Popular coffee company makes drastic decision on prices | Official Website of Louis Velazquez, entrepreneur, finance guy and tech innovator

If it seems like everything you buy on a regular basis is more expensive these days, you’re not imagining things.

The cost of goods began to skyrocket in 2021, and prices haven’t cooled since.

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Back then, Americans found themselves loaded with stimulus funds at a time when supply chains were dealing with bottlenecks and shortages. That drove prices upward and sent inflation hurtling toward the 9% mark by mid-2022.

Although inflation hasn’t been as drastic these past couple of years, prices haven’t dropped from post-pandemic levels. So now, consumers are paying a premium for everything from groceries to apparel to household goods.

And the problem could get worse before it gets better.

Popular coffee company makes drastic decision on prices

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Tariffs could lead to even more price hikes

Inflation has been a pesky enough beast to deal with these past few years. But now, consumers have another challenge to deal with — tariffs.

It’s too soon to know exactly how severe the impact of tariffs will be, especially with April’s temporary pause getting extended. But retailers in general are warning consumers to brace for price increases.

Even giants like Walmart have been transparent in that they’ll only be able to absorb so many increases on their own, and that consumers could be looking at higher prices, depending on how things shake out.

That’s a scenario that’s likely to lead to a pullback in consumer spending, which could ultimately fuel a giant wave of retailer store closures and bankruptcies.

Coffee giant warns of price increases

When prices are high and money is tight, there are some purchases you may be inclined to cut back on.

Coffee probably isn’t one of them, though.

People who need their daily coffee tend to need their daily coffee, making it a non-negotiable expense. And that’s a problem seeing as how the price of coffee may be on the verge of going up.

J.M. Smucker Co., the maker of popular brands like Folgers, Café Bustelo, and Dunkin, has issued a warning that it intends to raise coffee prices for the fourth time since June 2024. And the reason boils down to tariffs, which are raising the cost of coffee bean imports.

Outside of coffee, most of J.M. Smucker’s U.S. products are sourced domestically. But the company also buys roughly 500 million pounds of coffee each year and has no choice but to source it from overseas partners, including Vietnam and Brazil.

“The higher costs have required price increases across our business, and we anticipate the price elasticity of demand could remain elevated into 2026 as consumers continue to experience broader inflationary pressures and are selective in their spending,” the company said in a recent filing.

However, the company also said it would look into different options for sourcing products to minimize the impact on consumers.

More retail:

Of course, J.M. Smucker is by no means the only food and beverage company grappling with the uncertainty of tariffs and issuing price hike warnings. But for now, consumers may need to gear up for more expensive coffee in the absence of being able or willing to cut back.