In Italy, Instant coffee such like Nescafé didn't become popular because of it unique coffee culture

By Cafesba , 22 November 2025
Moka Pot

After World War II、many Amecrian Soldiers spread Instant coffee like Nescafe、and it was included in Care packages delivered to civilian populations around in Western Europe, Japan right after WWII and so on.
But in Japn, instant coffee is not spread soon, because of limitation of import of coffee regulation.

After that, in the 1960s, when restrictions on imports of instant coffee were lifted in Japan, instant coffee became popular.

But there is a country where instant coffee wasn't spread.
That is Italy.
In Italy, they have unique coffee culture, so instant coffee is not dominant.
Like Japan, coffee imports were restricted in Italy during World War II, and coffee substitutes were made from other grains and distributed.
The primary grain used as a substitution for real coffee in Italy during the wartime (and due to the pre-war sanctions) was barley.
The drink made from this roasted, ground barley is known as Caffè d'orzo, which literally translates to "barley coffee" in Italian.
Due to trade sanctions imposed during the Fascist era and the total disruption of imports during World War II, real coffee was extremely scarce and expensive.
So autarchy is promoted in Italy.
The Fascist government promoted self-sufficiency (autarchy), favoring easily grown domestic products like barley over imported luxury goods.

The physical limitations on international shipping and the economic inability to afford large imports of a luxury item meant that real coffee remained scarce.
It wasn't until late 1940's and int 1950s that Italian coffee Industry fully regained its footing and was able to timport the massive quantities of green coffee beans for the traditional Italian roasting and espresso industry took time to fully recover.
then, coffee industory made rapid recovery,  espresso machines were improved, for example, by Achille Gaggia, leading to the espress with its crema.
Italians likes traditionally deeply rooted high-quality espresso in cafes and Moka pot coffee at home. Instant coffee remains a very minor part of the Italian market compared to the rest of the world.
 

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