Ljubljana - Coffee is a very popular beverage in Slovenia, which can also be seen from statistics - an average Slovenian consumes three kilogrammes of coffee a year at home, while Slovenia imported almost 22,000 tonnes of coffee last year, more than a third from Brazil, the Statistics Office (SURS) said before today's International Coffee Day.

A kilogramme of coffee in Slovenia cost an average 9.17 euro in 2021, which means that the average monthly net wage sufficed to buy 139 kilogrammes.

The average price of a cup of espresso meanwhile reached 1.33 euros, SURS data shows.

International Coffee Day was first organised by the International Coffee Organisation (ICO) as part of Expo 2015 in Milan, Italy.

The day is not celebrated only by coffee lovers but also by companies in the coffee industry.

Julius Meinl has launched a special campaign to mark the day, offering guests at around 30 Slovenian cafés a second cup of coffee for free.

For each participating café, the company will plant a tree in Tanzania, one of the coffee producing countries, in cooperation with the Jane Goodall Institute.

A total of 18,000 trees are planned to be planted to show that coffee consumption and environmental protection are inextricably linked.

De'Longhi, a major producer of coffee machines from Italy, said coffee is consumed in enormous quantities, which makes it the second most heavily traded commodity in the world, second only to crude oil. Arabica is the most popular type of coffee and espresso is the most popular coffee drink worldwide.