Lavazza’s 2020 calendar titled Earth CelebrAction is designed to champion sustainability by celebrating the planet and acting as a call to arms to fight for its future.
In September 2019, representatives from some of the largest coffee roasters and traders in the world converged in London for the International Coffee Organization CEO and Global Leaders Forum. The event addressed environmental and economic sustainability across the entire supply chain of the coffee industry.
The forum led to overwhelming support for reform and many leading organisations, including Lavazza, signed a declaration of intent known as the London Declaration. The document acts as a pledge to take action on four themes: promoting competitive and sustainable production, fostering responsible and equitable growth, promoting responsible consumption, and promoting public-private dialogue regarding policy development.
In addition to supporting the declaration, Lavazza is advocating for environmental awareness through the launch of its sustainability-themed 2020 calendar, Earth CelebrAction.
“The 2020 edition of our calendar, entitled Earth CelebrAction, reflects Lavazza’s focus on the issues of sustainability and the future of the planet, treated here in a poetic study of beauty, and an attempt to rediscover connection with the environment,” says Lavazza Group Board Member Francesca Lavazza.
“The project seeks to celebrate the beauty of nature, but also act as a call for action, as every one of us has the ability to personally defend the environment.”
Earth CelebrAction is designed to be visually engaging, bold, colourful, and inspiring.
“In the calendar, we have explored the earth theme by offering up a symbolic story in which the classical elements of fire, water, earth, and air come together in the presence of humans to create enthralling natural scenarios,” Francesca says.
Lavazza has created its CelebrAction Manifesto to accompany the visuals of the calendar. The manifesto comprises 12 themes, one for each month, to emphasise giving back to the earth.
“The 12 months demonstrate the thoughts of Earth CelebrAction’s manifesto and the idea of opening up to Earth, fully appreciating its importance, listening to its needs, respecting it as our mother, and taking care of it to take care of ourselves,” Francesca says.
Each month is also expressed in verbs that relate to actions people should take to promote the environment.
For example, Francesca says the word “celebrate” represents January, which refers to the manifesto’s stance that “we celebrate the Earth, because its thanks to her that we exist”.
The full list of monthly themes includes celebrate, listen, realise, defend, care, sustain, honour, nourish, reconnect, breathe, respect, and change.
For the calendar’s imagery, Lavazza hand-picked American commercial photographer David LaChapelle to spearhead the project, under the direction of advertising agency
Armando Testa.
“We saw David’s evolution towards the issues of sustainability and environmental protection running parallel to the evolution of our calendar. David has already spent time in Lavazza’s artistic family and, over the years, we have been following the evolution of his career very carefully,” says Michele Mariani, Creative Director at Armando Testa.
Michele adds that the most important aspect of the 2020 calendar was to produce something that had a strong, memorable message and rich aesthetics.
“That was why David came so easily to mind. He made nature and the environment his central inspiration and, even though we knew how he worked, he surprised us again with his richly imaginative universe, fertile inspirations, and obsession with detail,” she says.
The photographs used in the calendar were produced in Hawaii, where David lives on an eco-sustainable farm. According to Michele, it was in Hawaii where David became interested in landscape photography and so focused on the environment.
Prior to this project, David has had pictures feature in some of the world’s most recognisable publications including Rolling Stone, Vanity Fair, Vogue, and the New York Times magazine.
“The Earth CelebrAction calendar was an ideal opportunity to pursue my imaginary journey through an idyllic paradise where humans and nature coexist in harmony. I’m grateful for the total freedom of expression granted to me by a company that I respect, and which respects the planet,” David says.
The 2020 calendar is the latest in a long line of sustainability-focused initiatives driven by Lavazza. According Reputation Institute’s 2019 Global Corporate Responsibility Study, Lavazza is the top-ranking food and beverage company and the ninth ranked overall for its corporate responsibility.
Silvio Zaccareo, APAC Business Unit Director and Lavazza Australia Managing Director, is proud of the company’s rise in corporate responsibility rankings, after improving from 32nd in 2018.
“For us, the most important part of this process is actively engaging with and providing support to the individuals in local coffee growing communities,” he says.
For more information, visit www.lavazza.com.au