All coffee lovers are concerned by the level “highest ever recorded” of the price of coffee, reached Tuesday December 10 on the raw materials markets, explains the website of the BBC. Arabica beans have “exceeded 3.44 dollars [3,26 euros] the pound”, bringing the increase of the most produced variety in the world “more than 80% this year”. As for the second variety, robusta, its price “reached a new record in September”.
The markets anticipate a probable drop in the harvest, “after the world’s two main producers, Brazil and Vietnam, suffered adverse weather conditions,” details the British public media.
A “adjusted” coffee
Most major brands “are considering raising their prices” from the first quarter of 2025, explains an expert at the BBC. The Italian giant Lavazza says it “had gone to great lengths not to pass on the rise in raw materials to consumers”. But in the face of “very high costs, we were forced to adjust our prices”, explains the company. Nestlé made the same observation to its investors in November, “admitting that the company should adapt its prices and the size of its packages”.
The previous coffee record dates back to 1977, “after exceptional snowfall which devastated plantations in Brazil”. To explain the current increase, Ole Hansen, in charge of raw materials at Saxo Bank, recalls that “the country experienced its worst drought in seventy years in August and September, followed by heavy rains in October, raising fears that flowering would be affected.”
Swiss
