Rising coffee bean prices have led to increased drink prices at coffee shops both within and outside of St. Thomas’ campus.
Steve Griffin, the executive director of dining services at St. Thomas, said that coffee prices at campus coffee shops have increased anywhere from 5% to 25% this fall.
“Overall the trend is up, for many different reasons, everything’s getting more expensive. But we kind of pick someplace in the middle, and we really don’t change our prices again until probably next summer unless something really weird happens,” Griffin said.
Griffin explained that St. Thomas sources its coffee through a wholesaler, which obtains it from Central America, South America and Asia.
The Trump administration has imposed tariffs on coffee-producing countries like Brazil, Vietnam and Indonesia. This, along with recent droughts in Brazil and Vietnam, has contributed to the “largest jump (of coffee prices) since the 1990s,” according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Griffin said that location, time of year and type of brew can all affect prices.
Prices listed on the campus coffee shop menus don’t necessarily reflect the price at checkout due to taxes.
“The only taxes that would be charged is if you paid in cash. By the state government, coffee is taxable. Dining dollars are not taxed, but everything else pretty much is taxed,” Griffin said.
It’s true: the Minnesota Department of Revenue shows that any coffee or tea drink that is served in a cup is taxable, which includes drinks sold at coffee shops.
Griffin also said that there are potential alternatives for serving coffee on campus, which mainly involves switching suppliers. Griffin said in the past year, he has talked to several different companies but none can provide the same amount of goods and services as the wholesaler for a lower price.
Griffin said both Starbucks and Caribou Coffee have reached out to St. Thomas about selling their coffee on campus, but this is not feasible.
“It just doesn’t make sense. It would cost more money. And then that money of ours that goes to the university now would go to Starbucks. And so they take the money out of the cities,” Griffin said.
Coffee shops in St. Paul are also feeling the impact of the bean price increase.
Lindsay Lawin is the manager at JS Bean Factory, a St. Paul roastery and supplier to the nearby coffee shop Dunn Brothers.
Lawin said that this price increase has left room for uncertainty regarding drink prices.
“(The bean prices) essentially have all gone up. We haven’t necessarily raised our prices really much at all, which we’re just trying to hold as long as we can. Though I don’t know if that will continue for a whole lot longer,” Lawin said.
John Peterson is the owner of Yellowbird Coffee, a St. Paul-based coffee shop established in 2019. Yellowbird Coffee has also been dealing with the effects of increased costs.
Peterson said that Yellowbird sources its coffee from countries like Brazil and Indonesia, two of the countries that have been hit hard by tariffs. Since August 6, the United States has placed a 50% tariff on all Brazilian imported goods and a 19% tariff on Indonesian goods, according to the White House.
“I’ve noticed a lot of uncertainty in the coffee business in the last year; a lot of frustration, a lot of nervousness, a lot of ‘what’s happening?’ I haven’t noticed the price tag increase all that much, but I’ve seen an increase in everything else,” Peterson said.
He also said that he wants customers to know he is concerned about how his coffee shop is affecting the planet, even amid this increase in coffee prices.
“Hopefully we get the right coffee and are environmentally friendly, and (customers) need to know that we’re aware — that we’re concerned about the environment,” Peterson said.
Peterson said that as a coffee shop owner, he is never trying to break anyone’s wallet.
“We’re a neighborhood shop, and we just want to make good coffee at a price that everybody can afford and make everybody happy. So we’re never looking to gouge anybody, so when we raise our prices, we think of very well thought-out plans,” Peterson said.
Lucy Troester can be reached at troe4853@stthomas.edu.
