Rising coffee prices are putting a fresh grind on your local café

Coffee prices are rising on global markets thanks to severe weather impacts in countries that grow the bean. Here's how that could affect your local café and your cup of joe.

Ottawa’s Han Langenbahn has a daily ritual of checking the weather forecast in Brazil.

The master roaster at Happy Goat Coffee Co., a chain of cafés in the nation’s capital, says it’s a hectic time for the industry.

Bouts of severe drought in Brazil and Vietnam are among a handful of factors driving up global coffee prices just when Happy Goat is gearing up to fix bean prices with its suppliers for the months ahead.

Langenbahn tells Global News that the latest price spikes put Happy Goat into a tough position. Either the cafe absorbs the higher costs to take a hit on the bottom line, raises prices for its customers or changes to a cheaper bean — the latter of which is not an option in his mind.

“We don’t cut our quality,” Langenbahn says. “This is not in our mindset. No question for us.”

But he acknowledges the firm stance and the pressures on prices come at a tough time for Happy Goat customers. Inflation may have cooled in recent months, but the cumulative impacts of the recent spikes in prices and higher interest rates aimed at taming the pressures have suppressed spending among Canadians.

“How far can you stretch it so that the consumer will be able to pay? That’s the big question mark,” he says.

“We know money is not sitting as loose in the pockets of many people and that home consumption has increased by a lot. We have to be aware (of that) at the coffee shops.”