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Should We Start Hoarding Coffee Like Toilet Paper?
Well. Maybe not, but we should definitely be paying more for coffee.
I am on the board of a non-profit called Farmer to Farmer. We sell organic coffee and use the proceeds to fund scholarships and other projects in Central America. One of our main goals is to pay the farmers a consistently high price.
This week I had a phone call with Alex from the Honduran coffee co-op we work with. He was cautiously optimistic about the rising coffee prices on the international market. An unexpected freeze and a prolonged drought in Brazil, combined with shipping bottlenecks globally, have choked the world’s coffee supply. By some estimates, the wholesale price of coffee worldwide could rise by more than 50% in response. Alex would tell you that it is about time. At Farmer to Farmer, we agree.
The expected rise in commodity coffee prices will not affect your price of a cup of coffee as much as you might think. Coffee you make at home only costs pennies per cup, and will now cost just a penny or two more per cup. In coffee shops, much of the cost of a cup goes to roasting, facilities, and labor, with a small percentage to green beans. They may not even…
