Coffee prices increasing due to poor harvests, global shortages

Due to coffee bean shortages in some of the world's top coffee-supplying countries, your morning cup of joe is getting a little more expensive. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, coffee prices have increased more than 3% over the past year, with instant coffee seeing the biggest jump at 7%.

Local coffee roasters say that in January 2024, they were paying around $2.40 per pound of coffee. A year later, they say pricing for green bean coffee increased about 70%, nearing $4 per pound.

Why is there an increase?

1. Disruptive and destructive weather in major coffee-supplying countries has hurt the recent harvest of coffee beans causing an international shortage.
2. The world's top two suppliers, Brazil and Vietnam, saw severe droughts in their region, leading to decreased shipments to other countries.
3. With the demand for coffee not going anywhere, prices of those coveted and short-supplied coffee beans are making the jump.

Who is affected?

1. All coffee consumers are being affected by this shortage. Those who buy coffee from local shops may see an increase in prices per drink.
2. Those who prefer to drink their morning joe at home will also see a price difference in their store-bought coffee beans, grounds, or coffee pods.
3. Local coffee roasters say this is affecting the entire industry.

"It's affecting every portion of our business," said Chance Imhoff at She Brews Coffee Roasters. "From our retail bags that you can buy in the shop. From our retail bags that you can buy online. Our wholesale pricing for our customers, we roast anywhere from 150 to 300 pounds a week for our wholesale clients."

How are coffee shops in Tulsa adjusting?

Imhoff says local coffee shops are having to get creative to mitigate the price increases. He says She Brews Coffee is using a transparent pricing strategy.

"If we pay more for coffee, we pass that on, and then if we pay less for coffee, we readjust our prices and so our customers save on coffee," Imhoff says. "We don't want to do just a set price and hope for the best and so that's something that we've really made a priority."

When it comes to ordering coffee beans for the store, they're collaborating with other local coffee shops to split shipping costs.

"We actually sometimes fill a pallet together so we can mitigate the shipping costs because we got to get creative out here, so if I only need four bags and you can put twelve on a pallet, we collaborate to fill up a pallet so we can spread the shipping costs across all those beans," Imhoff said.

He says thanks to forward contracts and creative thinking, the only immediate impact She Brews has felt is shipping delays with some types of coffee being held at the port for months.