The price of coffee has doubled
Many staple items have become more expensive in the last year. We are told by the current administration that it is not true, and anything BUT tariffs. Before, one of the primary drivers was the cost of fuel; Supposedly. Now with the cost of fuel going down, prices are still going up; Rapidly.
One example (albeit personal and perhaps anecdotal to those reading this) is the price of coffee.
I drink a rather common, middle to bottom of the shelf brand called Cafe Bustelo. I started drinking it because it was lower in price than many of the popular corporate brands out there i.e. Peet’s, Seattle’s Best, Starbucks, etc., and it is really a nice dark espresso grind, which works well for pour over.
In 2024, the price at my local re-branded Kroger super was “Price Locked” at $4.99. It slowly crept to “Price Locked” at $5.99, then $6.99, etc.
It is now set at $9.99 for 10 oz. With the occasional buy 5 and get it for $5.99 or $6.99.
I try not to do math in public, and I am not showing my work to get credit, but $4.99 in 2024, increasing to $9.99 in 2026 is a tiny bit more than double.
I also recently read an article (can find the link if anyone is interested) which explained the reason coffee has increased recently, citing climate in coffee regions, demand, etc. It went on to provide ideas for how one might adjust one’s lifestyle and patterns in order to accommodate this increase.
What struck me was that, while those things may be true, I am being soft shoed into doing without, or doing with less, and effectively told how to live with the fact that prices are now just high. Too bad. What I have yet to see however is info linking corporate greed aka: record profits, bonus, or idiotic tariff policies to my beloved coffee’s exorbitant spend. (Sen Warren probably has something if I were to look deeper)
When Joe Biden was President, I heard about the price of eggs on a daily cadence. Shouted from the rooftops by everyone. I saw stickers on gas pumps with Joe Biden pointing at the price line quoting “I did that.” The politicians on the right got out and pounded home the messaging that prices have gotten out of hand, and elect them to bring the cost of living down on Day One. The end result of that messaging is the misery we have with us today. And egg prices are still too high, as is everything else. Sorta crickets.
While I admit I cannot possibly keep up with all of the messaging that our liberal politicians put out there, I do pay attention and I do take note. What I do not hear enough of is the banging on the drum about the cost of goods.
It is likely being drowned in the mire of ICE, Epstein, Greenland, Venezuela, Racist tweets, and all the other insanity that distracts us from the core of my now long winded and borderline rambling post.
But I’ve decided that I am going to start to develop my own subtle messaging, and drop it in the ear of anyone that I think will listen. Even those that don’t think they are listening, but hear.
Little things like: “Man, stuff is still getting more expensive” to someone near me in the grocery store. And walk away. Not engage, just drop the notion as if talking to myself and walk.
When I am at Home Depot, or Ace (I do a lot around the house and yard myself) drop “boy, it seems like just a couple of years ago I bought another one of these and it was like 1/2 the price” then keep moving.
I’m sure I can come up with plenty of others as I go, but I invite you to perhaps offer similar messaging in your own day to day. Nothing political, just point out the obvious, and move on. Let reality sink in on its own. If the seed sprouts, and I think it will, they will come to the idea on their own. In fact, reinforce what they were probably already thinking. And that reinforcement is powerful. Get them to really ask themselves “why is that?” It won’t do it for everyone, but I’d bet for most.
If I can perhaps make a small difference in this way it’s worth it. Maybe even collectively make a medium difference if others to do the same.
Give it a try with me if it makes sense in your community.
Anyhow, thanks for reading. I’m going to go make a cup of tea. Coffee’s too expensive.
= new reply since forum marked as read
Hard to say because it keeps going up every couple of weeks.
If I see any premium brand of Colombian coffee for $10 on sale I grab it, even though I'm already stocked up for a while. I know it's never going to be that price again, at least not until Chump is GONE along with his stupid tariffs.
Aldi's has good pricing on their coffee, (under $10) but they aren't always stocked. So I can't count on them, but I grab it wen I see it.
I buy from a friend who is a roaster and sells only fair trade coffee, therefore my choice to buy from him. I get 5lbs at a time, takes me around 6 months to go through it. I ordered some in late 2024 before the tariffs and paid $75 including shipping. Last spring I ordered and it was $99 including shipping. Yesterday I ordered again and it was $115!! Including shipping. The coffee itself was $99/5lbs of organic, fair trade.
At some point I may ween myself off of coffee and use some herbal tea that I can harvest locally.
went up to (gulp1) $5 per pound and everyone started threatening to stop buying.
Yeah. At the time I was buying my coffee from what was the world HQ of Peet's in Berkeley ... ah, for their old French Roast, which they allowed us to buy with food stamps ...
Response to Bristlecone (Original post)
According to Google AI, U.S. coffee production accounts for less than 1% of total U.S. consumption. That means almost all of it is imported and thus subject to Schlump's stupid tariffs. I'm afraid it may get worse before it gets better.
Only Schlump would do something that idiotic. Anyone with half a brain would realize that some things have to be imported, especially agricultural crops that require growing conditions that don't exist in the continental U.S. But of course, that asshole only has a fragment of a brain that is rapidly deteriorating. 
to coffee production, doncha know.
The stupidity of these people is breathtaking.
I just did the price thing at Ace Hardware today. It's obvious prices are higher. MAGA won't admit it though.
We're going to find out the hard way why the French cut their coffee with chicory.
I recently paid $20 for the large bag at a discount grocery store. Used to be $13 when Joe Biden was President.
And keeping it non-political makes it seem safer to those of us who may lack the courage to publicly enrage the maggots....
