Coffee prices at cafes and roasters across Toronto could be on the rise as the price of beans continues a monumental incline.
There was a time where a good ol’ cup of joe cost you little more than a pile of pocket change — or so I’m told, anyway, because, having only come of coffee-drinking age in the past decade or so, the price of arabica beans for me has always been on a steady rise.
According to Retail Insider, in October 2024 the cost of arabica beans hit a 13-year high at $2.70 per pound, which marked an 80 per cent increase from September of 2023.
It should come as no surprise, especially if you give a cursory glance on your social media feed or turn on the news, that changes in climate and subsequently heightened risk of catastrophic weather events are a major culprit behind the skyrocketing prices, along with, of course, inflation, labour costs and various geopolitical factors.
The rising cost, which shows no sign of slowing down any time soon, naturally trickles down into the cups of coffee drinkers around the world, who can — and should — expect a little boost on their bills.
Roncesvalles Village favourite, Cherry Bomb Coffee, who roast their own beans, recently took to Instagram to bear their soul on the issue, announcing that they’ll soon be raising their prices to meet the changing tides.
“The last few years have seen costs gradually increase to the rates that we felt were at an all time high,” they write in the caption of the post. “Our last import of green beans saw an unprecedented jump in price.”
Due to this, they announce, they’ll be making a “relatively significant” price increase to their coffee prices, effective this month — and they’re not alone.
Leighton Walters, owner of Found Coffee, which currently operates three locations in Toronto on top of one in Guelph, tells blogTO that his business has “absolutely” felt the strain of raising bean prices.
“As a small business, we are often at the mercy of larger corporations dominating the marketplace and monopolising the supply chains,” he says.
“As much as I wish Canada can produce coffee locally, geographically, the best coffee comes from a long way to be enjoyed in the great white north.”
In Leighton’s experience, one of the greatest challenge he and his business face today is tempering consumers’ expectations that coffee is “just a cheap commodity and that a $1 coffee from Timmies somehow means that all coffee shops should be $1 because coffee is coffee.”
But, he notes, not all coffee is the same, and the process of growing, harvesting and processing it is both lengthy and labour-intensive, before the beans are graded, scored and auctioned to the highest bidder before they ever make it to Canada.
Leighton tells blogTO that, when possible, he and his team have taken creative and strategic approaches to managing inflation not only when it comes to coffee, but virtually every element of the business, from rent and utilities to dairy and packaging, like offering carefully curated, smaller menus and offering education on “what goes into the cup that ends up in your hand.”
They’ve even publicized the auction cost of their green beans in the past in an effort to educate consumers on just how expensive the all-too-taken-for-granted crop really is.
Even still, sometimes a price increase is the only thing that can be done to meet the rising tides, Leighton says.
“Sadly, we’ve had no other options,” Leighton tells blogTO. “Not a month goes by when we don’t get a price increase email for something we need to operate.”
“Every year, we review our prices and where possible, we renegotiate pricing where we can and get prices down, but roughly 50 per cent of the time, we are left with the choice of ‘we either remove that product entirely, choose a cheaper option, close the shop entirely or bump the pricing.'”
When considering those options, a small price increase seems like the one that benefits the most players.
Luckily, though, Leighton tells blogTO that his “amazing” and “loyal” customers understand that, by opting to pay a little more for their daily java fix, they’re also voting to support a independent, local coffee shops.
Not for nothing, but elements like fair trade and sustainable practices on top of, of course, superior quality, can also jack up the price of your joe, so higher prices aren’t necessarily a bad thing.
On top of this, the cost of living in Toronto only continues to be on the rise, making the secondary business expenses for local establishments more expensive, too, painting many into a corner where they must either increase prices or fold.
So, while you might get a case of sticker shock the next time you pick up a coffee at your favourite local cafe, it may not be the workings of greed, as is so easy to assume, but the product of greater forces at work.
