Anna Possi answers the phone in the cafe but immediately asks to call her back. “I have a customer,” she says. It’s mid-afternoon and Possi, who owns Bar Centrale in Nebbiuno, a small town overlooking Lake Maggiore in northern Italy, has been serving coffee since 7am. She usually finishes at 7pm.

It’s an average working day for a barista in Italy, but Possi is in one key respect far from the average barista: aged 100, she is the country’s oldest. The centenarian, who recently had bestowed upon her the honorary title of Commander of the Republic, is a familiar face to regulars who have lived their lives alongside the cafe as it has matured from cutting edge to vintage. “I’m always working – Sundays, Easter, Christmas. I’m never on holiday,” she says.