Italy's economic downturn has pushed up the price of coffee

Representatives of the Genoa Business Federation called the price increase a "painful and irreversible decision" and said high store rents and local taxes forced them to raise prices.

Before the price increase, the price of coffee had remained unchanged for five years. Genoa is not the only city where coffee prices have risen, and cafes in Gorizia have recently posted notices to inform consumers and apologize: coffee prices will soon range from 1 euro to 1.1 euros.

From a national point of view, coffee prices vary greatly from city to city. However, all coffee shops have been affected by the economic crisis and tax increases.

In the northern Italian city of Turin, coffee prices range from 0.77 to 1.04 euros, while in Florence and Bologna, coffee prices are more than 1 euro, Statistics Italy said.

Rome is one of the cities with low coffee prices, about 0.8 euros to 0.9 euros, which puts pressure on many coffee shopkeepers in some central areas. Coffee shop owner Maxim said that even if the price of coffee did not rise, the value-added tax of coffee has increased by 22%. "if we don't raise the price, we won't be able to sell it," he said. "

Claudia, another coffee shop owner, "taxes are now a big problem for us, and our profits are not as good as they used to be. At the end of each month, we got almost nothing. The situation is much worse than before. "

Today, businesses are in an increasingly difficult situation, with the economic crisis cutting coffee consumption by 2.4%. For coffee shops, there are only two options: one is to cut costs, but this is difficult for coffee shops, because operating costs are fixed and can no longer be cut, and the other way is to raise prices like Genoa coffee shops.