Brewed under pressure: How your morning coffee is turning into a luxury

For U.S. coffee drinkers, the daily ritual is getting more expensive and not just because of global crop shortages. The newest squeeze comes from tariffs on Brazilian shipments, now hitting 50%, that are driving futures prices toward their steepest monthly surge in over a decade, Bloomberg reported.

Major players are already adjusting. JM Smucker, maker of Folgers and Café Bustelo, announced it will raise prices again in early winter, the third hike since May. While roasters had long hesitated to directly blame tariffs for fear of consumer pushback, the mounting costs are leaving little choice.

Some companies still have a buffer, drawing on inventories imported under the old 10% tariff rate, but that cushion won’t last beyond early fall. Keurig Dr Pepper CEO Tim Cofer has warned that the full effect will become unavoidable in the second half of the year, while Westrock Coffee’s CFO flatly admitted the costs “are ultimately passed through” to customers.

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Coffee was once considered a relatively stable commodity, but volatility in crops, supply chains, and now geopolitics is shifting it closer to the playbook of luxury goods, demand resilient, but prices climbing ever higher. Futures for arabica beans, the world’s benchmark, are up 30% this month alone, fueled almost entirely by tariffs.

Consumers may soon pay record prices for their cup of comfort, while brands walk the tightrope of sustaining margins without alienating loyal drinkers.

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