March 2014

While many large coffee sellers like Starbucks have a year or more supply of coffee beans stockpiled away, there is concern consumers will soon see a price hike for their favorite morning ritual because of the current drought situation in Brazil. But will that stop them from buying? According to Bloomberg, probably not. Seems U.S. coffee drinkers are "very ritualistic." Says Paul Christopher, the St. Louis-based chief international strategist at Wells Fargo Advisors, “There’s very low price-elasticity-of-demand for coffee. Would people who like coffee regularly substitute tea, or soda, if prices rise? The answer is ‘No.’” One coffee lover equates grabbing a Cup of Joe

Coffee prices have surged over the last several weeks because of drought conditions in Brazil. If you like a good scare, take a look at today's investment.com coffee commodity report to see just how dramatic the price of this commodity has changed over the last several weeks. (Not recommended for the faint of heart.) Says Orinoco Coffee & Tea CEO, Pedro Ramirez in a recent post, “This is troubling news for the industry. I think one of the most difficult things to explain to our customers when they hear that coffee prices are on the rise is that the price of coffee we pay today is