In Argentina everything is settled over a cup of coffee.

Despite the profusion of cafés in Buenos Aires, Argentine café culture seems to be resistant to foreign influence, most notably the American coffee chains that proliferate in other international markets. Given that the Argentine per capita income is among the highest in Latin America, the extra expense of having coffee in a "foreign" café does not provide sufficient explanation for this resistance. A clear preference for a cup of coffee at a local café may come from factors such as cultural differences, economic instability, anti-Americanism, ambivalence towards globalization and geography.

The Oldest Café in Argentina

Café Tortoni is the oldest café in not only Buenos Aires, but all of Argentina. As I reach for the brass handle, a long glass door opens for me as if by magic. The doorman greets me cordially as I step inside, and as my eyes adjust to dim light my attention is drawn to the steady murmur of voices that is so characteristic inside Argentine "bars". I scan the room for a place to sit, and go to one of two small, round green marble tables that are unoccupied.

Buenos Aires is a city of immigrants, and cafés began to appear during the second half of the 19th century at the height of European immigration.

I sit down in a red, leather armchair and look around the room. Dozens of porteños , as the residents of Buenos Aires are called, are deep in conversation. Countless others line the walls in black and white photographs or in portraits hanging above dark wooden paneling. Large, shapely mirrors are placed every few meters and through the reflection I believe I can feel the presence of those who precede us. Not just the countless writers, artists, musicians and politicians who have been known to converse late into the evening here. I imagine the endless stream of Spanish and Italian immigrants coming in off the ships to have something to drink.

A City of Immigrants

Buenos Aires is a city of immigrants, and cafés like Café Tortoni began to appear during the second half of the 19th century at the height of European immigration. Over 95 percent of present day Argentine population is of European descent, the majority being descendants of Spanish and Italian immigrants. Of the country's almost 40 million inhabitants, about 35 percent live in the greater Buenos Aires area.

Like their Mediterranean ancestors, porteños love to converse, and this may explain the fact that cafés have become a way of life in Buenos Aires. Everything from important political decisions to business deals to the most private of personal matters is settled over a cup of coffee. Cafés are also a place where families gather to celebrate, or groups of friends have had standing weekly meetings for years.

A Mix of Traditional and Modern

There is a profusion of traditional cafés in Buenos Aires. The Government of Buenos Aires maintains a list of 50 or so which are considered to be of patrimonial value, culturally speaking. Yet there is no shortage of more modernly-styled cafés in Argentina's capital. Chains like Havanna, Bonafide, Café Martinez, Aroma and The Coffee Store have been popping up since the 1990's and do not seem to have any shortage of patrons. What all of these chains have in common is that they are locally owned, and each seems to have its own specialty niche.

There is a conspicuous absence of any American coffee chain in a city whose coffee culture is deeply rooted and whose annual per capita income is among the highest in Latin America.

Among Havanna's main attractions are the famous alfajores that they invented in 1947; these are a sort of cookie that many grown Argentines remember eating during childhood vacations to the beach city where the original Havanna store is located. Likewise, the success of Bonafide is based around a high-quality local coffee brand that middle and upper-class Argentines have been using at home for special occasions since 1917, when Geraldo Trinks, Bonafide's first owner, opened his first small store. Martinez has been importing and distributing coffee since 1933 and opened its first café in 1994. Don't be fooled by the English name, The Coffee Store is an Argentine gourmet coffee company founded in 1998, and was the first café chain in Argentina to offer a free Wi-Fi (Wireless Fidelity) internet connection in all of its stores. Aroma and
Martinez have since followed suit.

Why No American Coffee Chains?

There is a conspicuous absence of any American coffee chain in a city whose coffee culture is deeply rooted and whose annual per capita income is among the highest in Latin America. While the overall per capita income is approximately $13,300 pesos, or $4,300 U.S. dollars, about 40 percent of Argentines at the top of the economic scale have per capita incomes which, according to the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, are comparable to European incomes in terms of purchasing power. Starbucks, for example, has opened cafés in Mexico, Brazil, Chile and Peru but it has yet to make an appearance in Argentina.

Though Starbucks coffee wouldn't exactly be cheap for the average porteño, there is a large middle class in Buenos Aires that could certainly afford the expense. Perhaps the market isn't attractive enough, however, since per capita figures can be misleading, hiding the fact that almost 50 percent of Argentines are unable to meet their basic needs. This may help explain why American coffee chains have not established themselves in the Argentine market.

Between 70 and 87 percent of Central Americans have a "rather good" opinion of the U.S., while only 30 percent of Argentines are reported to have a good opinion.

Another factor may be that the idea of drinking one's coffee on the run has simply not caught on in Argentina. Argentines that have traveled abroad are by and large perplexed by the eating and drinking that they have witnessed on American streets. Though Aroma does offer take-out espresso drinks, it is rare to see hot drinks being consumed from disposable cups on the streets in Buenos Aires. Uniformed waiters carrying trays populated by real cups and saucers, on the other hand, can be seen morning and afternoon weaving through pedestrian traffic, en route to companies whose employees prefer delivery but older-world style. Argentines tend to be proud of their European roots, and like Europeans, they do not see eating and drinking on the run as a dignified practice. In a more general way, Argentine consumer preferences tend to resemble European preferences much more than those of their fellow Latin Americans. This preference can be seen in the clothing industry as well. While European chains like Zara proliferate; American companies like Banana Republic or The Gap have not entered the Argentine market.

Is Anti-Americanism Impacting the Coffee Market?

According to the latest (2005) report of Latinobarómetro, an annual public opinion survey which measures public opinion in Latin America, Argentina is the Latin American country which has the "least positive" image of the United States. While between 70 and 87 percent of Central Americans, for example, have a "rather good" opinion of the U.S., only 30 percent of Argentines are reported to have a good opinion. Yet, to the outside observer, Argentine sentiment towards things American can be confusing. During the 1990's, when the Argentine peso was pegged to the dollar, traveling to Miami, New York or other U.S. cities became very fashionable. It is not at all unusual today to hear middle and upper class Argentines boasting about their access to, or their connections in, the U.S. Furthermore, U.S. products have a strong reputation for quality, and the U.S. is in fact Argentina's second largest trading partner, following Brazil. Nonetheless, the possibility remains that anti-Americanism plays some part in Argentine habits and choices in commodities such as clothing and coffee.

Ambivalence towards Globalization

Far from being limited to things American, Argentine ambivalence also extends to globalization in general. As Branko Milanovic, an economist with the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and the World Bank, says in his August 2006 article entitled Why Globalization is in Trouble-Part II, globalization has been seen by many people in Latin America as a "new, more attractive label put on the old imperialism, or worse, as a form of re-colonization." Though foreign investment is sometimes welcomed as a bearer of new jobs, it is also seen as an indifferent invader leaving locals in the lurch when things get rough. These kinds of views are sure to color local feeling toward "the invasion" of foreign cafés.

Geographical distance, both from the U.S. and from Europe, may also influence the role that globalization plays in Argentina.

Geographical distance, both from the U.S. and from Europe, may also influence the role that globalization plays in Argentina. Buenos Aires is roughly 8,500 kilometers from New York City and 10,000 kilometers from Madrid; that's more than twice the approximately 4,100 kilometers that separate San Francisco from New York. Thus, new products, technologies or ideas do not simply spill into Argentina from the outside world. More intention must be involved, and Argentines have historically tended toward isolationism.

The Economic Crisis of 2001/2002

In 1998, Argentina entered an economic recession that led to a profound economic and social crisis in late 2001, and the end of the 10-year currency regime in which the Argentine peso was pegged to the U.S. dollar. Though the economy stabilized in 2003 and is gradually returning to economic activity levels similar to those of the 1990's, any market analysis for Argentina which doesn't account for the recent crisis would be misleading. Despite robust economic growth and renewed optimism within the country's population, it may very well be that companies like Starbucks are not yet ready to take the plunge into what was so recently a very unstable place. Such companies may also be intimidated by the boom-bust cycle that has typified the Argentine economy since the mid-20th century. When one considers that current growth is tied more to the agricultural sector and high export prices than to real structural change, it is not difficult to imagine other crises on the horizon.

The old, traditional cafés in Buenos Aires are a remnant of times when Europeans came to Argentina full of hope and looking for better lives. The newer cafés may represent the modern Argentine's desire to be a part of the 21st century. When it comes to coffee, Buenos Aires can offer a taste of the glorious past and the modernity of the present, without outside assistance. At least for the moment, don't bother asking for a Frappuccino.




Contributed by Jennifer Butler, a freelance writer living in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

To read another Global Envision article about the global economy and coffee, see Wake Up, Smell the Coffee.



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