The cost of your cup of coffee

This year the rise in the cost of coffee has been in the news, it seems, almost constantly. Why? I'm going to attempt to answer that and how other rising costs effect my small business and therefore what you, my customer now pays me.

Green coffee waiting to be roasted

Let's start with the rise in coffee beans:

Climate change and global economics have paid a huge part in the rising cost of production.

Since 2022, the cost of green coffee has doubled, and in February 2025, the global benchmark price (the C Market) hit a historic $4/lb—a level not seen in modern history.

This is why:

2021: The Big Freeze. A catastrophic frost devastated coffee harvests in Brazil, the world's largest producer. The freezing temperatures wiped out a third of the crop in some regions, sending a shockwave through the global supply.

2022-2024: A Global Stockpile Shortage. With Brazil's output severely impacted, global coffee stockpiles began to dwindle, falling to five-year lows.

2024: The Climate and Regulatory Squeeze. Historic droughts and powerful typhoons in key coffee-producing regions further tightened the supply. New EU regulations also created more complexity and costs for traders.

The events of the last few years are a stark reminder of coffee's vulnerability. The plant, particularly the high demand Arabica variety, is incredibly sensitive to weather patterns. As climate change leads to more erratic rainfall and extreme weather events, the land suitable for growing coffee is rapidly shrinking.

The farm I source my milk from

Milk. This is the next most important ingredient in most of my customers drinks. I choose to buy, whenever possible my milk from the Organic Acorn Dairy. Graham and Caroline are exceptionally passionate about dairy farming, their land and their cows. They've one countless awards for their work and are very transparent about how and what they do. The quality of this milk comes at a cost higher than that of supermarket milk. At the time of writing a litre of supermarket milk costs 73p. A litre of Acorn dairy milk costs 92p which is 25% more.

Other costs. Like any business there are compulsory costs that keep things legal and safe, insurance, machine servicing, gas testing, electrical testing, accountant, pitch fees etc. Then there are additional costs I choose to take on, trade membership, continued training, advertising, website and because the van is 56 years old maintenance, lots of maintenance.

A cup of coffee when out and about is, I think a luxury and not one that everyone can afford but I hope that for those of you that can, this goes some way to explaining why you have and will likely continue to see the cost of that cup of luxury continue to rise.

I would urge you to seek out your local, independent coffee shop that uses their local roaster who uses an ethical green bean importer, who invests in the farmer who can afford to keep growing their coffee in very uncertain times for your enjoyment.

Thanks for reading.