What is behind the Italian coffee import? Investigating the most relevant dynamics

Abstract

After the US and Germany, Italy is the third world’s largest importer of green coffee, above all from Brazil, Vietnam and India, being also the second roasted coffee producer, exporter and consumer in EU, after Germany. Given the importance of coffee import in Italy, this paper applies the gravity model to investigate the influence of the main variables affecting the Italian coffee import. In particular, the aim of this paper is to identify the most influent factors determining the level of import flows between Italy and its 11 main coffee export partners. Our results show that the exporters’ GDP, their coffee production, the distance between the Italian capital town and those of the other partners, and finally the continental territorial boundary affect the Italian coffee import, as well as the tradition to drink coffee and the consumers’ demand for quality.