tourism pushes the cost of the cup

The coffee? The Neapolitans have been making them pay for some time now. In the city centre, coffee for one euro is now a distant memory. According to data from Assoutients the average price in the metropolitan area of ​​Naples is 1.05 euros. And if in small towns and peripheral areas coffee paid for with a one euro coin is still a reality, in the city center it is now increasingly difficult to find a cup at the counter for less than 1 euro and 20 cents. Also due to the rise in raw material prices. But in this part of Naples it is tourism that dictates the laws of the market. And the now stable and no longer just occasional boom in visitors is causing demand to rise significantly and consequently prices to rise. In this bridge of 25 April there will be at least 400 thousand tourists crowding the streets of the centre. A “sweet invasion” which has already brought with it a further surge in prices. It happens for coffee, but not only. And the greatest damage, obviously, is for those who live Naples every day, the inhabitants of the city, who see the price of their little daily pleasure increasing day after day.

Costs

Paying one euro at the cash register, receiving ten cents in change and leaving it on the receipt as a tip for the bartender: a practice that was usual for almost all Neapolitans and which no longer exists. Also because the ninety cents per cup are now a distant memory. In the most important cafés in the city you don’t go below one euro and twenty. This is the price charged by Professor’s coffee in Piazza Trieste e Trento and from Parthenope coffee on the seafront, next to the stairs leading to via Chiatamone. And it is the most common figure also in the historic UNESCO centre: from Piazza San Domenico Maggiore to the Decumani to Piazza Dante and Piazza del Gesù the cost is almost everywhere between ten euros and twenty euros. The more expensive Coffee maker, historic bar in Piazza dei Martiri, where coffee at the counter costs one euro and thirty. Prices which obviously increase even more if you consume comfortably sitting at the tables. Probably the most famous bar in Naples is obviously the Gambrinus coffee, a stone’s throw from Piazza Plebiscito. Here the coffee at the counter costs one euro and sixty, it costs up to five euros to sit at the table. «Naples has always been a city where prices are particularly low. The presence of so many tourists naturally leads to an adjustment to the price list, which is also due to an increase in costs that we managers have to bear”, he explains Massimiliano Rosati of Gambrinus.

The increases

The rising cost of coffee, however, is a national issue. The consumer association Assoutients has produced research on the topic which shows that espresso coffee has already undergone continuous price increases in recent years, to the point that today the average price of a cup consumed at a bar stands at 1.18 euros in the main Italian cities. Just three years ago, in 2021, the average cost of espresso was 1.03 euros: this means that Italians have already suffered an increase of 14.9%. An increase which in Naples was also higher than the national average: from ninety cents in 2021 to 1.05 euros today for an increase of 16.7%. Even if the average price of a cup of coffee is still lower than the national average. «Even a few cents of an increase would cause a blow to consumers’ pockets, considering that in Italy around 6 billion coffees are served in public places per year for an espresso turnover of around 7 billion euros per year», says the national president of Assoutenti, the Neapolitan Gabriele Melluso who also fears for the tradition of suspended coffee: «With these increases this beautiful tradition risks becoming less and less widespread».

The day

Meanwhile, speaking of coffee, the event will be held on Tuesday 7 and Wednesday 8 May at the Maschio Angioino in Naples «No bbèllu ccafè». The event, sponsored by the Municipality – which established the City day of Neapolitan coffee culture -, is promoted and supported by the Tourism Department. The event, free and open to the public, will see the participation of coffee experts, important Italian roasters, owners of prestigious city cafés, espresso masters, personalities from the intellectual world and is set to be an extraordinary attractor of tourist interest. Visitors will be able to taste coffee in multiple versions, prepare it with the lever machine, guided by professional baristas, and participate in small courses on the secrets of real Neapolitan coffee. For the entire duration of the event, coffee will be offered free of charge to the city. An opportunity to dribble the expensive coffee.

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