MORETTINO

Since 1920 in Palermo: four generations of artisan roasters in the heart of the Mediterranean.

The world's northernmost coffee grows in Sicily, and it smells of orange blossom.

One hundred years of slowness, in Palermo

Morettino is an authentic story of love for coffee, born in 1920 in Palermo, in the heart of the Mediterranean. For four generations, the family has passed down the ancient art of roasting, respecting tradition and with an ethical and sustainable vision of the entire supply chain. For over a hundred years, slow-processed artisanal coffee has been produced here, with profound respect for the raw material, the consumer, and the environment. In an industry dominated by giants and industrialized times, surviving a century by doing things slowly is, in itself, a declaration of intent.
 
 
 

We Love Coffee: From Plantation to Cup

Morettino selections are born from meticulous care and a careful selection of the world's finest raw materials, carried out directly on the plantations in tropical countries. Slow, organic roasting and expert maturation enhance the distinctive organoleptic characteristics of each terroir, resulting in premium coffees with unique aromas. It's a labor of precision and attentiveness: each origin has its own character, and the roaster's job is not to impose a flavor but to bring out its own unique character.
 
 
 

We Love Nature: a controlled supply chain from bean to cup

Respect for nature permeates every step of the process. The best crops are selected directly in their countries of origin, through collaboration with small-scale producers, respecting local communities and the work of those who work on the plantations. Artisanal and eco-sustainable processing is based on comprehensive control of the production chain—with science and conscience—to enhance the quality, wholesomeness, and ethical standards of zero-impact processes. This approach has led to projects like Rwanda Café de Mama: at its core is a plantation run exclusively by Rwandan women, united in the Nova Coffee Coop cooperative.
 
 

 
 

We Love Culture and We Love Sicily

Spreading the authentic culture of coffee, passing down its traditions and rituals, is one of the family's primary goals. This has led to projects like the Coffee Factory Museum and the Coffee School, designed to raise consumer awareness and guide them through the discovery of a fascinating and often misunderstood world. And then there's the love for their homeland: Sicily is a unique expression of flavors, colors, and aromas, and, just like Morettino blends, it symbolizes the unity of peoples and cultures from around the world. This bond translates into concrete commitment, through collaborations with important cultural institutions on the island, such as the Teatro Massimo and the Antonio Pasqualino Puppet Museum in Palermo, and with the opening of a café in a historic building in the Quattro Canti district, in the heart of the city center.
 
 
 

Arturo's Dream: Sixty Plants and a Crazy Idea

Sicily is a land of vineyards, olive groves, and citrus fruits. But also of coffee: it's the dream the Morettino family has been pursuing for nearly thirty years, born from the vision of Arturo Morettino. The first experiment began in the gardens of the historic roasting plant, with about sixty Coffea Arabica plants—Bourbon and Catuai varieties—grown from seeds donated in the 1990s by the Palermo Botanical Garden and planted approximately 350 meters above sea level, in the hamlet of San Lorenzo ai Colli. From those seeds, plants grew in the open air, courageously adapting to the Sicilian climate, at latitudes far higher than those of the "Coffee Belt," the strip between the two tropics where coffee has always been grown, spanning Latin America, East Africa, and Southeast Asia. In its original global geography, Morettino's plantation is now one of the most northerly.
 
 
 

2021, the year of the signal

For years, the drupes from those plants were harvested, pulped, processed, and roasted for cupping sessions, or reseeded to create new plants born and grown in Sicily. Then, in 2021—the company's centennial year—the first truly significant harvest arrived. "We were amazed by the abundant harvest of our plants, which we interpreted as a gift for all the love our family has given them over the years," commented Arturo Morettino. It was the same summer that Syracuse recorded 48,8°C, the highest temperature ever recorded in Europe. That first batch wasn't sold: it was assigned to a panel of experts, who discovered in the cups of that Arabica coffee scents of jasmine and orange blossom, the aromas of Sicilian springs and summers.
 
 

 
 

 The taste of a land: zibibbo, carob and pomelia

In recent years, nature has provided extraordinary harvests and a surprising result in the cup: a native coffee of the highest quality, with unique aromas typical of the Sicilian soil—notes of zibibbo grapes and carob, sweet scents of white pomelia flowers and panela sugar. The manual harvest, between June and September, is followed by processing of the drupes using the Gold Honey, Natural, and Washed methods, manual pulping, a 48-hour fermentation, and sun-drying. Then comes the choice of a medium-light roast and countless tasting sessions, resulting in a coffee of great finesse, balanced acidity, and natural sweetness. The project continues in collaboration with the University of Palermo and the Botanical Garden, with experiments in selected corners of the island based on soil and climate conditions and terroir—from Palermo to Messina to Ragusa—as part of the studies the Faculty of Agriculture conducts on tropical fruit growing in Sicily.
 
 
 

 Listen to the signs, look forward

"The sensory characteristics of this native Sicilian coffee are a unique achievement that fills us with pride," says Andrea Morettino, fourth generation of the family. "Nature has given us a strong signal that deserves to be heeded and valued. We are witnessing significant climate changes that must make us reflect on the present and future of our land, which has shown signs of intolerance and risks for traditional crops like citrus fruits, and at the same time unexpected potential, as demonstrated by the success of tropical fruit cultivation in Sicily." The declared dream is to make it a specialty coffee and work on a PGI label. Meanwhile, in a market shaken by speculation and unprecedented price increases, Morettino remains a small business that works on demand and focuses on what it does best: quality, ethics, and dissemination. On Al Passo Food you can discover the coffees of morettino: a century of slow roasting, from the heart of Palermo.
 
 
 

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