Supply chain problems and poor harvests have led to a 48 percent increase in coffee bean prices over the past year.

For Italy, this means that perhaps its famous 1-euro espresso will soon be history.

There are many things that Italy does well – pizza dough, gelato, red wine, etc. But one thing that Italians can do better than anyone else in the world is to serve good and inexpensive coffee.

For a long time, locals and tourists have had the opportunity to snag an espresso for just 1 euro in one of the many (around 132,000) coffee bars in Italy – in the past, prices were even state-regulated.

So how is it that the black gold was so cheap in Italy in the past? Unlike in other countries, coffee suppliers in Italy often cover the costs of opening a café, which saves operators a lot of money.

There is also a culture of family-run cafés, which means they don't have to hire (and pay) too much staff, especially when ordering an espresso in Italy takes hardly longer than 45 seconds. However, this culture might change soon...

The fact is that coffee bean prices have risen by 48 percent over the past year and have tripled since 2018. This is largely due to poor harvests in Vietnam and Brazil (the two largest coffee producers in the world) and issues in the supply chain between them. This makes it increasingly difficult for companies to keep prices low.

But do you think that the Italians will just give up their 1-euro caffeine boost? No, we don't think so either.

Customers have become so used to coffee prices that the increase is turning into a political issue, as café owner Andrea Pettinari states: "Coffee is not considered a product in Italy, but a human right." So for now, we'll just wait and drink coffee...