From Beans to Billions of Cups

Over 2.25 billion cups of coffee are consumed around the world daily and it’s probably fair to say that one million of them are drunk in Cyprus.

Where would we be without our daily shot of caffeine? Fifty years ago, coffee meant one of two things: a traditional Cypriot one brewed in a bronze or aluminium ‘briki’ or the instant version, usually referred to as Nescafe, despite a number of other competing brands. Today, we are spoiled for choice: espresso, latte, cappuccino, Americano, flat white, frappé, frappuccino, freddo…the list is endless.

Last year, Nicosia ranked 5th in the “Top 20 European cities for coffee lovers” published by Ubuy Italy, thanks in part to the hours of sunshine in July-August and despite having the 2nd highest average price per cup in its 60+ coffee shops. Moreover, there are cafés on every corner in every city on the island, and they all seem to be busy, day and night.

While today’s ‘coffee culture’ may seem to be a very modern invention, coffeehouses have existed in Cyprus since Ottoman times and while England may be forever associated with tea drinking, the first coffeehouse in London opened way back in 1652. This caused major social upheaval: English society was hierarchical, and the coffeehouses, which had common tables, forced people to mingle across class divides. These quickly became meeting places and grew in popularity among artists, thinkers, poets, and politicians, looking to shake up the world. Sir Isaac Newton, Alexander Pope and Jonathan Swift all became famous patrons of London coffeehouses, while across the Channel, Paris soon became inundated with the famous cafés, frequented by the likes of Voltaire (before exile), Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Diderot. Even before the French Revolution, there were between 600 and 700 hundred cafés in Paris.

Fast-forward some 250 years and we discover that the EU imported 2.7 million tonnes of coffee (worth €10.6 billion) in 2023. While the volume had remained stable since 2013, the value increased significantly from €7.3 billion.

According to the latest data, the top EU importers are Italy, Germany and Belgium, with most of the coffee coming from Brazil (921,900 tonnes, 34% of the total) and, perhaps surprisingly, Vietnam (652,000 tonnes, 24%). These are followed by Uganda (206,500 tonnes, 8%), Honduras (168,800 tonnes, 6%), India (118,100 tonnes, 4%), Colombia (112,700 tonnes, 4%), Peru (83, 000 tonnes, 3%) and Indonesia (68,300 tonnes, 2%).

Over 2.3 million tonnes of coffee were produced in 2023, representing a 15% increase on the 2013 figure and equivalent to around 5 kilos per inhabitant.

In the EU, Italy produced the most roasted coffee in 2023 (556,500 tonnes, 25% of the total, followed by Germany (507,700 tonnes, 22%), France (139,300 tonnes, 6%), the Netherlands (124,600 tones, 6%), Portugal (49,400 tonnes, 2%), Belgium (49,300 tonnes, 2%) and Finland (42,400 tonnes, 2%).

According to Cyprus’ statistical service (CyStat), the value of coffee imports in 2023 amounted to €6 million.

Fancy a coffee?