Onerous and erratic tariffs have upended the coffee trade, incentivising loopholes and workarounds. Collectively, these changes herald an uncertain new era for the global coffee industry.
Smuggling has been a part of coffee since the beginning, and continues in many forms today. In the process, it reveals much about the industry’s power structures.
Despite evolving tastes and increased competition, India’s oldest and largest coffee chain—a communist-founded, worker-owned cooperative—is still going after 70 years.
