express– Britain’s shift to working from home during lockdowns has increased coffee sales in the past year.
But bad weather in Brazil, the world’s largest producer, pushed prices to a seven-year high, trade magazine The Grocer has warned.
The cost of raw materials and shipping are surging, anti-government protests in Colombia have disrupted shipments and south-east Asia has a shortage of shipping containers.
Industry experts expect fewer UK high street promotions, base price rises and more smaller coffee packs giving higher profit margins.
Carlos Mera, of financial giant Rabobank, said: “There have been challenges almost everywhere, it is a nightmare.
“When the cost of the coffee beans is as much as 50 percent of the final price, at some point you will have to pass the higher costs on to the consumer. Companies will have to increase prices, especially of large packets of mainstream coffee sold in supermarkets.”
Take-home coffee sales soared 9.8 percent to more than £1.5billion in the year to June 12 – £136million up on last year. Its market value was £1,533million, more than twice that of tea.
Hannah Morris, of coffee giant Jacobs Douwe Egberts, said: “Historically, significant fluctuations in green coffee prices have been reflected in the market. We expect that to continue.”
