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Coffee Up! - A podcast from the wholesale team at Market Lane CoffeeAuthor: Market Lane Coffee
A podcast for our growing community of like-minded businesses who want to serve delicious, sustainable and ethically sourced coffees.To find out more about our wholesale coffee, please go to marketlane.com.au/wholesale Language: en-us Genres: Arts, Food, Places & Travel, Society & Culture Contact email: Get it Feed URL: Get it iTunes ID: Get it |
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A conversation about rising coffee prices
Saturday, 3 May, 2025
In our latest podcast episode, Market Lane co-owner Jason Scheltus helps unpack the recent rise in coffee prices, and what it means for cafés, producers and the industry as a whole.While commodity coffee prices (known as the C price) have always fluctuated with weather, supply and demand, we’ve seen a sharp rise in recent months – more than doubling since early last year. For many producers, this is a welcome shift: for the first time in a long while, the price they receive for their coffee is approaching what it actually costs to produce. But higher prices bring new challenges, rippling through the supply chain, particularly here in Australia, where market saturation and strong competition have kept prices low.At Market Lane, we’ve built our business around long-term, transparent sourcing relationships. The prices we pay for coffee aren’t linked to the commodity market. Instead, we pay the price dictated by the producer, which is influenced by the cost of production, the quality, and the volume we’re purchasing. We pay well above the commodity or Fair Trade prices. And these amounts remain stable year to year, or they increase. This approach builds trust and helps safeguard quality, even during volatile market periods like the one we’re in now.For cafés and retailers, these changes are understandably daunting. But there are opportunities, too. Diversifying your offer – such as retailing beans for home brewing – is a great way to maintain accessibility and build value. Doubling down on consistency, quality and customer service is more important than ever. And now might just be the perfect time to share more of the story behind the coffees you serve – who grows them, how they’re produced, and why that matters.This is a thoughtful, honest and hopeful conversation, and one that we hope helps you feel a little more informed and prepared for the months ahead.
