September 13, 2025

Why Coffee Prices Are Surging and What It Means for You (and Us)

If you’ve noticed coffee prices creeping up, or jumping outright, you’re not imagining things. From green coffee buyers to baristas to your morning cup, this surge is real, and it’s impacting the entire industry.

At Reading Coffee Company, we believe in being transparent with our community. So here’s a breakdown of why prices are rising, what’s changed recently, and how it affects everything we do — from roasting to brewing.

1. Climate Change Is Crushing Crops

We source our coffees from all over the world, responsibly, ethically, and with long-term sustainability in mind. But lately, producing countries like Brazil, Colombia, and Vietnam have been dealing with increasingly erratic weather: droughts, frosts, floods.

That kind of climate chaos means lower yields and unstable harvests—which makes coffee of all types more expensive before it even leaves the origin country.

2. Tariffs Are Now in Effect

Earlier this year, the U.S. imposed steep tariffs on Brazilian imports — 50% on green coffee included. Vietnam and some other coffee-producing countries were also affected.

While some roasters initially avoided the shock by relying on older inventory, we’re now seeing those tariff effects fully hit.

For us, that means our green coffee costs have gone up significantly — even for staple blends and long-standing contracts.

3. Inflation, Shipping, Everything Else

It’s not just the beans. Everything from freight and fuel to cardboard and café cups has gotten more expensive. Operating a roastery and cafés in 2025 means dealing with higher labor costs, higher ingredient costs, and no end seems to be in sight.

We're doing our best to absorb those increases, but across the board — from warehouse to espresso bar — the costs are stacking up.

So How Does This Affect Reading Coffee?

We’re proud to keep offering some of the highest quality, freshly roasted coffees in the region, but like everyone else, we’re adapting to a changing landscape.

Wholesale Partners: You’ll likely see some modest price increases this fall. We’ll be as transparent and fair as possible — working hard to keep quality high and disruptions minimal.
Online & Retail Customers: A few of our blends and single origins may shift in price as our incoming inventory reflects the new realities of tariffs and import costs.
Café Guests: We’ve held off on major menu price changes as long as possible, but you may see slight adjustments on drinks or food offerings in the coming weeks.

What We’re Doing About It

Locking in contracts where we can to manage future price spikes.
Strengthening our direct relationships with farms and importers.
Continuing to roast to order, cup everything, and maintain the quality you've come to expect from us.

We’re not cutting corners, and we’re not compromising on what makes Reading Coffee... well, Reading Coffee.

Why This Matters

We get it! Price increases aren’t fun. But we want you to know the why behind the changes. It’s not about profit-padding or inflation games — it’s about sustaining a specialty coffee supply chain that’s under pressure from every direction.

Thanks for sticking with us. We’re still showing up every day to roast great coffee, pull great shots, brew wonderful blends, and build community.

— Frank and the Reading Coffee Team