Articles >> Coffee supplies to Venice justify the expense - and the hypeCoffee supplies to Venice justify the expense - and the hype
Venice is famed for, among other things, selling an expensive cup of coffee , with the cafes of St Mark's Square in particular being singled out for criticism by many foreign tourists. But when you consider the logistical problems of getting coffee supplies to Venice - and the historical settings of many of the islands' coffee shops - it actually represents excellent value.
Yards of blog space is devoted to the price of a cappuccino in Florian's, the oldest cafè in Italy, which has been selling coffee in Venice since 1720s. Its fame and location - right next to Venice's campanile and the basilica of St Mark - are obviously reflected in its prices. From morning to night it is packed with tourists. Few wonder, however, where Florian's gets its coffee supplies.
Coffee supplies come by boat
To be fair, most of us don't think about where our local cafè gets its coffee supplies from. In this day and age, we can reasonably assume it is delivered by or collected from a wholesaler, in a car or van, without too much expense or hassle. Any difficult stages or environmentally-harmful food miles will have been racked up long beforehand.
But as anyone who has seen boats carrying a load of bricks and a cement mixer down the Grand Canal will testify, reality is very different in Venice. All supplies have to come in by boat; and a small boat at that.
Many of Venice's canals are narrow, shallow and spanned by low bridges - so getting coffee supplies to a cafè becomes a laborious and expensive process. Economies of scale and the benefits of modern transportation methods go out the window as soon as the product leaves the mainland.
Suppliers of coffee to historical giants
Secondly, it is worth considering the skill and wages of your barista or waiter. Unlike in England, both are well paid jobs attracting committed, knowledgeable professionals. Demand in Venice outstrips supply - and so the coffee drinker will pay for their services accordingly.
Thirdly, I challenge anyone to find a place where anyone and their family can sit and enjoy a cup of coffee as supplied to Lord Byron, Casanova, Goethe, Charles Dickens, Ernest Hemingway, Rousseau, Modiglioni and Stravinsky? The inner rooms of Florian's have been barely changed since the days of the Romantic poets, and it is as much a museum as a cafè.
Sure, there are cheaper places in the world to buy coffee - but if price was our only consideration, we would never pay to see anything outside the places we live and work - and our lives would be the poorer for it. The difficulty of getting coffee supplies to Venice - and the romantic magic of the lagoon city - makes every cup worth the money.
Coffee supplies from Coffee Xclusive
Coffee Xclusive supplies a wide range of top-quality coffee machines for use in the home, the office, or for commercial purposes. We also provide coffee beans, pods and capsules along with all the accessories you need. To find out more, or to order online, just browse our website. We're always happy to answer any questions you might have - just fill in our online enquiry form on the Contact Us page.
| 
