Love Story between Caffeine, Poetry Born in Austria, Continued in Croatia

By Maydaa Abo El-Nadar

ZAGREB, MAR.23 (SEE) – More than 250 coffee shops across Croatia served coffee or tea for free for those who came up with a poem, song, lyrics, or even a phrase written on a piece of paper on the World Poetry Day.

Worth noting is that this is the sixth consecutive year for Croatia to be amongst the countries involved in the Julius Meinl’s International Poetry Project. Last year, Thanks to Julius Meinl initiative “Pay with a Poem”, Croatia accumulated more than 100 thousand poems.

[caption id="attachment_42058" align="aligncenter" width="500"]  Photos' Credit: Julius Meinl's Official Website[/caption]

“We want to contribute to make the world a more poetic and hence better place, for us and future generations, in small but meaningful steps.” These were the words expressed by Marcel Löffler, Julius Meinl’s CEO about the company’s mission.

Giving a historic background about the brand, in 1862, Julius Meinl I opened in Vienna’s city center a spice shop where he was selling green coffee beans, cocoa, tea, spices, rice, and sugar. In 1877, Julius Meinl II inked a story somehow similar to that of Colonel Sanders, founder of the Kentucky Fried Chicken.

[caption id="attachment_42059" align="aligncenter" width="500"] Julius Meinl's Travelling Cup at Portugal's Sintra Castle[/caption]

Meinl developed a new process for roasting coffee, where the beans were not getting in touch with coal gases, and for the first time, beans were set free from an aftertaste, conserving their full and natural aroma. In 1954, the street, where the company’s headquarter is located in Vienna’s 16th district,   became named Julius Meinl Gasse.

In 1913, Julius Meinl was the largest coffee roaster in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Moreover, it was the largest coffee and tea importer in Central Europe.  2002 was a bright year for the company as it not only crossed Austria’s borders but the European ones as well. Implementing the brand’s plan for a worldwide spread, a Julius Meinl coffee house opened in Chicago.

[caption id="attachment_42061" align="aligncenter" width="500"] Julius Meinl Coffeehouse Opens in Chicago[/caption]

It seems that Julius Meinl aroma continues its magical influence on Eastern and Central Europe throughout the 2000s. This time, Julius Meinl’s magical stick is poetry. In 2013, the brand’s first poetry event took place in Romania.

Subway’s passengers in Bucharest were astonished after poems were placed on the walls of a whole carriage. The travelers were allowed to keep the pieces of poems as a souvenir.  The following day, at a press conference, influencers acknowledged the importance poetry has in their daily lives.

[caption id="attachment_42062" align="aligncenter" width="500"] Julius Meinl's Travelling Cup at Moscow's Kremlin[/caption]

Incredible how was the initiative resonant and how the beginning echoed across Romania! Without enjoying the status of an artist, poet, musician, or even a copywriter, a number exceeding 6,300 persons inked poems, rhymes, and verses on napkins that were exchanged for a Julius Meinl coffee in several coffeehouses.

As the brand believes that nowadays, as 150 years ago in Viennese coffeehouses, poetry is capable of provoking a better change in our lives, on daily basis, in 2015 it launched the initiative “Pay with a Poem”.

[caption id="attachment_42063" align="aligncenter" width="500"] Julius Meinl II[/caption]

The event started with coffee drinkers, from 1153 coffee shops in 27 countries across four continents, paying their coffee with a poem. Via the official hashtag “PayWithAPoem, social media supported the campaign. From Vienna to Shanghai, Chicago to Hamburg, London to Dubai, and Moscow to Istanbul, the movement is currently present in more than 34 nations.

Responding to the campaign’ positive vibes, British singer JP Cooper joined in 2018, collaborating with a new song to celebrate poets worldwide. The singer commented “Working with Julius Meinl has given me the opportunity to celebrate my fellow wordsmiths, poets and lyricists the world over. I hope my song will demonstrate that poetry lives everywhere.”

[caption id="attachment_42067" align="aligncenter" width="500"] British Singer JP Cooper[/caption]

An interesting fact about the brand’s logo is the combination of several cultural aspects.  Viennese artist Josef Binder created the logo that depicts a young man with a Fez, a read head-dress with a tassel.

Fez was named after a Moroccan city that remained the Kingdom’s capital until 1927. It was introduced in the Balkans and worn afterward by various Slavs (mainly Bosniaks and Serbs) during the Ottoman period. Much of the modern Fez’s fame is thanks to the Ottoman era.

[caption id="attachment_42078" align="aligncenter" width="500"] Italian Designer Matteo Thun Relaunched the Logo and Created the New Trendy Cup Design in 2004[/caption]

Julius Meinl’s label, seen on cups at many coffee shops situated in the Balkan area (notably in Bosnia and Herzegovina), compliments the Turkish Ottoman Empire’s historical influence that brought coffee to Vienna in 1683.

Another story, which relates a food product’s showing up with the Ottomans’ presence in the area, comes from Vienna.  Some sources explain that the croissant, whose shape was inspired by the crescent drawn on the Ottoman flags, was created to celebrate the Turks’ defeat in the hands of the Christian forces.

It is believed that croissant, this delicious pastry that numerous persons all over the world enjoy on breakfast till nowadays, turned up in 1683 to honor the bakers who stayed up all night and prevented the Ottomans from under-passing the city by giving the alarm to Christian authorities.