Why does a cup of coffee cost so much in London?

Fascinated though I am about coffee production, what intrigued me more was the analysis of the constituent elements of the £2.50 price of a cup of coffee (“Coffee’s pricing puzzle”, The Big Read, May 21). This breakdown gives no indication of how much goes to middlemen between grower and shop; nor does it help me to understand why a coffee costs twice or three times as much in the UK as it does in many other parts of Europe, where €1 is common and €0.80 not unknown. A follow-up article beckons.

Michael Hutchings
Sherborne, Dorset, UK

Letter in response to this letter:

Coffee at a bargain price! / From Scott J Dobbie, Rickmansworth, Herts, UK