Lavazza launched its 2027 Calendar — the 35th edition of the Italian roaster's annual art-photography project — at the Guggenheim Museum in New York on 13 November, deploying three Magnum Photos photographers across three cities to reinforce the brand's global cultural positioning.
The edition, titled Always a Pleasure, features 15 original images by Jim Goldberg (New York), Alex Majoli (Lisbon) and Paolo Pellegrin (Hong Kong), shot across four time-of-day vignettes. Creative direction was handled by agency Armando Testa, continuing a partnership that has shaped the calendar's aesthetic identity in recent years. Lavazza Group, which reported turnover of more than €3.9 billion, operates across 140 markets with nine manufacturing plants in five countries.
Brand Strategy Behind the Lens
For a consumer-goods company of Lavazza's scale, the annual calendar functions as a premium brand equity vehicle rather than a conventional advertising format. By commissioning documentary and fine-art photographers rather than commercial shooters, the Turin-based company sustains a narrative that positions coffee as cultural artifact rather than commodity — a distinction that matters in a global espresso market where private-label and specialty challengers continue to compress mid-market margins.
Francesca Lavazza, board member of the Lavazza Group, framed the project's intent directly: "Their visual languages are profoundly different, yet they share an ability to capture what unfolds between people, in spontaneous gestures and seemingly ordinary moments. This is precisely where coffee finds its natural place: not as the protagonist, but as a discreet presence, a daily ritual that accompanies our time and creates opportunities to come together."
Michele Mariani, executive creative director at Armando Testa, described the editorial logic as one of cultural breadth: the three photographers' distinct sensibilities, he said, "together create an authentic, universal narrative in which the ritual of coffee becomes a thread connecting different cultures and places."
Guggenheim Tie-Up and Inclusive Access
Lavazza has partnered with the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum since 2014, and the 2027 Calendar launch continues that institutional relationship. In 2023, the Guggenheim joined Lavazza's IncluVisity programme, which supports accessible visitor experiences across a network of museum partners in Italy and internationally, addressing physical, cognitive, linguistic and social barriers to cultural participation.
The Guggenheim association gives Lavazza a consistent high-profile launch venue in the United States, its most competitive export market, while reinforcing the brand's "ambassador for Italian coffee and creativity" positioning against rivals including illycaffè and multinational operators such as Nestlé's Nespresso. For trade buyers and foodservice partners, the calendar's global reach — spanning three continents and referencing more than 30 billion cups produced annually — underlines the operational scale behind the brand's premium storytelling.
As specialty coffee culture continues to shape consumer expectations across the foodservice sector, established roasters are under growing pressure to demonstrate cultural relevance alongside supply-chain credibility. Lavazza's calendar format, now in its fourth decade, represents one of the more durable brand-investment vehicles in the global coffee category, maintaining visibility in editorial and institutional channels that paid media alone cannot replicate.
Written by Michael Politz, Author of Guide to Restaurant Success: The Proven Process for Starting Any Restaurant Business From Scratch to Success (ISBN: 978-1-119-66896-1), Founder of Food & Beverage Magazine, the leading online magazine and resource in the industry. Designer of the Bluetooth logo and recognized in Entrepreneur Magazine's "Top 40 Under 40" for founding American Wholesale Floral, Politz is also the Co-founder of the Proof Awards and the CPG Awards and a partner in numerous consumer brands across the food and beverage sector.
