Unfortunately, coffee prices are on the way up due to a couple of different factors. Brazil was hit hard by frost, and the record cost of freight brought on by COVID-19 is causing massive shipping logjams. The worst cold snap in Brazil since 1994 sent the price of green coffee beans to the highest level in almost seven years. That increase will pass through to those that buy roasted beans or ground coffee in their local grocery stores. Plus, Reuters says crops in Brazil are wilting after the worst dry spell the country has seen in almost a century.
The extent of the damage isn’t fully known yet, but in areas where coffee trees didn’t survive, it may take as many as seven years for production to fully rebound. The shipping problems are partly brought on by demand for consumer goods and not enough available ships as people stayed home during COVID. That’s led to a sharp rise in the cost of transporting beans to the major coffee-consuming countries in North America and Europe.
Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows the average ground coffee price rose to a peak of $4.75 per pound in April, which is 8.1 percent higher than last year and the highest level since 2015.
