COFFEE COULD BE about to get more expensive after the price of arabica beans hit record levels

Coffee drinkers could be about to see costs rise yet again as the price of beans hits a new record high, on the back of weather concerns in major grower countries like Brazil and Vietnam.

The price for arabica beans – the world’s most popular bean variety – reached a 47-year high this week, having risen by more than 18% this year to top 3.44 US dollars (€3.28) per pound.

Robusta coffee is also seeing record price hikes, reaching 5,694 dollars (€5,428) per metric ton as of late last month.

In recent weeks, Nestle confirmed it would continue raising prices and making packs smaller to offset the impact of higher bean prices.

Nestle said: “Like every manufacturer, we have seen significant increases in the cost of coffee, making it much more expensive to manufacture our products.

“As always, we continue to be more efficient and absorb increasing costs where possible whilst maintaining the same high-quality and delicious taste that consumers know and love.”

However, Will Corby, director of coffee and social impact at supplier Pact Coffee, told UK trade publication The Grocer that coffee beans had been “sold for far too cheap from its countries of origin to the West for far too long”.

“Huge coffee companies might say that these market highs are bad news, but, in reality, farmers are finally being paid enough to live on,” Corby told the magazine:.

However there are concerns about future supplies in Brazil after a lengthy dry spell earlier this year.

In Vietnam, the largest producer of the cheaper robusta bean, the key coffee belt suffered from dryness during the growing period and heavy rains arrived at the start of harvest.

Record coffee prices are in contrast to broader wholesale food costs, which are well below an all-time high set in early 2022 following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.