mycuppa wrote:
......I know one thing that's certain. The growth in costs associated with producing a quality roasted product have increased at 3x the rate of retail price growth over the last 8 years.
Amen to that, and also note real wholesale sale prices (roasted coffee to the cafe trade) have actually gone backwards. Note also, that the largest volume of roasted coffee sold is FAQ grade in commercial blends to the trade, rather than (small lot) specialty grade to the public. Owing to the (lets not get into this here/now) large amount of downward pressure created by increased aggressive competition in the trade through an ever growing number of new roasteries fragmenting the market, roasters are ever looking for product at better prices. It is therefore very interesting that it could be said that the ever proliferating number of new roasteries and coffee industry experts, is atleast one of the reasons why there is downward pressure on pricing through the broad spectrum of the coffee market, which could carry right down to grower level......!
