Oct. 24, 2025 "U.S. coffee prices spike due to tariffs and poor weather": Today I found this article by Dee-ann Durbin And Chris Rugaber on BNN Bloomberg:
It’s getting more expensive for Americans to get their caffeine fix.
The average U.S. price of a pound of ground coffee hit US$9.14 in September,
a three per cent increase from the August average of US$8.87
and 41 per cent higher than in September 2024,
according to U.S. government figures. Coffee prices have been increasing sharply since the start of this year.
Consumer prices for food purchased for home use and away from home were three per cent in September compared to the same month a year earlier, the U.S. Labor Department reported Friday.
The consumer price index, which measures a broader sample of all coffee products, including instant coffee, showed U.S. coffee prices up 19 per cent from September 2024 and flat compared to August.
Nikki Bravo, the co-owner of Momentum Coffee in Chicago, raised prices by about 15 per cent last week for lattes, cappuccinos and other drinks at her four locations.
Bravo said she is paying 15 per cent more for coffee beans compared to a year ago
and has started roasting more beans in-house to save money.
She gets most of her beans from Africa.
Other items also have gotten more expensive, such as cups and sleeves, she said.
In addition, the minimum wage in Chicago rose July 1 to US$16.60 an hour.
“At some point we just had to pass it along, we couldn’t continue to eat it,” Bravo said.
Stubbornly high inflation has also left consumers uncertain and less willing to splash out on a takeout coffee, she added.
According to Toast, a restaurant management system, the average price of a regular coffee at U.S. restaurants in September was US$3.54 compared to US$3.45 a year earlier.
Here’s why java is feeling such a jolt and how some are trying to alleviate it:
Tariffs
Outside of Hawaii and Puerto Rico, there are few places in the U.S. that can grow coffee.
So 99 per cent of America’s coffee is imported, according to the National Coffee Association, a trade group.
Brazil is the top source for U.S. coffee, supplying 30 per cent of the market.
The Trump administration imposed a 40 per cent tariff on Brazilian products in July on top of a ten per cent tariff imposed earlier. Brazilian producers have begun withholding shipments to the U.S. as they negotiate with American roasters over who will absorb the added cost, reducing supply in the U.S., according to investment bank UBS.
Colombia, which supplies 20 per cent of the U.S. coffee market, is subject to a 10% tariff, but President Donald Trump recently threatened higher tariffs and an end to U.S. aid to Colombia.
Vietnam, which supplies 8% of the U.S. coffee market, has been subject to a 20 per cent tariff since the summer.
In September, Trump announced that “unavailable natural resources” could be exempt from tariffs for countries that have reached trade agreements with the U.S. But so far, coffee hasn’t won any exemptions.
Weather risks
Heat,
drought
and other poor weather conditions
have hurt coffee production globally in recent years, causing prices to surge.
World coffee prices rose nearly 40 per cent in 2024, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
Earlier this month, coffee prices rose after the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration declared that La Niña conditions had formed. That raised concerns about the possibility of drought in Brazil.
The risk to coffee production from climate change has some researchers trying to develop more climate-resistant varieties of coffee.
U.S. Congress might step in
In September, a bipartisan group of U.S. House members introduced a bill that would repeal all tariffs on coffee.
“We only produce one per cent of the coffee that Americans consume.
It’s one of the best examples of Trump’s blanket tariffs making no economic sense,”
U.S. Rep. Ro Khanna, a California Democrat, said. Khanna co-sponsored the bill with U.S. Rep. Don Bacon, a Nebraska Republican.
Bacon said Friday that he became interested in the issue when he saw how much coffee cost at the grocery store. He said he’s also not a fan of tariffs and thinks Congress — not the president — has the power to levy them.
Bacon said he thinks the Trump administration now realizes that putting tariffs on products that the U.S. can’t grow is bad for consumers, and he’s hopeful the bill will pass.
“I hope the president and Congress see the positive benefit of removing this tariff on everyday Americans,” he said.
___
Dee-ann Durbin And Chris Rugaber, The Associated Press
Durbin reported from Detroit. Rugaber reported from Washington
Nov. 5, 2025 "Chocolate group Barry Callebaut’s profits hit by high cocoa prices": Today I found this article on BNN Bloomberg:
Swiss chocolate group Barry Callebaut reported a drop in annual net profit on Wednesday as
high cocoa prices
and falling consumption
took a bite out of earnings.
Barry Callebaut, whose financial year runs through the end of August, said profit after tax fell 1.3 per cent to 188.4 million Swiss francs (US$233 million) in the 2024-2025 period.
Revenue rose 42.4 per cent to 14.8 billion francs as the supplier of cocoa and chocolate products passes fluctuations in raw material prices on to clients.
In terms of volume, however, sales fell 6.8 per cent to 2.1 million tonnes, notably in Europe and North America were prices for chocolate products rose.
Barry Callebaut supplies cocoa and chocolate products to major food groups such as
Oreo cookie producer Mondelez,
KitKat maker Nestle
and Magnum ice cream owner Unilever.
“The past fiscal year was marked by exceptional and unprecedented volatility in the cocoa and chocolate markets, impacting both Barry Callebaut and our customers,” chief executive Peter Feld said in an earnings statement.
Feld, however, later said in a conference call that he was “cautiously optimistic on supply” for the crop cycle over the next six months.
Cocoa prices have soared for two consecutive years, reaching a historic high in December 2024 at $12,931 per tonne in New York and 10,100 pounds per tonne in London.
Top cocoa producers Ivory Coast
and Ghana
were hit by heavy rains that encouraged the spread of pod disease.
This was followed by droughts.
Prices have since retreated but remain volatile amid better harvests and a drop in demand. The commodity traded at $6,467 in New York on Tuesday -- still more than twice as high as in 2022.
The higher costs have prompted chocolate makers to raise their prices,
dulling consumers’ appetite for the sweets.
“Short term, the market seems to have found a price that works for
farmers,
processors our customers and consumers.
Too early to tell, but cautiously positive,” Feld said.
But, he added, “the long term structural challenges are not resolved.
A significant part of today’s cacao supply is at risk due to climate change and disease.”
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