The price of everything else is increasing, why not coffee? Brazil is one of the largest suppliers of good coffee to the rest of the world and it seems that they are all set to increase their prices as well. Before we all get upset about this, though, it would be good to realize that they are not doing this on a whim.
A report by Reuters states:
The rising cost of fertilizer and farm labor is squeezing profits from coffee in leading global grower Brazil but tight supplies should strengthen growers’ hands when haggling at the farm gate.
Fertilizer prices have as much as doubled in less than a year for some producers, depending on their region’s soil quality, and labor costs have been climbing amid a sustained commodity-driven economic boom.Farmers say the final blow has been the constant appreciation of the local currency, eroding income for growers as it strengthens against the U.S. dollar in which arabica is traded on the futures market.
As consumers, we don’t normally take news of price increases on a positive note. Still, there are certain things that we cannot control. As much as we do not want some things to happen, we really cannot do anything about them. As for this impending price increase for coffee, maybe I will stock up on whole beans for now. Or alternatively, look for other sources of coffee beans that do not come from Brazil.
Photo courtesy of Refracted Moments
Originally posted on July 13, 2008 @ 6:41 am