The typical Italian breakfast always costs more. It’s all God’s fault increases in the retail prices of some of the most widely consumed food products, from butter to coffee and chocolate, with increases approaching 49%.
Not to mention theespresso at the bar and those 6 billion cups consumed by Italians every year: the average price reaches 1.21 euros18.1% more than in 2021. For a total expenditure of 7.26 billion in 2024. This is what emerges from a survey carried out by Assoutenti together with the Consumer Training and Research Center (Crc), based on price lists retailing butter, roasted coffee, chocolate and over-the-counter coffee in the main Italian cities. From 2021 to today, butter has weighed the most on families’ wallets, the value of which on the shelves has recorded an increase of 48.8%, reaching an average of 13.35 euros per kilogram at the end of 2024. It is the consequence of the reduction in milk production, determined both by unfavorable climatic conditions in producing countries and by a lower availability of pastures in the face of growing demand. Those most likely to replace butter will be the people of Turin, who pay 15.85 euros per kilo (the highest average price in Italy), while Florence is the city where it is cheapest (10.07 euros per kg).
As for the drink most loved by Italians, the prospect of coffee at the bar for 2 euros is becoming more and more concrete. Here too, extreme climatic events are to blame: crops in Brazil, Vietnam, Colombia, Costa Rica and Honduras have suffered damage due to alternating periods of drought and abnormal heavy rains, with a consequent collapse in production. Thus, the prices of Arabica and Robusta on international markets have reached their highest levels since the 1970s. And, immediately following, also those of our shops and supermarkets. A kilo of coffee, therefore, is worth on average 12.66 euros today. In 2021 it cost 8.86: the average increase is 42.8%. The peak is reached in Trieste (14.34 euros per kilo) while Catanzaro is the cheapest (10.36).
When you take it at the bar you pay more in Bolzano (1.38 euros) and Trento (1.35). Immediately after is Pescara (1.34), where there is also the heaviest increase in prices: +34% in the three years. Catanzaro is confirmed as the cheapest location also for espresso over the counter, but the average price rises to one euro.
Bad surprises also for the sin of gluttony par excellence, chocolate, and its numerous lovers. The product has suffered from the international situation of cocoa due to the climate crisis and plant diseases in the states from which the raw material comes, such as Ghana and Ivory Coast. The typical one hundred gram bar went from an average price of 1.26 euros in 2021 to that of 1.60 euros last December, with an increase in prices of almost 27%. Palermo is the place where it costs the most, with an average of 2.08 euros per pack, while Milan is in second place (1.73 euros). The lowest prices are found in Aosta (1.41 euros) and Trento (1.42 euros).