TEA & COFFEE PRICE HIKES CAUSE A STIR
THERE’S a brewing storm for tea and coffee lovers, with prices set to spiral.
Fears of shortages are looming due to the Red Sea crisis and unusually hot weather.
Wholesale coffee prices are up by more than 20% since January after crops were hit by extreme heat in places including Vietnam and Brazil.
The shocking heat in Vietnam, one of the world’s largest producers of robusta coffee beans, has damaged crops. Andrew Moriarty, of analysts Mintec, said: “Robusta prices have been increasing for some time on two successive lower harvests in Vietnam.”
And Gareth Redmond-King, at the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit, said: “The cost of our morning coffee is soaring as climate change hits crops.”
Tea prices have jumped by another 34% in the past month alone due to rising industry costs and container ships being held up in the Red Sea.
Latest data shows a 34.52% increase over the past month, making prices 50% higher than a year ago.
The main trouble is said to be shipping problems linked to China, India, Kenya and Sri Lanka – the world’s biggest producers and exporters.
Marco Forgione, of the Institute of Export and International Trade, said: “These disruptions have rippled throughout the global supply chain, adding to price pressures.”