Coffee Prices on the Rise

The price of coffee is on the rise, whether you're making it at home or buying it in a shop. The increase is attributed to the rising cost of coffee beans, a trend that local coffee shops have been experiencing for some time.

“The C price of coffee, kind of the globally traded price of coffee, that has been on the rise for several years now," Stephen Hall, Co-Founder of Tinker Coffee Co., stated. "We've seen, kind of, the base price of coffee increase a lot."

Factors such as increased demand and difficulties in countries like Brazil have contributed to the issue.

“Of course, demand is up," Hall explained. "And if countries, like Brazil for example, have a difficult harvest, maybe a rainy season that does not produce the amount of quality coffee they were hoping for, that can really have an upward effect on the price of coffee."

This has led to price increases for local coffee shops.

"We had to institute a price increase," Hall said.

Other coffee shops have also been impacted. "Within the past week or two honestly, we've just had to raise our prices," Taylor, a barista at Perk Up Cafe in Broad Ripple, said.

"We're looking at that [raising prices] right now," Andy Hassler, Co-Owner of Blue Mind Coffee Roasting on 38th Street, said.

Coffee shops are worried about the reaction from customers. “You always get nervous when you raise prices," Hassler said. "No one likes it. It’s not fun and you may lose some [customers], especially at first.”

They're hoping that customers will understand the need for price increases. “We love our customers and we want to keep them as happy as possible, but sometimes you have to be able to make a profit as a small business," Taylor said.

If you choose to brew your coffee from home instead, you might not see much of a difference. The average retail price for a pound of ground coffee hit $8.41 in the month of July.