By Jane Denton For Thisismoney
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Britons based in London are forking out over 90 per cent more for a cup of coffee than their South American counterparts.
British coffee drinkers would have to endure an 11 hour flight of more than 5,000 miles to be able to pick up the cheapest cup of coffee in the world, research has revealed.
In Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo the average cost of a cup of coffee is 84p and 85p respectively. In London, this rises to an average of £1.62.
Coffee map: UK coffee drinkers would have to endure an 11 hour flight over 5,000 miles to be able to pick up the cheapest cup of coffee in the world
The statistics for Starbucks coffee drinkers are even worse, with London drinkers shelling out double the amount of those in South America’s top cities.
In London, the cost of a cup of coffee at Starbucks comes out at around £2.80, while in Rio it’s £1.59 cheaper at £1.21, Service Partner ONE said in its 2016 Coffee Price Index.
Of Britain’s biggest cities, the cheapest place to get a cup of coffee is Dundee in Scotland, where a cup of coffee costs an average of £1.43.
Featuring in the top 20 cheapest cities for coffee in the world, a caffeine fix can be purchased in Sheffield, Edinburgh and Liverpool for £1.45, £1.46 and £1.47 respectively.
Prices at independent coffee shops are often much higher than their chain or supermarket based counterparts, although this tends to be the other way around in France, Italy and Spain.
Cheapest: The cheapest city in the world to buy coffee is Rio de Janeiro, research suggests
Most expensive: The most expensive city in the world to buy coffee is Zurich in Switzerland
In London, a cup of coffee at an independent coffee shop costs around £3.21.
In terms of the most expensive cities in the world to buy coffee, Zurich in Switzerland takes the top spot.
A cup of coffee in Zurich costs an average of £2.92, the findings reveal.
Die-hard Starbucks fans will find themselves splurging around £5.72 for a single cup of coffee in Zurich.
Copenhagen in Denmark is the second most expensive city in the world to buy coffee, with an average cost of £2.92.
Again, Starbucks customers will end up paying a premium for coffee in Copenhagen, with costs around the £4.86 mark.
Explaining the cost variations, Chris Stemman, executive director of the British Coffee Association, said: ‘Coffee prices vary in different countries depending on whether or not it is imported, Rio de Janeiro for instance does not import coffee as it is a produce grown in Brazil and much of Latin America.
‘Additionally, pricing depends on the type of coffee bean that is commonly consumed, in the UK we favour Arabica for its smoother taste but this is a premium priced bean.
‘Comparatively in France and other countries the Robusta bean is popular and this is priced more cheaply compared to Arabica.
‘Finally, and specifically to the UK, the weakening of the pound has had an impact on coffee, which is traded as a dollar commodity, so again the cost of importing coffee into the UK has risen.’
To compile the index, Service Partner ONE compared the median cost of coffee at home, the cost of coffee in Starbucks, the average cost of a cup at an independent coffee shop and the average cost to a company per cup in an office. From these figures, average costs were calculated.
Prices for Starbucks coffee were calculated from the average cost of a Grande Latte in several locations within each city.
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