The coffee market is changing
Pricing Updates for Nirvana Soul Coffee Beans
Alex here! I am the Director of Coffee for Nirvana Soul and have had the immense pleasure of roasting your coffee for 3 years now. One of my favorite parts of the job has been finding new and delicious coffees to share with you. You might notice that our coffee prices have gone up, and I would like to explain to you why that is.
Coffee is traded on something called the C-Market, which is similar to the stock market exchange. The C-Market can be seen as the ‘floor’ for what we pay in the specialty coffee sector. But it is also more than that. It’s a market that heavily relies on ‘future contracts’. This means that goods are bought and sold before the coffee is actually harvested and processed. This can be between ‘speculators’ who are people who buy and sell contracts but have no intention of purchasing physical coffee. Last month, we saw the C-market reach a new high of over $4/pound of green coffee. Read this blog from Sustainable Harvest for a more in-depth look at the C-Market and what it means: C Market 101: What is the C Market?
What affects the C-Market? Things like climate change, tariffs, speculators, and sociopolitical relationships have huge impacts. The drought in Brazil has caused a large deficit in coffee that has been exported over the past 5 years, and is projected to do the same this year. These factors heavily in the C-Market price as it is the largest producer of Arabica coffee in the world. Increases in the cost of production, shipping, and storing of the coffee weigh heavily on the market as well. Speculators can contribute to the volatility of the market by anticipating future prices of coffee and buying or selling large or small quantities of future contracts.
Nirvana Soul is a specialty coffee shop, so we pay above the C-Market price to ensure proper and fair pay for all those involved. Our two Guatemalan Single Origin offerings are a direct relationship with the Rodríguez family. We want to support their current goal of building a wet mill to continue to produce high quality coffee. As we grow our relationships with producers and bring in high quality coffee, Nirvana Soul Coffee baristas will always greet you with a friendly, “Welcome in!” and you can be sure your cup at home will be just as comforting as before. Thank you for all of your support and understanding. Our focus has always been on community, and we couldn’t have that without you.
Additional links:
Coffee Prices Explained: A Beginners Guide to Green Coffee Prices | by Genuine Origin
Alex Egan is a Q-Grader, United States Roaster competitor and judge, and the Director of Coffee at Nirvana Soul. They have been in coffee for over a decade. Alex spends a lot of time tasting, learning, and reading about coffee during and in-between visiting shops all over the Bay Area.
