Coffee Prices Rising for Canadians at Tim Hortons and Grocery Stores
Tim Hortons says it’s raising the price of coffee for the first time in three years. The company said that the increase is small — about 1.5 per cent, or three cents per cup — and is lower than the overall rise in inflation.
The change comes as coffee bean prices have more than doubled in the past three years, climbing from $221 to $545 per pound.
It’s not just coffee shops where prices are going up. According to Statistics Canada, Canadians paid almost 28 per cent more for coffee at grocery stores this August compared to a year earlier.
Canada buys most of its coffee beans from Colombia, Brazil, Mexico, Peru, and other Central American countries. In July alone, Canada imported 131 million kilograms of unroasted coffee worth more than $1.3 billion.
But not all coffee comes straight from these countries. A lot of roasted coffee is imported from the United States. That means U.S. tariffs — especially on Brazilian coffee — can affect Canadian prices. Canada has also put tariffs on U.S. products in response, which may have added extra costs for importers.
Meanwhile, food prices overall are climbing faster than inflation. A recent Loblaw report found that food prices rose 3.5 per cent in August, while the Consumer Price Index increased only 1.9 per cent. Loblaw pointed to U.S. tariffs on Brazil as one reason coffee prices are staying high, since Brazil is the world’s largest coffee exporter.
They also noted that buyers are competing for coffee from other countries, while some Brazilian growers are holding back their beans, adding more pressure to global prices.
