Have you noticed that you overpay for your morning coffee?
If your morning cup of coffee has left a sour taste in your mouth lately, it’s probably not the beans, but the price tag that’s causing you to taste bitter.
Key points:
- Coffee sellers say coffee prices have gone up 20-30 percent in the last 12 months
- The average price of a medium, basic coffee is around $5 nationwide
- Coffee industry warns it may take 12 to 18 months before prices drop again
Prices for flat whites – and cafe-made coffees – have been forced up not only by international shipping and wages, but also by unexpected costs such as the wholesale price of caramel syrup.
What is the average price of coffee now?
Daniel Mejia of Colombia Coffee Co owns several cafes and is a wholesaler of coffee beans on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast.
He says people should pay between $4.50 and $5.50 for an average 250ml (8oz) of coffee without fancy milk or espresso additions.
“When you pay $5.50 for an eight-ounce coffee, then the expectation you have to have as a customer is that it’s going to be high-end coffee,” he says.
“You wanted so badly to get out of that shop, raving about the coffee you just drank.
“Coffee that used to cost $5 is now $6.”
He says every element of coffee-making is now more expensive: the coffee beans, the electricity used to heat water, machine maintenance, milk and alternatives to milk.
“But if you get a flat white with added soy, with a little caramel, then the soy also increases.
“The caramel shot that used to be 50 cents, maybe 70 or 80 cents.”
The perfect storm in your coffee cup
Bruno Maiolo has headed the Australian Specialty Coffee Association for 20 years and runs C4 Coffee in Melbourne.
He says $5 is the right price to pay for an average, medium coffee that would have cost $3.80 a year ago.
But even though they are more expensive, the cafe still doesn’t cover the full cost.
“Only on supply and trade issues, a cup of coffee should really be close to $7 if everyone is to maintain the same margins they enjoyed before COVID.”
“[The price] will still creep. It has to be because you have to bear the cost.”
Mr Maiolo said many factors both worldwide and in Australia came together to push up the price of a barista-made cappuccino.
He said the biggest contributor was COVID, which not only forced farms in many countries to close, but also caused a large number of deaths, impacting their workforce.
When coffee beans are shipped worldwide in shipping containers, they are also more expensive.
Mr Maiolo said the cost of transporting the containers had increased sixfold from $2,500 to around $15,000.
On top of these factors, Brazil – a major coffee producing region – experienced a particularly heavy winter last year which meant fewer beans were picked.
With increased demand and less beans, prices rise further.
Mr Maiolo said neither of these factors was likely to be resolved in the near future.
“Prices are going to stay high for some time, at least the next 12 to 18 months, before we can start to get some sort of normality in terms of shipping and logistics,” he said.
Making coffee ‘more than a business’
Back on the Sunshine Coast and Mr Mejia said although he felt he had no choice but to raise the price of his coffee, it was a painful decision to make.
He said his business continuity was not the only thing on his mind.
“Coffee is the social lubricant that keeps people flowing and connecting with one another.
“We are the guardians of that, and we embrace that role beyond our business and more like a community role.”
#noticed #overpay #morning #coffee
Comments
Post a Comment