August 18, 2025

Giuseppe Lavazza: Coffee is a big responsibility

22 minutes

Coffee is a big responsibility

Julia Caesar speaks to Giuseppe Lavazza, chairman of coffee giant Lavazza, about the multiple challenges facing the industry today.

Many people around the world say they can’t function without their morning cup of coffee. In fact, global coffee consumption has been steadily rising with around two billion cups of coffee consumed every day. This growth is driven by rising demand in emerging markets like China and India, as well as the popularity of specialty and cold coffee beverages.

However, the industry itself is facing major challenges, including an increase in the cost of raw materials due to changing weather patterns, growing concerns over geopolitical instability impacting shipping routes, and economic uncertainty due to tariffs.

The coffee market, which was valued at approximately $495.5 billion in 2023, is a far cry from when Lavazza coffee was first established nearly a century ago in Turin, Italy.

The Interview brings you conversations with people shaping our world, from all over the world. The best interviews from the BBC. You can listen on the BBC World Service, Mondays and Wednesdays at 0700 GMT. Or you can listen to The Interview as a podcast, out twice a week on BBC Sounds or wherever you get your podcasts.

Presenter: Julia Caesar

Producers: Lucy Sheppard and Ben Cooper

Editor: Nick Holland

Get in touch with us on email [email protected] and use the hashtag #TheInterviewBBC on social media.

(Image: Giuseppe Lavazza. Credit: Jaimi Joy/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

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