Coffee prices rise to nearly 50-year high due to weather changes in this top growing region

By Kelly McCarthy

Coffee beans are hitting record high prices not seen in nearly 50 years after difficult growing seasons among some of the world's top producing regions.

After a year of difficult drought followed by bouts of heavy rains in Brazil -- the world's top coffee producer with nearly 39% of the global supply -- roasters are set to raise prices on the popular caffeinated crops.

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Hundreds of bags of arabica coffee beans ready for export at Oromia Coffee Farmers Cooperative, Ethiopia.

Earlier this week, the Wall Street Journal reported that raw Arabica coffee prices soared to a record high of nearly $3.44 per pound, which beat the prior record of $3.35 from 1977.

With prices up more than 83% so far this year, concerns over weather are already being raised for next year's harvest from the South American producer.

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A cup of black coffee is seen next to coffee beans on a wooden table.

Volcafe, a top coffee trader, cut its 2025-2026 production outlook by nearly 25% to 34.4 million bags of Arabica beans on Tuesday, according to Bloomberg. This marks the fifth consecutive year of deficits for Volcafe which has now cut nearly 11 million bags since its estimates in September.

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Rogerio Lemke, a supervisor at the Camocim coffee plantation, inspects dried droppings from the Jacu bird containing coffee beans in Domingos Martins, Espa­rito Santo state, Brazil, on Aug. 25, 2023.

Vietnam, another powerhouse region and the world's second-largest producer, also reported a steady rise in prices this year and according to the latest USDA Foreign Agriculture Service report increased investments in an attempt to recover losses due to early summer drought that crippled its harvest.

"The steady rise in prices in 2024 has caused many farmers to hold coffee stocks for longer, hoping for continued price increases," the FAS stated.