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In Italy, a surprising case echoes the problems of purchasing power. A customer unhappy with the price of his coffee, which he considered too expensive, called the police, who agreed with him.
La dolce vita: a sunrise over Florence (Italy), and a coffee on the terrace in the early morning. How much is it worth? The question has been agitating all of Italy since Francesco Sanapo, director of the Ditta Artigianale café, was fined by the police. His coffee, sold for 2 euros, was deemed too expensive. “When a customer found out the price of our coffee, he became furious, got angry, complaining about the price, he shouted, he accused us of ripping him off, (…) and he called the police “he says.
The police fined the café 1,000 euros because the increase was not clearly displayed. The average price of a coffee in Italy is between 1.20 and 1.50 euro, even in tourist areas. 30 million are consumed every day. Problem, the cost of the raw material: the coffee bean has increased by 80% in one year. Transportation costs have also skyrocketed. “Quality pays off”, argues for his part Francesco Sanapo. According to journalist Alban Mikoczy, special correspondent in Florence, the case is in Italy “anything but anecdotal”. The country has 140,000 cafes, and the activity supports more than 400,000 people.