Coffee Beans Cost More Now
You might have heard news about coffee prices rising globally. The commodity market price for coffee (known as the C market price) has been on a wild ride lately. This is the benchmark price for unroasted green arabica coffee beans in the world market. Over the last year, that price has climbed to its highest levels in decades – in fact, it more than doubled within 2024 alone and hit record highs not seen since the 1970s. To put it in perspective, the base price for commodity arabica coffee was around $1.50 per pound a couple of years ago. By early 2025, it spiked to around $4.00+ per pound. That is an unprecedented increase in such a short time.
Why did the cost of coffee beans shoot up so dramatically? It’s a classic case of supply and demand (with a few twists). On the supply side, several of the world’s top coffee-growing regions have faced serious challenges recently. Climate extremes have hit coffee farms hard – Brazil (the largest coffee producer) suffered unusual frosts and drought, damaging a significant portion of their coffee crop. Other regions, from Central America to Africa, also experienced unpredictable weather, lower yields, and higher costs of production. These issues mean there are simply fewer coffee beans available worldwide than expected. At the same time, global demand for coffee is higher than ever – people everywhere, from the U.S. to emerging markets in Asia, are drinking more coffee. When more people want coffee but fewer coffee beans are being produced, prices naturally rise.
But that’s not the whole story. The coffee market is also influenced by financial factors. Speculation and market uncertainty have contributed to the recent price spikes. Big investors and commodity traders have been very active in the coffee futures market, which can drive prices up further in the short term. Additionally, after years of relatively low coffee prices, many farmers couldn’t afford to keep planting or maintaining their farms, leading to long-term supply shrinkage. All these factors combined created a “perfect storm” where the C market price went through the roof. In the coffee industry, we’ve never seen anything quite like this in modern times.
How This Impacts Small Roasters
So, how does a high global coffee price translate to what you pay for a bag of Snake River Roasting Co. coffee? The answer is straightforward: the cost of green coffee beans that we buy has gone up across the board. We purchase our green (unroasted) coffee from importers and farmers who base their prices on the commodity market plus quality premiums. When the base C market price jumps, the prices for all coffee – even the small farm, single-origin, high-quality beans we source – rise along with it. For example, if the commodity price is around $4.00 per pound, the actual price for specialty green coffee can end up $5-7 per pound (or more) once you add in origin premiums, shipping, and fees.
Just a year ago, our raw coffee might have cost half as much. Now, it’s in a completely different territory. As a small-batch roaster, we don’t buy coffee by the shipping container or hedge our costs years in advance like some large coffee corporations might. We buy seasonally and in modest volumes to ensure freshness and quality. This means we’re paying current market rates for coffee, and right now those rates are historically high. Every roaster – big or small – is feeling the pinch of these higher green coffee prices, but for smaller companies like us the impact is especially acute. Green coffee beans are our single biggest expense. When that expense doubles, it fundamentally changes our cost structure. We’ve absorbed as much of that increase as possible over the last several months without raising prices. We’ve looked for efficiencies in other areas of our business to save money. However, there’s a limit to how much we can absorb such a huge rise in bean prices. Like many other independent roasters, we have to adjust our prices so that we can continue to operate sustainably.
It’s also worth noting that it’s not just coffee beans that have become costlier. The same inflationary pressures affecting shipping (as we discussed in our shipping blog post) and packaging are also at play in the coffee world. Everything from the natural gas that fires our roasters, to the compostable bags we pack coffee in, to the wages for our skilled roasters and baristas – those costs have all inched up over the past year. We’re a business committed to paying fair wages and supporting our community in Jackson Hole. So, when you combine higher green coffee bean costs + higher overhead costs, the unfortunate result is that we have to raise the price of our coffee a bit.
Quality and Values Remains Unchanged
We want to make one thing crystal clear: even though our prices are rising, the quality of our coffee and the values behind it will never go down. 💚 Our mission has always been to source the best coffee beans ethically and roast them with care to bring out their very best flavors. That mission remains the same. We continue to carefully source our coffee through trusted relationships with farmers, cooperatives, and importers who prioritize sustainable and fair practices. In fact, we take pride in paying premiums to ensure farmers are treated fairly and environmental standards are met. That was true when coffee was $1.25 a pound, and it’s true now at $4+ a pound – if anything, our commitment to ethical sourcing is stronger than ever, because we know farmers are facing challenges too.
Here in Jackson Hole, we will continue to roast in small batches at altitude, as we’ve always done. Roasting at over 6,000 feet in the mountains is part of what makes our coffee unique. The lower air pressure at high altitude can enhance certain roasting processes, and we’ve honed our profiles to take advantage of it. More importantly, our team of roasters approaches every roast with an artisan’s touch – altitude or not, every batch gets the same attention to detail and passion for excellence. Quality and craftsmanship are the foundation of Snake River Roasting Co. coffee. That is not going to change, ever. The slight price increase will help ensure we can keep sourcing top-notch beans and roasting them to perfection for you.
Quality and Values Remains Unchanged
Transparency and honesty with our customers is a core value for us. We hope this explanation sheds light on why coffee prices (including ours) have gone up. We know that no one enjoys paying more for their favorite latte or bag of beans. Please believe us when we say we wouldn’t be raising prices if it weren’t absolutely necessary. This adjustment will allow us to continue operating in a healthy way so that we can serve you for many years to come – with the same dedication to quality, community, and sustainability that defines Snake River Roasting Co.
We are incredibly grateful to have customers like you who care about where your coffee comes from and the people behind it. Your support means the world to us. We’ll continue to do everything we can to earn that support each day, whether that’s through sourcing an exciting new single-origin coffee that knocks your socks off, or simply making sure every order is roasted and delivered with care.
If you have any questions about our pricing, our sourcing, or anything else, please don’t hesitate to reach out. We love talking coffee and we’re an open book. In the meantime, thank you for standing with us through these industry ups and downs. Go pour yourself a cup of coffee (may we suggest one of our latest roasts?), and join us in a toast to many more years of great coffee ahead – come what may with the markets. Thank you for being part of the Snake River Roasting Co. family! ☕️ 🙌
– The Snake River Roasting Co. Team
