Dear coffee lover,
The world of coffee is going through significant changes. This post gives you all the details about what’s happening so you can make an informed choice and protect delicious coffee and the cafes that serve it.
Coffee: more than just a drink
Coffee is more than just a caffeine fix. It’s a daily ritual, a warm hug, a local hangout, a gesture of kindness. It’s a pick me up and a shot of confidence. It’s a key joy in our daily lives. Coffee is life. Coffee is community. Coffee is culture.
What's been happening?
The price of green (unroasted) Arabica commodity coffee has more than doubled over the past year. Poor harvests, climate impacts, the weaker Aussie dollar and rising global costs have pushed prices to around USD $4 per pound (AUD $15 to $16/kg unroasted and over $20/kg roasted). Specialty coffee (the coffee P&R buys), loved for its taste and ethical sourcing, faces even higher costs, often $5 to $30 more per kilogram than commodity Arabica.
Coffee pricing has fundamentally shifted, probably for the better. We must come to terms with this new reality.
Learn more about green coffee updates and what it means for Australia.
Specialty and beyond
Pablo & Rusty’s delivers not only delicious and specialty coffee, we look to drive real change. We brew and roast the most delicious coffee we can, while doing as much good as possible for people and the planet. We’re B Corp certified, a Carbon Neutral Organisation and 1% for the planet members (yes, 1% of our revenue, not profits, goes towards the planet).
Learn more about specialty coffee.
The choices we face
With rising prices, we're now faced with three clear options:
Continue enjoying delicious, ethically sourced coffee at slightly higher prices
Switch to lower-quality coffee at marginally lower prices, but still much higher than before
Go without coffee altogether.
The cost difference between options 1 and 2 is minimal per cup, but the impact on flavour, quality, and sustainability is huge. For us, Option 1 is the clear winner. After all, life’s too short for bad coffee.
We hope that you also choose option 1.
What does this mean at your local cafe?
Specialty cafes are at the heart of Australia's coffee culture. They're more than just spots to grab a coffee, they're part of our lifestyle, communities and the famous Aussie flat white tradition.
The truth is, even before this crisis, coffee prices here were already about half of global averages. As such, coffee prices will need to rise so cafes can continue to deliver the amazing experience we all love in a way that’s sustainable for business.
Read global coffee prices: a fresh perspective for more details.
Does this mean that you'll now be paying $12 for a small flat white? No. However, expect to pay around $5.50 for a specialty small flat white. Over the next 12 to 18 months, this should rise closer to $7.00.
We know no one enjoys price rises. Not us, not the cafes and certainly not coffee drinkers. But the alternative is worse: losing delicious specialty coffee and a cafe culture we've built together.
We hope you’ll continue supporting your local cafe, just as they’ve supported us with incredible coffee and wonderful memories for years.
What does this mean if you buy beans?
We all enjoy having a beautifully crafted coffee at our local. Yet, many of us also like making coffee at home or in the office. Specialty coffee beans will see price adjustments, but the impact is small per serve.
Even a $15/kg price rise is just 15 cents per shot (per serve). For us, that's a small investment to keep specialty coffee thriving.
We hope you agree.
The silver lining
While rising prices aren't fun, there’s plenty of good news too. Farmers, historically underpaid, will finally get fairer prices. Cafes will gain sustainable margins and baristas who are the heartbeat of cafes can enjoy more fulfilling careers. There’s plenty to be optimistic about the future of the Australian and global coffee value chain.
The people of coffee
More importantly, coffee is not just a product. It’s the result of many hands carefully growing, processing, selecting, roasting and brewing this delicious beverage. Many farmers, coffee graders, roasters, baristas and cafe leaders. So is delicious coffee worth a little bit more? We think so. However, are the people of coffee worth a little bit more? Definitely.
We hope you agree.
The bottom line
Yes, prices will change, but these modest adjustments ensure a bright future for farmers, cafes, baristas and coffee drinkers everywhere. We hope that you continue to choose delicious coffee, a brighter future for cafes and farmers and a tomorrow where specialty coffee culture continues to thrive.
We hope you continue to Drink Better Coffee, because life's too short for bad coffee.
Got questions? Check out our FAQ post about this article.
Want to learn more, Chris shares some thoughts on why we should/need to get comfortable with paying a little more for the coffee we love.
