Comunicaffè Asks Paolo Griffa About the 50 Euro Cup

Comunicaffè, the Italian coffee industry's daily trade publication, interviewed Paolo Griffa in December 2025 about the Esmeralda Geisha tasting at his Caffè Nazionale, having covered the announcement itself the week before.

The interview sets out the economics plainly. Through Difference Coffee, the London company founded by Amir Gehl that Caffè Nazionale has worked with for some time, the café obtained lot number 8, the twin of lot 7 from the Panama competition, with Difference Coffee paying roughly 6,000 to 7,000 euros per kilo and handling the coffee from origin. It was the only quantity of the coffee to reach Italy. Griffa describes the 50 euro serving as "costo politico di 50 euro per recuperare le spese", a political price meant only to recover costs, and points to the comparison: lot 7 was sold in Dubai at 900 euros a cup, where 22 kilos yielded around 400 cups and sold out immediately.

Read the interview at Comunicaffè
Comunicaffè's announcement coverage