Say It Ain't So, Joe: Coffee Prices Hit 34-Year High
CHICAGO (CBS) -- That morning cup of coffee is going to cost you more.
Coffee prices are at a 34-year high -- $3 a pound.
Yet coffee drinkers plan on grinding out the extra cash because they need that cup of Joe, CBS 2's Pamela Jones reports.
"I like the taste of it. It keeps me up," medical student Linda Russo says.
In countries like Ethiopia, people can't do without it.
"It's like a tradition for me. We drink coffee every day," coffee lover Yosef Alemayehu says.
But the cost of that cup of coffee is way up.
At Metropolis in Chicago's Edgewater neighborhood, the price of a pound of coffee is up by 45 cents. And they've raised the cost of a cup by 10 cents across the board.
They've posted a notice to let customers know before they get in line.
"We went ahead and tried to post the information before it actually happened just because the price of green beans has gone up by so much this year," assistant manager David Retzer says.
Analysts say there's a drop in the supply of high-grade Arabica coffee beans.
Plus, there's more demand. More people in countries like Brazil are drinking the good stuff.
It means the prices in coffee shops here have nowhere to go but up. Local customers say the price isn't as sweet as it used to be, but they'll pay it.
"People don't really like paying more, but when it comes to something like coffee that's a necessity in people's lives, I've found that they are more willing than not to go ahead and pay the difference," Retzer says.
Cassandra Quinn agrees.
"I think if it's a relatively small amount, like 10 cents, we'll absorb it like we did with gas prices, honestly," she says.
