Don't fault growers for rising price of coffee

But beans account for only fraction of the cost of a cup

Tom Abate, Chronicle Staff Writer

San Francisco Chronicle

If the price of your morning jolt of caffeine is going up, don't blame the poor guy in the tropics who grew the coffee beans.

For that double cappuccino that set you back $3.75, a mere 21 cents went for those ground-up beans. The cost of the milk was nearly double that. The bigger ingredients are labor, rent, overhead -- and profit.

The cost of gourmet drinks is poised to rise after Starbucks' announcement earlier this week that it would boost the average price per cup by 11 cents starting Oct. 6. Given the Seattle chain's market clout, industry watchers expect the increase will ripple through an estimated 11,000 other independent and smaller chain coffee shops nationwide.

Wholesale coffee prices have risen 36 percent in the last year in U.S. commodities markets. But to farmers, especially those who grow the specialty beans prized by coffee aficionados, the recent increases only begin to repair the damage of a disastrous price slump that has devastated regions such as Central America.

(See full article for breakdown of the cost of a double cappuccino.)


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