Every second Hungarian gets lost in the daily grind without inspiration

The Costa Art & Craft creative art competition has been running for more than a month now, and has attracted a wide variety of artistic entries, with plays, music, short stories, paintings and sculptures among the works inspired by coffee. Any artwork encouraged by coffee can be entered for the competition, which has a total prize of HUF 2.25 million, until the end of August. Costa Coffee's research revealed that most respondents need inspiration for work, daily life and preparing meals, besides the creative workflow - and Costa Coffee supports them in doing so. 

The competition focuses on inspiration, so the organizer, Coca-Cola HBC Hungary, the exclusive distributor of Costa Coffee in Hungary, sought to find out what inspiration gives to consumers. The survey, conducted with research company Opinio, found that 50-50 percent of respondents get a boost or new ideas, and 43 percent obtain a positive attitude from it. Although inspiration is important in many people's lives, 39 percent of participants rarely feel inspired, and 16 percent experience it very rarely or never. It is interesting to note that survey respondents have different views on why they need inspiration: one in three consider it important for creating, while one in two think they need inspiration for the daily grind or for work. A quarter of participants need inspiration and motivation for preparing meals, while a fifth say they need it for doing sports.

Coffee as a source of inspiration?

Costa Coffee believes that a new consumer base is becoming more distinct among coffee enthusiasts: they are the ritual artists whose everyday lives are infused with a desire to create. Music, cooking, sports, photography, DIY activities - inspiration and creating with their own two hands are of paramount importance to them in these areas. Targeting them, Costa Coffee is looking for new creations in the Costa Art & Craft competition, under the theme "The experience of coffee - ritual instead of routine".

The survey of Costa Coffee also revealed that although coffee shops and cafés have been centers of intellectual work for decades, or even centuries, many people do not yet connect coffee with creative work: the strongest associations with coffee are related to its taste and physiological effects, with nearly 40 percent of respondents identifying coffee with these. Associations that are mainly emotional, such as "me time", "source of inspiration" or "relaxation", are less often linked to coffee - but women are more likely to connect coffee with these aspects.

Costa Art & Craft competition is strengthening the link between coffee and creation, which is open to any kind of artwork inspired by coffee or coffee consumption, without any genre restrictions: it can be anything that makes our world more beautiful, interesting, exciting and our everyday life more enjoyable.

Further members of the jury are:

• Luca Cserhalmi, aesthete, curator of the Godot Institute of Contemporary Art
• Panni Czikkely, design artist, illustrator and graphic designer
• Iván Gávris, coffee expert of Coca-Cola HBC Hungary
• Anna Róza Mitter, leather designer, founder of Mittersisters

Honorary member of the jury is Paulina Kocsis, Fonogram Award-winning songwriter and singer.

Entries can be submitted until 31 August, and in the case of submissions using artificial intelligence, until 24 August, more details are available here.

The survey was commissioned by Coca-Cola HBC Hungary and was conducted in April 2024 with the participation of 1010 individuals.