Budget-Conscious Consumers Boost Coffee Prices

Consumers choose cheaper coffee | BCBusiness
In a slowing global economy, consumer tastes are shifting from higher-end arabica coffee beans to less expensive robusta beans.

Tastes are regressing back to the plain old cup of joe rather than splurging on more expensive varieties.

In a global economy that really needs a jolt, jittery consumers are changing their tastes to favour a cheaper cup of joe.
 
In the last year, a mass of consumers has moved away from more expensive arabica coffee brands, which peaked at its 34-year high of $3 a pound in 2011. But despite arabica’s supposedly superior flavour, scrupulous sippers are instead shifting to less expensive types of beans, particularly robusta. While coffee connoisseurs may turn up their noses at robusta’s reportedly “wet carboard” taste, the disease-resistant beans make them easier to harvest.
 
The beans’ accessibility and lower retail price is causing a run on robusta, driving up demand more than 10 per cent from the same time last year. The exponential increase in demand is driving up the price and closing the price gap between robusta and arabica to just 70 cents a pound.
 
While the preference of picky coffee drinkers doesn’t seem newsworthy, major changes in spending habits can serve as an indicator of consumer confidence. Millions of people worldwide downgrading their coffee beans could mean consumers are tightening their belts to brace for bumpy economic times ahead.