Why Coffee Prices Are So High Right Now (And What It Means for Your Daily Cup)

If your morning coffee suddenly feels like a luxury item, you’re not imagining it. Coffee has been on a wild ride the last few years, and a bunch of global forces are hitting all at once.

Here’s a clear breakdown of why coffee prices are so high right now and why it doesn’t feel like they’re coming back down anytime soon.

1. Coffee beans themselves are more expensive

Let’s start with the obvious: the raw coffee.

On global markets, both arabica and robusta beans have traded at much higher levels than we’ve seen in years. Even when the headlines say “coffee prices fall,” they’re usually dropping from a very high peak—not going back to the “cheap coffee” days.

In other words: the base ingredient in every bag of beans or canned latte is simply more expensive than it used to be.

2. Extreme weather is hammering coffee-growing regions

Coffee is incredibly sensitive to climate. A few degrees hotter, a badly timed rain, or a frost at the wrong moment can wreck an entire harvest.

In recent seasons, several major producing regions have been hit hard:

-Brazil, the world’s largest arabica producer, has dealt with drought and tricky rainfall patterns that damage coffee trees and hurt yields.

-Vietnam, the top robusta producer, has faced severe drought in some areas and flooding in others, making harvests unpredictable and smaller.

When big producers struggle at the same time, the world just doesn’t have enough coffee to go around. Less supply plus steady (or growing) demand equals higher prices.

And zooming out, climate change is making extreme weather more common. That means coffee supply is likely to stay more volatile—and generally more expensive—than it used to be.

3. Years of low prices weakened the supply side

Here’s the part most people don’t see: before this price spike, coffee farmers spent years getting paid too little.

When prices were low:

-Many producers couldn’t cover their costs.

-Some farmers left coffee entirely or cut back on plantings.

-There was less money to invest in healthier trees, better processing, or climate resilience.

Now demand for high-quality and specialty coffee is up, but the system supplying it is still recovering from years of underinvestment. We’re feeling that tension in today’s prices.

4. Trade policies and tariffs add extra pressure

On top of weather and long-term supply issues, trade policies can push prices even higher.

When tariffs or new trade rules hit major coffee exporters or importers, they can suddenly make certain coffees more expensive or harder to source. Importers then scramble to find alternatives, often paying more for replacement origins or for coffees that meet certain quality standards.

All of this gets baked into the final price of your bag or your latte.

5. Market speculation amplifies real-world problems

Coffee is traded on financial markets, which means it’s not just farmers and roasters involved—traders and investment funds are in the mix too.

When fears about droughts, frosts, or poor harvests hit the news, speculative buying can:

-Drive prices up faster than supply and demand alone would suggest

-Make price spikes higher and more dramatic

-Introduce a lot of short-term volatility

The weather problems are real, but speculation often makes the price chart look even more chaotic.

6. Everything around the coffee bean costs more too

Even if green coffee were cheap (it’s not), your bag or canned drink would still be more expensive because everything around it has become more costly:

-Shipping and freight

-Energy for roasting

-Labor at farms, mills, roasteries, and cafés

-Packaging materials like cans, bags, labels, and boxes

-Rent, utilities, and wages for cafés and production spaces

Roasters and cafés are not just reacting to bean prices; they’re juggling higher costs across the board. That’s why even when you hear that commodity prices dipped, retail prices don’t magically fall in line.

7. Why your café drink stays expensive even when prices fall

Every so often, you’ll see a headline saying “coffee prices are dropping”—but your usual latte is still the same price (or even more).

Here’s why:

1. Coffee is bought months in advance

Roasters often lock in contracts for coffee well ahead of time. If they committed to buying at higher prices during a spike, they’re still roasting that expensive coffee later—even if today’s market looks a bit calmer.

2. Prices are “sticky”

Once a café raises prices to survive higher costs, it’s risky to bring them back down. Rent, equipment, wages, and other inputs rarely go backward. Businesses need to protect thin margins, so menu prices usually move up faster than they move down.

3. It’s not just coffee driving your latte price

Your drink includes milk (or alt-milk), sugar or syrups, cups, lids, and the labor of the barista—all of which are more expensive than they were a few years ago. Coffee might be the headline, but it’s only one part of the total cost.

Put all that together, and it’s easy to see how we ended up in an era where a $5–$7 drink is common, and in some markets, prices can reach $10 or more for larger or more elaborate drinks.

8. What this all means for the future of coffee

So, will coffee ever get cheaper?

Maybe in the short term, if there’s an especially good run of harvests and less drama in global markets. But looking long term, most signs point toward coffee staying more expensive than it used to be, especially for:

-High-quality arabica

-Ethically sourced and traceable coffees

-Producers investing in climate resilience and better wages

In a way, today’s higher prices reflect the true cost of producing coffee in a changing climate while trying to treat growers more fairly.

9. How Blue Hound Brew fits into this picture

At Blue Hound Brew, we live this reality every day.

We craft canned lattes using:

-Pasture-raised organic milk

-Roasted specialty coffee

-Real cane sugar

That means we’re not just buying any coffee—we’re sourcing specialty-grade beans that meet our quality and ethical standards. Those coffees already cost more than commodity-grade beans, and the global pressures described above push those costs even higher.

On top of our canned lattes, we also offer roasted specialty coffee bags. These are separate from our canned drinks—they’re simply high-quality roasted coffee designed for brewing at home.

Because of everything happening in the coffee world, we think about pricing with a few goals in mind:

-Pay fairly for the coffee we buy

-Work with partners who are serious about quality and sustainability

-Keep our canned lattes and coffee bags as accessible as we can, without cutting corners on ingredients

When you grab a can of Blue Hound Brew or brew one of our roasted specialty coffees at home, you’re not just paying for liquid in a cup. You’re supporting farmers, mill workers, logistics teams, roasters, and everyone else in a long, complex chain that brings coffee from a hillside thousands of miles away to your hand.

10. How to get the most value out of your coffee right now

Even with higher prices, there are ways to make your coffee dollars go further:

-Brew at home more often and treat café visits as a treat, not the default.

-Choose quality over quantity—one great coffee you love can be more satisfying than cycling through lots of mediocre ones.

-Experiment with different brew methods (like pour-over, AeroPress, or French press) to get more flavor from the same amount of beans.

-Look for brands, like Blue Hound Brew, that are transparent about their ingredients and sourcing so you know what you’re paying for.

The bottom line

Coffee is in a new era. Climate change, years of low farm-level prices, higher costs across the supply chain, and policy shifts all play a role in why coffee prices are high right now.

While that might mean paying a bit more for your daily ritual, it also opens up the chance to support better farming, fairer wages, and more sustainable coffee overall.

And if you’re sipping a Blue Hound Brew canned latte or brewing one of our roasted specialty coffee bags, we hope every sip feels worth it.