JM Smucker Co., whose brands like Folgers and Café Bustelo dominate the US’s at-home coffee market, hiked its prices this summer. Restaurant chain Pret A Manger scrapped its UK coffee subscription that gave customers as many as five drinks per day. Variety Coffee Roasters in New York City just raised its retail prices by about 5% in its first hike in five years, and other corner coffee shops say they’re next.
Global coffee drinkers who’d hoped the price of their daily fix would soon stop rising are due for a bitter wake-up call: it’s about to get even worse.
Both the high-end arabica beans favoured by coffee chains like Starbucks Corp. and the more budget-friendly robusta variety have spiked in price, thanks to major supply disruptions from Vietnam to Brazil. Up and down the supply chain, sellers have been raising prices and scrapping discounts to protect their margins, and many warn of more increases ahead.
