Coffee Price Increase as Worldwide Demand Advance

Coffee price increases appear to be the result of an increased demand for coffee worldwide. Imports of the bean have increased by 23 percent over the past 10 years, International Coffee Organization said. This demand for coffee has made it hard for smaller coffeehouses to survive, the Christian Science Monitor reports.

Starting to rise over a year ago, the price of a pound of raw coffee beans has now almost doubled, the Christian Science Monitor reports. Due to rising food and fuel prices, retailers have been forced to up their costs, leaving coffee drinkers at an impasse.

The newspaper reports Christina Sleezer of Fort Mill, S.C. as saying she switched her family over to generic, brand name coffee in the wake of the increasing prices because she needed to ?get gas in [her] car.? By doing so, she said she saved significantly from the $13 can of Folger?s or Maxwell House she used to buy.

Similar consumer behavior is leaving coffee roasters and retailers in a lurch as far as covering costs. After Kraft Foods Inc., which produces Maxwell House, raised prices 22 percent in March, it lost customers like Sleezer and is now struggling to maintain a profit.

Other coffee brewers raising prices include J.M. Smucker, producers of Folgers and Starbucks, and even store brands like Costco, which has increased prices 25 percent since last year. As a result, retail prices have seen a growth of 10 percent.

And with demand for coffee among existing drinkers showing no sign of diminishing, prices could be on the rise for quite some time.