24 Jun 2011    Coffee prices are getting a jolt      Coffee prices are getting a jolt Roasters are passing on the soaring cost of coffee beans to retailers, which in turn are charging consumers more. Chuck Jones, co-owner of Jones Coffee Roasters, evaluates beans for purchase… (Gary Friedman / Los Angeles Times) June 04, 2011|  By Sharon Bernstein, Los Angeles Times The price of your morning buzz is about to get even higher. Hit with wildly increasing costs for beans from growers, coffee roasters are charging more to supermarkets and other retailers — and those folks are passing the higher prices on to consumers. J.M. Smucker Co., which distributes the Folgers and Dunkin' Donuts coffee sold at stores, said last week it was hiking prices for a pound by 11% — the company's fourth and biggest increase in a year. A few days later, Starbucks — which had already raised prices on some coffee drinks in the fall — said it would raise prices for bags of coffee beans sold at its cafes by 17%. Prices for coffee have been rising steadily. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, a 1-pound can of ground coffee sold for an average of $5.10 in the U.S. in April, up from $3.64 the year before. Over the last 12 months, the price of green, unroasted coffee on the big commodities exchanges has gone up nearly 92%. "These are big increases — and I don't think we're done with it," said food industry expert Phil Lempert, who edits the blog SupermarketGuru.com. "We're going to see higher prices on coffee for a very, very long time." Spurring the run-up in bean prices is a combination of bad weather in coffee-growing regions, increased demand from developing countries such as China and intense speculation in the commodities markets, experts said. Chuck Jones, co-owner of Jones Coffee Roasters in Pasadena, said his costs for high-grade beans have nearly doubled. "At this time last year I was paying $1.85 for coffee that I'm now paying $3.60 for," Jones said. His company sells gourmet green beans to roasters around the world, including Starbucks. The company also roasts beans it sells to retailers, restaurants and coffee shops. Prices for those beans are up 30% over last year, Jones said. The rising prices, with no end in sight, could have long-term repercussions for the industry. But don't expect people to give up something as addictive as caffeine, said Harry Balzer, chief food industry analyst for NPD Group. "The question is not whether you will have that cup of coffee," Balzer said. It's more about buying cheaper brands or finding other ways to compensate. Balzer's own mother has started brewing weaker coffee at home. "Nothing will get you to change your behavior faster than money," he said. So far, consumers have not significantly slowed their buying habits or switched to cheaper brands at Ralph's Grocery Co. stores, said spokeswoman Kendra Doyel   23 Jun 2011    Coffee Price Increase    Issue Date: Vol. 51, No. 7, July 2011, Posted On: 6/10/2011 Green Mountain Raises Coffee Prices 10% Emily Jed Emily@vendingtimes.net Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Green Mountain coffee price increase, office coffee service, OCS, vending machine coffee, Keurig, K-Cup prices, Starbucks prices, JM Smucker coffee prices, green coffee prices WATERBURY, VT -- Green Mountain Coffee Roasters announced that it is raising coffee prices 10% across all package types in an effort to offset soaring green coffee costs. The Vermont-based coffee roaster increased its prices 10% to 15% on K-Cup portion packs used in its Keurig single-cup coffee brewer last September. In late May, J.M. Smucker and Starbucks announced price increases as green coffee prices hit a 14-year high. Sara Lee and Kraft have enacted similar prices increases this year.   1 Jun 2011    Is Your Bottled Water Safe?   Health News:What’s New LATEST NEWS   Is Your Bottled Water Safe?           (Getty Images) By Kate Stinchfield THURSDAY, July 9, 2009 (Health.com) — Although you may think that bottled water is a safer option than tap, two new reports show that the store-bought stuff is actually less regulated than the water you get out of your faucet for free. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has little authority to regulate bottled brands, according to a recently released U.S. Congressional report. While municipal water utilities are required to provide public reports of test results, bottled-water makers are not. (On the other hand, well water, which is found in many rural areas, isn’t regulated like water provided by towns and cities.) So although you may fork over a pretty penny for bottled water, that doesn’t mean it’s any better than what’s coming out of your faucet. In fact, it could be worse and you’d never know it. The new research is backed by a second report from the Environmental Working Group (EWG). The nonprofit advocacy organization surveyed the labels and websites of nearly 200 popular bottled-water brands and found that less than 2% disclosed three important facts that can affect safety: the water’s source, purification methods, and chemical pollutants in each bottle. (See the full report on bottled water at EWG.) “We’re really pushing for a consumer’s right to know what’s in their water,” says Nneka Leiba, an environmental health researcher at the EWG. “This isn’t a doomsday scenario. It isn’t that the claims are false; it’s just that they are misleading.” Reaching for the most popular bottled brands isn’t necessarily a solution. In fact, the EWG report found that some of the best-known brands—like Whole Foods and San Pellegrino—are the least likely to report where the water comes from and what it contains. “This probably has to do with the fact that they’re imported, so the regulations are different,” says Leiba. “Some of the brands you think wouldn’t be as transparent, like Walgreens or Sam’s Club, scored higher than many of the popular brands.”

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