País wrote about its time in Palermo in the company of the Spanish architect, Andrés Jaque, co-commissioner of the city’s Manifesta12 biennial (October 7 – Nueva vida en la vieja Palermo).
The attention of the New York Times was all on the exhibition that the Jacquemart-André Museum in Paris has dedicated to Caravaggio’s “Roman period” (October 8 – In Paris, a Celebration of Caravaggio’s Roman Days*), but for the Financial Times it was Gio Ponti’s so-called “Superleggera” chair, now recognised as a symbol of functional design that caught it’s eye (October 5 – Design Classic: Gio Ponti’s 699 Superleggera Chair*). It was the turn of popular culture to feature in an article in the New York Times all about the rediscovery of an originally pagan feast in Basilicata called the “maggio di Accettura”, (October 9 – A Marriage of Two Trees: an Unusual Wedding in a Small Italian Town*).
Food & Wine – another, always popular subject, featured this week with an article in the New York Times all about the Padua based company, Patavini, that has decided to launch its various gnocchi with their “myriad” of flavours on the US market thanks to a new, small but elegant shop on Broadway (October 9 – Nothing but Gnocchi), whilst the regular food blog in Austria’s Der Standard wrote about the traditional Sicilian recipe for fennel and orange salad (October 9 – Fenchel-Orangen-Salat alla Siciliana).
*Article available for pay / at registration