Coffee reached the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in 17th century, primarily through merchants trading with the Ottomans.[32] First coffee shops opened a century later.[33] Usage of coffee has grown since, through it was a luxury commodity during the communist era of the Polish People's Republic. Consumption of coffee has grown since the transformation of Poland into a democratic, capitalistic country in 1989, through it still remains lower per capita then in most West European countries.[34]