Sun, Oct 19, 2025 page9

• Brewing crisis: Java-loving NY confronts soaring coffee costs

  • By Raphaelle PELTIER / AFP, NEW YORK
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  New Yorkers run on coffee. From high-end experimental boutique cafes to the humble sidewalk cart, millions of cups of java are sold every day.

  However, coffee-lovers are facing increasing pain as they pay for their simple espresso shots and elaborate pumpkin spiced lattes as the cost of beans has jumped 21 percent between August last year and August this year in the US — the world’s largest market for coffee.

  Climate shocks drove the cost of arabica soaring, with the beans hitting an all-time high in February. That has been compounded by elevated transport costs and the 50 percent tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump since Aug. 6 on many products from Brazil.

  

  A customer holds a tray with coffee drinks in New York City on Thursday.

  Photo: AFP

  Brazil, the largest coffee producer, has been sanctioned by the Trump administration for its prosecution of former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro for a coup attempt. It supplies 30 percent of the US’ unroasted beans.

  “It’s having a major impact on us, on small business owners, on farmers, across the board,” said Jeremy Lyman, cofounder of the New York-based chain Birch Coffee.

  Founded in 2009, the brand has 14 outlets citywide, roasting its own specialty coffee in Queens since 2015.

  “The price of coffee on the market has just been on a steady incline over the last probably year. I think it’s gone up about 55 percent from this time last year... it’s impacting the prices that we charge,” Lyman said.

  He said that Brazil’s production had become “unaffordable,” forcing Birch to look elsewhere for beans, with its importer “pushing pause” on its orders unless specially requested.

  Cecafe, the Council of Coffee Exporters of Brazil, reports that exports to the US have dropped almost 53 percent as of last month compared with the year before, with exporters looking instead to Mexico, Peru and Ethiopia.

  Lyman said that market forces have meant price hikes for his customers, with Birch adding US$0.50 to cups sold in-store, and US$2 to US$3 per bag of roasted coffee sold online.

  “Typically, it’ll be small, incremental [increases] because it also helps us get a little bit more time to navigate how we’re going to be sourcing,” he said, adding that he tried to give customers two weeks of warning.

  Other cafes have adopted a novel approach: adding an adjustable premium to the base price of each cup according to what level Trump has set tariffs that day, Lyman said.

  However, customers would only swallow so much, the Birch founder said, adding that there is a real risk of losing customers.

  Jason Nickel, 45, said that while he still seeks out a daily caffeine hit, he is “a little more careful about where I go.”

  He cannot imagine paying more than US$6 a cup, including tip, for a cortado — an espresso shot with a dash of milk foam.

  Anna Simonovsky, 32, said that her upper limit had gone from US$7 for a latte — a milkier, frothier drink than a cortado — to as much as US$10. She enjoys coffee as a treat for special occasions, like a visit with a friend, she said.

  Trump recently threw a lifeline to the two-thirds of Americans who drink coffee daily when he placed coffee on a list of products not cultivated by US farmers in sufficient quantity — potentially exempting it from tariffs, alongside tea and cocoa, and in a rare glimmer of bipartisanship, coffee-loving Republicans and Democrats are jointly sponsoring a bill intended to protect coffee products.
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