The cost of coffee hits a record 47-year high – London Business News | Londonlovesbusiness.com

Coffee drinkers will be forced to pay more for their favourite drink as it has risen by a record 18% to a 47-year high.

This week arabica beans rose to $3.44 or £2.70 a pound and in November, Robusta coffee hit $5,694 or £4,460 per metric, this is due to weather concerns in the major growing countries such as Vietnam and Brazil.

The Grocer’s Key Value Items tracker has recorded that the price of Nestle Original Instant Coffee in the UK has risen 15% year-on-year.

Nestle said, “Like every manufacturer, we have seen significant increases in the cost of coffee, making it much more expensive to manufacture our products.

“As always, we continue to be more efficient and absorb increasing costs where possible whilst maintaining the same high-quality and delicious taste that consumers know and love.”

Will Corby, director of coffee and social impact at supplier Pact Coffee, told The Grocer, that coffee beans have been “sold for far too cheap from its countries of origin to the West for far too long.

“Huge coffee companies might say that these market highs are bad news, but, in reality, farmers are finally being paid enough to live on.”

He added, “It’s widely reported that this market high is mainly due to harvests in Brazil being short, but that’s not even half the story.

“We’ve seen near-perfect growing conditions in Brazil this year, and many technical reports suggest a surplus in the 2024/25 crop.

“There’s been a reduction in robusta production in Vietnam, driving its commodity price up significantly to near that of arabica.

“Because of this, many coffee companies are choosing the better-quality arabica beans, driving up demand and price.”