For many consumers, coffee is becoming a luxury item as the return to a high VAT rate (24%), coupled with significant increases in raw material prices, has led to rapidly rising prices.
Today, delivery or takeaway costs €1.90-€2.50 in the cafe, and if you sit down at a table – €4.50-€7. And this is before the price increases expected in the autumn, especially for coffee, which has been subject to increased VAT for a month now.
That's why most people prefer to take away coffee in a plastic cup and then sit down at a small table to drink it cheaper.
Foodservice operators are sounding the alarm over the future of takeaway-only coffee shops. “The restaurant business is facing tough times in the near future. This will need to be corrected immediately. We are dealing with difficulties in the daily lives of citizens. If we also see businesses closing because they can't make ends meet, that will reflect heavily on the overall picture that the coffee industry has right now.”
The rise in coffee prices on the international market has also made the homemade coffee option very expensive. Today it is sold in supermarkets:
- Greek: 19-21 euros per kilo,
- Instant: 42-50 euros per kilogram,
- Coffee filter: 19-22 euros per kilogram.
Rising food prices have forced consumers to cut back even on their diets, and across Europe this problem has been recorded by Eurostat as falling food sales.
Residents of the European Union bought 0.5% less food and drink in June 2024, while citizens of eurozone countries bought as much as 0.7%. Coffee lovers may have to pay even more in the future, as prices for this product will rise sharply. Moreover, coffee experts warn that prices could remain high for a long time as global supplies of the raw material continue to shrink.
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