Coffee prices soar to "historic" levels

In the Balearic Islands around 2 million kilos of coffee are consumed per year. | UH

Majorca Daily Bulletin reporterPalma24/01/2022 09:33

The cost of coffee has reached "historical" figures up to double its value. 90% of the bars and cafeterias across the Balearics have been forced to raise the price between 0.10 and 0.20 cents per cup. There are several factors that have influenced this increase. The president of the Association of Coffee Roasters of the Balearic Islands, Toni Vallcaneras, emphasises in the first place that the price of the bags of beans has become more expensive. The frosts in Brazil, the second largest coffee producing country after Vietnam, have limited the harvests even though the demand has been the same. Therefore, the price is now higher.

The cost of transportation has also doubled, which has generated an extra increase for suppliers. "We are facing a historic rise in relation to the last few years. The transfer of coffee is already more expensive than the coffee itself." Vallcaneras also points to the pandemic. The health crisis has led to a greater consumption of this product in homes than in coffee shops.

For a year now, prices have been skyrocketing, almost doubling, according to several studies.

The president of the association explains that the type of generic coffee with which roasters usually work is green coffee, and that its price will depend on its origin and the farm where it comes from. Before the pandemic the average price, including transport, was around four or five euros per kilo, now it is around eight euros per kilo.

Javier Fuster, owner of Bar Vicenc, pays around 12 euros per kilo and does not expect the price to "stabilise". He also points out that "if they do not raise the price of the products, I keep them as they are". For now, no customers have complained to him about the increase in the price of a white coffee or cortado, the two most consumed drinks in his bar.

In the Balearic Islands around 2 million kilos of coffee are consumed per year, which represents about five or six kilos per person per year, according to Toni Vallcaneras. However, the president predicts that "there is no forecast that its value will be regulated in the short term" and that everything will depend on how the next harvest goes, between March and April.